Union Theological College is the theological college for the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and is situated in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Council for Training in Ministry. It has been responsible for training people for ministry in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and also runs courses open to the wider public, including distance learning courses offered through BibleMesh.
The professors of the college constitute the Presbyterian Theological Faculty of Ireland (PTFI) which holds a Royal Charter to award postgraduate degrees.
Undergraduate degrees are awarded by St Mary's University, Twickenham, but teaching is carried out at the college.
Postgraduate teaching is provided in collaboration with BibleMesh.
Doctoral studies are supervised in collaboration with Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology in Cambridge and Davenant Hall.
The majority of ministers and deaconesses for the Presbyterian Church in Ireland are trained at the college, but the church also recognises training at an unspecified number of "recognised colleges" elsewhere.
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History
The Assembly's College
The college was founded in 1853 as the Assembly's College. The Renaissance Revival style building with its grand Doric porch and Baroque attic was designed by Sir Charles Lanyon, the architect of the main building at Queen's and built with Scrabo stone at a cost of £5,000. Merle d'Aubigné of Geneva participated in the opening ceremony on 5 December 1853 alongside Henry Cooke, President of the Faculty (the five other professors in the new college were John Edgar, Robert Wilson, William Killen, James G. Murphy and William Gibson).
There was a large influx of students in the wake of the 1859 Revival and the south wing with its dining hall and student accommodation ("Chambers") was added in 1869. Princeton seminary had an important influence in the shaping of the ethos of the college during this period: the Rev. Robert Watts who was appointed Professor of Systematic Theology in 1866 hoped to make "Belfast another Princeton". The north wing with its wood-panelled chapel was designed by John Lanyon, son of original architect, and completed in 1881. The first degrees under the royal charter were conferred in 1883. However, the death of Watts in 1895 marked the beginning of the end of the Princetonian influence. A partial union took place between the faculties in Belfast and Magee in 1922.
The newly formed Parliament of Northern Ireland met in the Assembly's College from 1921 until 1932 while Stormont was being built: the Commons met in the Gamble Library and the Senate in the college chapel. During this period the college conducted classes in a house and provided library resources in a house on University Square.
In 1926 the college became a Recognised College of Queen's University but the college then came under criticism for its embrace of theological liberalism. This culminated in a charge of heresy being brought against Professor J. Ernest Davey in 1926-27 and a heresy trial in 1927 because of his teaching in the College. The five charges were summarised in the minutes of the General Assembly as follows:
The first charge alleges that Professor Davey denies that 'God pardoneth all our sins and accepteth us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputes to us.'
The second charge alleges that Professor Davey taught what is contrary to Holy Scripture concerning the absolute perfection of our Lord's character.
The Union Theological College
In 1976 theological teaching at Magee College in Derry ceased and the two colleges amalgamated in 1978. The new college, constituted by an act of Parliament, the Union Theological College of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland Act 1978 (c. v), was named the Union Theological College. John M. Barkley was Professor of Church History from 1954 until his retirement in 1981 (Principal 1976-1981) and was succeeded by Finlay Holmes (Principal 1987-1992). Laurence Kirkpatrick was subsequently appointed Professor of Church history in 1996 (Principal 2008-2010).
In 2003 the college celebrated its 150th anniversary by completing a £2.8million pound refurbishment in which individual study bedrooms with ensuite facilities were added. Alister E. McGrath, Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Oxford gave a public lecture entitled "Renewing our vision for the future of Protestant Christianity in Northern Ireland". Bill Addley retired as Professor of Practical Theology in 2006 and the vacated chair was filled by Drew Gibson. Cecil McCullough, Professor of New Testament, who served as Principal from 1998 to 2002, retired in 2007 and was succeeded in the chair by Gordon Campbell.
On 14 November 2009 a fire caused serious damage to the rear of the college during the refurbishment of the Principal's House (a £2.2million project). The extension known as the Training Resource Centre, providing further lecture and seminar rooms, was subsequently opened in September 2011. Stafford Carson was appointed as a new executive principal in 2013. At this time a major stonework restoration and conservation project took place (2013-2017). Patton Taylor retired as Professor of Old Testament in 2016 (Principal 2002-2008 and 2010-2013).
In 2017 the college marked the 500th anniversary of the Reformation by participating in a "Luther 500" conference and by hosting an autumn seminar series entitled "The Unfinished Reformation". The Welsh Presbyterian theologian Stephen N. Williams, who had held the Chair of Systematic Theology from 1994, was succeeded in 2017 by Michael McClenahan.
In 2018 there was "a refresh of the College's Coat of Arms" with the help of a digital heraldic artist, including discussion of the motto to "buy the truth and sell it not". The shield of this coat of arms was then incorporated into a new logo, featuring two drinking horns above a burning bush. The logo was changed again in 2022, emphasising the year of the college's foundation but removing the motto.
Faculty
The faculty currently comprises two professors respectively leading extant academic departments, a "non-academic" Professor of Ministry, a senior lecturer in Biblical Studies, a lecturer in Historical Theology, a lecturer in New Testament and a lecturer in Practical Theology. Prof. W. Gordon Campbell became principal of the college in 2021 and was succeeded in this role in 2023 by Prof. Michael McClenahan.
Notable faculty
Dr T. Desi Alexander (Senior Research Fellow in Biblical Studies)
Dr Martyn C. Cowan (Lecturer in Historical Theology)
Notable former faculty
Prof. Henry Cooke (d. 1868)
Prof. Robert Watts (d. 1895)
Prof. J. Ernest Davey (d. 1960)
Prof. Finlay Holmes (d. 2008)
Prof. Stephen N. Williams (Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology)
Principal J. Stafford Carson (former Principal and Professor of Ministry)
Library
Founded in 1873 by Mrs Caroline Gamble in memory of her late husband, the Rev. Henry Gamble (not to be confused with an Anglican priest of the same name), the college Library is the largest theological library in Northern Ireland. The Gamble Library stocks over 65,000 books, 20,000 pamphlets and taking over 50 journals and periodicals. The domed library served as the Chamber of the House of Commons for the Northern Ireland Parliament from 1921 to 1932. The foundation of the collection predates the college and was formed in 1845. A significant collection was acquired from the estate of the Presbyterian historian Rev. James Seaton Reid (d. 1851). Much of the Magee College pamphlet collection was added in 1977.