Trinity College Theological School, Melbourne

Last updated May 14, 2019

Trinity College Theological School (TCTS) is an educational division of Trinity College,^[1] the oldest college of the University of Melbourne, and is also one of the constituent colleges of the University of Divinity. Trinity's purpose is the shaping men and women in ordained and lay ministry in the Anglican tradition, as well as providing other programs of study, including higher degrees by research.

Trinity College is the oldest residential college of the University of Melbourne. The college was founded in 1872 on a site granted to the Church of England by the University. In addition to its resident community of 300 University of Melbourne and University of Divinity students, Trinity's programs includes Trinity College Foundation Studies, which prepares around 1700 international students for admission to the University of Melbourne annually; the Trinity College Theological School, an Anglican theological college, now a college of the University of Divinity; and the Trinity Institute, which runs summer and winter schools for young leaders, as well as other shorter learning and leadership programs.

University of Melbourne Australian public university located in Melbourne, Victoria

The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Melbourne's main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb north of the Melbourne central business district, with several other campuses located across Victoria.

The University of Divinity is an Australian collegiate university of specialisation in divinity. It is constituted by eleven theological colleges from eight denominations. The University of Divinity is the direct successor of the second oldest degree-granting authority in the State of Victoria the Melbourne College of Divinity. The university's chancery and administration are located in Kew, a suburb of Melbourne in the state of Victoria.

Overview and history

The school was founded in 1877 by Bishop James Moorhouse for the purpose of training a "learned and dedicated clergy" in Victoria, obviating the need to send candidates interstate for training.^[2] From this founding vision the school's focus has now broadened to modern forms of theological education and formation for lay people as well as ordination candidates. Trinity teaches across the broad-church, moderate and Anglo-Catholic traditions of theology, worship and spirituality and seeks to engage critically and reflectively with the contemporary world.^[3]

James Moorhouse was a Bishop of Melbourne and a Bishop of Manchester, and a Chancellor of the University of Melbourne.

Until the 1960s, Trinity theological students normally undertook a degree program of the University of Melbourne, followed by the Licentiate in Theology of the Australian College of Theology. In 1969 Trinity became a foundation member of the ecumenical United Faculty of Theology (UFT). This partnership with the Jesuit Theological College and Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational theological schools (later combined as the Uniting Church Theological Hall) created a rare ecumenical context for higher learning in theology.

The Australian College of Theology (ACT) is an Australian higher education provider at 10/257 Clarence Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, delivering awards in ministry and theology. The college was one of the first Australian non-university providers to offer an accredited bachelor's degree and a research doctorate. Over 16,000 people have graduated since the foundation of the college, one-third of these since 2006. It is a company limited by guarantee as of September 2007.

The United Faculty of Theology was a recognised teaching institution of the University of Divinity in Melbourne, Australia.

Trinity was a founding member of the Melbourne College of Divinity (MCD) from its inception in 1910. In 2012, the MCD became the University of Divinity, and, with the dissolution of the UFT at the end of 1914, Trinity became one of the present eleven colleges of the university. The University of Divinity is the awarding institution of all the degree programs offered within the college. In 2018, Trinity College appointed the university's first research professor and first post-doctoral research fellow.^[4]

Academic program

Trinity College Theological School currently offers the following award programs:

Diploma in Theology (DipTheol)
Advanced Diploma in Theology and Ministry (AdvDipTheolMin)
Bachelor of Theology (BTheol)
Graduate Certificate in Divinity (GCDiv)
Graduate Certificate in Theology (GCTheol)
Graduate Certificate in Research Methodology (GCRM)
Graduate Diploma in Divinity (GDDiv)
Graduate Diploma in Theology (GDTheol)
Master of Theological Studies (MTS)
Master of Divinity (MDiv)
Master of Philosophy (MPhil)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Trinity students have access to the collections of both the Leeper Library at Trinity and the Dalton-McCaughey Library, the joint collection of the Jesuit and Uniting Church colleges, with one of the finest research theological collections in the southern hemisphere.^[5]

Deans and directors

Leadership of theological education at Trinity was originally the responsibility of the college chaplains under the supervision of the warden. Since the 1970s there have been lecturers specifically appointed to teach in and lead the school, holding the positions of Stewart Lecturer, Director and, more recently, Dean. The following have held these offices:

Max Thomas: Stewart Lecturer, 1971–75
John Gaden: Director and Stewart Lecturer, 1976–85
Richard McKinney: Director and Maynard Lecturer, 1986–1997
Scott Cowdell: Maynard Lecturer and Acting Director, 1998
David Cole: Director and Woods Lecturer, 1999–2003
Andrew McGowan: Director and Munro Lecturer, 2003–2007
Tim Gaden: Dean and Stewart Lecturer, 2007–2010
Dorothy Lee: Dean and Frank Woods Professor, 2011–2018
Robert Derrenbacker: Dean and Frank Woods Associate Professor, 2019–present

Maxwell McNee "Max" Thomas was an Australian Anglican bishop.

