130 students gain degrees
30 January 2012
One hundred and thirty students from the three Bristol theological colleges, Trinity College, Bristol Baptist College and Wesley College, received their degrees and awards at a ceremony in the Great Hall of the University of Bristol on Saturday.
This included the first 30 students to complete the new part-time Certificate in Theology. Many of them are serving in the Diocese of Bristol as Ordained Local Ministers or Licensed Lay Ministers. Our part-time ordination course has since been widened to include those from any diocese.
‘Professional excellence, spiritual passion'* was the phrase used by the Revd Dr Stephen Finamore, Principal of Bristol Baptist College, reporting on the past year, to sum up the aims of the colleges. The purpose of our teaching, he said, was to make a radical difference to the world.
He spoke of outstanding co-operation - between students and staff, between the three colleges (sadly the last year for Wesley College), and between the colleges and the University of Bristol.
The main speaker, the Right Revd Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford, challenged us to allow Jesus to build his house in us (Psalm 127:1 - 'Unless the Lord builds the house its builders labour in vain'); our studies are to be used to build God's kingdom. We must teach the Christian faith with both academic integrity and authority - there is the same Bible for both.
We congratulate all our students, the majority of whom are now working as ordained leaders in the Church of England, for their hard work and dedication.
In the top photo: The confirmation of Seong Hye Lee's doctorate (one of the eight awarded) came through just in time for the ceremony, and just before she left for South Korea, where she will teach Old Testament and Mission in the Global Missionary Training Center, Seoul. Her thesis, under the supervision of Prof Gordon Wenham (in the photo), was on the Psalter as an anthology to be memorized.
Below: Some of the first part-time students to gain the Certificate in Theology.
* Also used by the relief agency TEAR Fund to descibe their work.