George Whitefield College
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George Whitefield College is a reformed evangelical Christian theological college in Cape Town, South Africa, named after the 18th-century evangelist George Whitefield. It was founded in 1989 on the initiative of Bishop Joe Bell, then presiding bishop of the Church of England in South Africa, and its founding Principal was David Broughton Knox, who had for 27 years been Principal of Moore Theological College, Sydney.
Knox's vision was for "the best theological college in Africa", teaching the "whole counsel of God", sending out well trained and effective students who would make an impact in the communities they would serve. At first he had only one other faculty member, John Newby; the library was a rather motley and sparse collection of donated books; and the college used the facilities of the Bible Institute of South Africa. Of the 28 students linked to GWC in its first year, only six graduated in 1990 as members of GWC; the others graduated from the Bible Institute and were only linked to GWC as they were seeking training for ministry in the CESA. After a number of years at the college Dr Knox retired and was succeeded by David Seccombe.
The college has grown tremendously since its inception. In 1997 it moved from its premises in Kalk Bay to premises in Muizenberg. A number of properties have been added to accommodate the growing student body.
George Whitefield College offers one of the finest theological qualifications available in Africa. The faculty totals over seven full-time members, and numerous part-time members. The library (which started off as Dr Knox's substantial personal library) has grown to nearly 30,000 volumes, and has recently been housed in a new state of the art custom-bulty resource centre. There are currently over 90 full-time students.