Andrew Brian McGowan is an Australian scholar of early Christianity and an Anglican priest. He is McFaddin Professor of Anglican Studies at Yale Divinity School and Dean and President of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale.

Dorothy Ann Lee is an Australian theologian and Anglican priest who, since 2011, has been dean of the Trinity College Theological School, Melbourne, a college of the University of Divinity, where she holds the position of Frank Woods Distinguished Professor of New Testament. Her main research interests include the narrative and theology of the Gospels, particularly the Gospel of John, spirituality in the New Testament, the Transfiguration and Anglican worship.

Notable alumni

Trinity has produced many clergy who have held significant appointments in the Anglican Church. These include:

Reginald Stephen (1860–1956), Bishop of Tasmania and Dean of Melbourne
Peter Carnley, Archbishop of Perth and Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia 2000–2005
Peter Hollingworth, Archbishop of Brisbane 1989–2001; Governor General of Australia 2001–2003
Phillip Aspinall, Archbishop of Brisbane 2002–present; Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia 2005–14
Kay Goldsworthy, Archbishop of Perth 2018–present; first woman ordained a bishop in the Anglican Church of Australia; first women in the worldwide Anglican Communion to be an archbishop

Related Research Articles

Moore Theological College, otherwise known simply as Moore College, is the theological training seminary of the Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The college has a strong tradition of conservative evangelical theology with a strong emphasis on biblical languages, the use of primary sources and, critically, the importance of learning in community. It has developed three academic and ministry centres alongside its mainstream academic program, the Priscilla and Aquila Centre, which promotes women's ministry from a complementarian perspective, the Centre for Christian Living, which seeks to provide resources to the general Christian public for intelligent gospel engagement with the wider community, and the Centre for Ministry Development, which provides specialised continuing training and education for graduates and others involved in Christian ministry.

Adelaide College of Divinity (ACD) is an accredited higher education provider offering diploma, associate and bachelor's degrees, graduate diplomas, master and doctoral degrees in ministry, it is also a Registered Training Organisation offering certificates and a diploma.

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The Licentiate of Theology or the Licence in Theology is a theological qualification commonly awarded for ordinands and laymen studying theology in the United Kingdom, Malta, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The academic rank varies from undergraduate degree to master's degree.

Ridley College, formerly known as Ridley Melbourne, is a Christian theological college in the parklands of central Melbourne. Established in 1910, it has an evangelical foundation and outlook and is affiliated with the Australian College of Theology and the Anglican Church of Australia. The college offers on-campus and distance learning and provides training for various Christian ministries in a range of contexts.

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The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne is the metropolitan diocese of the Province of Victoria in the Anglican Church of Australia. The diocese was founded from the Diocese of Australia by letters patent of 25 June 1847 and includes the cities of Melbourne and Geelong and also some more rural areas. The cathedral church is St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne. The ordinary of the diocese is the Archbishop of Melbourne, Philip Freier, who was translated from the Anglican Diocese of The Northern Territory.

The Reverend Professor Ian James Mitchell Haire AC is a theologian and Christian minister of religion. He is Professor Emeritus of Charles Sturt University, Australia and Past Executive Director of the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture. He was formerly the fourth President of the National Council of Churches in Australia and the ninth President of the Uniting Church in Australia.

Jeremy Nigel Morris is a British historian, Church of England priest and academic. He specialises in church history. Since 2014, he has been Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Previously, he was Dean of Trinity Hall from 2001 to 2010, and Dean of the Chapel of King's College, Cambridge from 2010 to 2014.

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References

↑ Trinity College - The University of Melbourne
↑ James Grant, Perspective of a Century (Melbourne: Trinity College, 1973)
↑ "Who we are" (website): https://www.trinity.unimelb.edu.au/theological-school/about-the-school
↑ "Trinity Appoints New Postdoctoral Fellow"(accessed 24 Feb. 2019)
↑ Ian Breward, Holding Fast, Letting Go: A History of the UFT, United Faculty of Theology Commencement Lecture, 1999 (Melbourne: The Author, 1999), p. 17.

Coordinates: 37°47′45″S144°57′31″E / 37.79583°S 144.95861°E / -37.79583; 144.95861

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[1] Trinity College - The University of Melbourne

[2] James Grant, Perspective of a Century (Melbourne: Trinity College, 1973)

[3] "Who we are" (website): https://www.trinity.unimelb.edu.au/theological-school/about-the-school

[4] "Trinity Appoints New Postdoctoral Fellow"(accessed 24 Feb. 2019)

[5] Ian Breward, Holding Fast, Letting Go: A History of the UFT, United Faculty of Theology Commencement Lecture, 1999 (Melbourne: The Author, 1999), p. 17.