Redcliffe College
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Redcliffe College, Centre for Mission Training is a mission training centre and theological college based in Gloucester, England, specialising in training men, women and families from around the world for Christian mission anywhere in the world. It is international and interdenominational, and is a member of the Evangelical Alliance, Global Connections and European Evangelical Accrediting Association.
Contents
History
Redcliffe College was founded on 5 April 1892 as the YWCA Testing and Training Home.[1] Originally based at 495 Kings Road, Chelsea, in 1896 497 Kings Road was purchased and a door was made between the two houses. Redcliffe was the first institution to provide missionary service training for women. In 1917 the College moved to 66 Redcliffe Gardens, Kensington. In 1931 the College moved again to 66 Grove Park Road, Chiswick where it remained until 1995. During the Second World War, the War Office took over the college for use by the Women's Auxiliary Air Force while the students moved to Lancashire, Upper Norwood, and Feering. They returned to Chiswick in 1944. In 1984, the college became co-educational, allowing men as well as women to enroll. In 1995 the College relocated to its current site in Gloucester.
Approach
Redcliffe's courses are based on an integrated training approach involving the principles of deepening knowledge and developing character and skills.[2] Its courses bring together: academic study, taught by lecturers with first-hand mission experience; personal growth, developed through the Personal Development Programme, which is concerned with students' well-being before God, and through living in an international, cross-cultural community; practical experience, through placements (both weekly and in a block of 6 weeks).
Courses
Each course at Redcliffe comprises a range of modules including topics in biblical, theological, cross-cultural and missional studies. Current courses available include:
Undergraduate courses
- Certificate (CertHE) in Applied Theology in Intercultural Contexts
- Diploma (DipHE) in Applied Theology in Intercultural Contexts
- BA(Hons) Degree in Applied Theology in Intercultural Contexts
- Professionals in Mission Certificate (CertHE in Intercultural Studies)
Postgraduate courses
- Postgraduate MA in Contemporary Missiology
- Postgraduate MA in Global Leadership in Intercultural Contexts
- Postgraduate MA in Member Care
- Postgraduate MA in Field Linguistics
- Postgraduate MA in Literacy Programme Development
- Flexible Learning Mode MA - Distance learning & summer school option
Short courses
- EQUIP for Mission and Ministry (6 weeks - 1 year)
Day courses
- Hebrew Week intensive week-long course (with beginner and intermediate tracks)
- Lead On intensive week-long course
University accreditation
All of Redcliffe's courses (except short course options) are validated by the University of Gloucestershire.
Placement programme
All undergraduate students take part in a weekly placement programme. Examples of placements include church and youth work, hospital or industrial chaplaincy or helping in a local school or night shelter for homeless people.
Students taking the Certificate, Diploma or Degree also spend a term (6 weeks) on placement in the UK or overseas. Recent placements have included working with orphaned children in Romania, helping with a development project in Namibia and teaching English in Cambodia, as well as working in UK churches.
Organisations based at Redcliffe College
- Centre for the Study of Bible and Mission
- Justice, Adovcacy and Reconciliation in Mission Initiative
- Global Leadership Initiative
- Centre for Linguistics, Translation and Literacy
- Generating Change - dedicated to researching issues in mission and helping mission organisations affect change
- Encounters Mission Ezine - a topical mission journal published online every three months
- Vista - a quarterly online research bulletin communicating research and innovation in mission in Europe
- OSCAR - the UK Information Service for World Mission
- The John Ray Initiative
- European Christian Mission
Notes
- ↑ Redcliffe College, Redcliffe College: 1892-1992 (London: Redcliffe College, 1992), p.1.
- ↑ In an article on integral mission training, D. Whiteman argues that "training must integrate formal (knowledge/knowing), non-formal (skills/doing), and informal (character and spirituality/being) methods of training", D.L. Whiteman, 'Integral Training Today for Cross-Cultural Mission', Missiology, XXXVI:1 (January 2008), p.5.
