A message from the Principal

A message to prospective students and ordinands from our Principal, Rev Dr Alan Gregory, on learning, community, and formation.

The first is theology, the second, ministry; they belong together.

Equipping you with the practical knowledge of God

At St Augustine’s College of Theology, we’ve been providing non-residential theological education since 1959.

Our community, dispersed across the South East, equips our students with the practical knowledge of God: the knowledge that changes things and makes its mark on us and those we serve.

Whether you are preparing for ministry, studying theology, or exploring vocational discernment, you will develop your understanding of Christian faith and practice, all in constant interaction with the contexts of daily life and local Church witness.

Formation through a unique learning community

St Augustine’s provides you with a formation that is transforming. Our approach to formation promotes personal, intellectual, and spiritual change, that together we might ‘grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ’ (Eph. 4.15).

I think that the quality of both learning and community at St Augustine’s is quite unusual. There is a distinct vitality, a readiness among our students and staff for the exhilarating difficulties of Christian learning and formation.

As a student here, you will discover a life in which your learning is encouraged and supported, so that the changes it brings and the challenges it poses gladden the heart and move the will.

‘What we shall be is yet to be revealed’

The truth is, God grants us more than we expect of ourselves and inspires us with hope for the world He loves. As the first epistle of John puts it: since our lives are held in the gracious mystery of God, ‘what we shall be is yet to be revealed’ (1 John 3.2).

I hope you will choose St Augustine’s as the community within which you will exceed your expectations, as you begin the learning and formation to which God is calling you.

The Rev Dr Alan Gregory,
Principal of St Augustine’s College of Theology

Rev Dr Alan Gregory speaks about the transformative and transcendant experience of studying theology.

“Learning about our Christian faith changes us; learning to live that faith as the form of Christ in the world changes both us and the world.”

Find out what formation might look like for you

Come along to one of our open-day style taster events. Meet the staff, chat with fellow students, sit in on classes, and join us in worshipping together.