Union Theological College

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Union Theological College
Established:	1853 (Assembly's College)
Principal:	Prof Patton Taylor
Location:	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Affiliations:	QUB
Website:	http://www.union.ac.uk

Union Theological College is the theological college for the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and is situated in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was established in 1853 as Assembly's College. The building served as the location for the early Northern Ireland Parliaments.

The college offers ministerial courses for Presbyterians and non-denominational theological courses. The college is associated with the Presbyterian Theological Faculty Ireland which was granted a Royal Charter in 1881 to confer academic degrees in theology similar to universities of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland at the time. These degrees are the Bachelor of Divinity, Master of Ministry and Doctor of Ministry. Degrees are also conferred by the Queen's University of Belfast for certain programmes and the college forms part of the Institute of Theology at the university.

Contents 1 History 2 References 3 Further reading 4 External links

[edit] History

The college was founded in 1853 as Assembly's College. The college was designed by Charles Lanyon, the architect of the main building at Queen's.

From 1921 until 1932 the newly formed Parliament of Northern Ireland met in Assembly's College while Stormont was being built. The Commons met in the Gamble Library and the Senate in the Chapel.

One of the college professors J. Ernest Davey was the subject of a heresy trial in 1927 because of his teaching within Assembly's College. Although cleared by the Church's courts a small number of Presbyterians broke away unhappy with the decision and founded what later became the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Between 1941 to 1948 the city police used the college as its own headquarters were bombed in the Belfast blitz.

In 1976 theological teaching at Magee College in Derry, County Londonderry ceased and the two colleges amalgamated in 1978. The new college was named Union Theological College, often referred to as Union College.^[1]

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Presbyterian College Celebrates 150 Years, 2003 press release describing the college and its history.

[edit] External links

• Union Theological College Official site
• Queens University Belfast Theology Official site

v • d • e Presbyterian Church in Ireland General Assembly • Moderator • Irish Presbyterians • Union Theological College • Church House

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