Ridley Hall is a theological college located in Sidgwick Avenue in Cambridge in the United Kingdom, which trains intending ministers for the Church of England and other churches. It was founded in 1881 and named in memory of Nicholas Ridley, a leading protestant theologian of the sixteenth century. The first principal was theologian Handley Moule, later Bishop of Durham.[1]
Although not part of the University of Cambridge, Ridley Hall maintains close ties with the university and many of its students are awarded qualifications by the university Faculty of Divinity, as well as Anglia Ruskin University. Ridley Hall teaching tends towards an evangelical theology. It is one of four Church of England theological colleges (the others being St John's College, Nottingham, Trinity College, Bristol and Cranmer Hall in Durham) which self-identify as "Open Evangelical".[2][3] The current principal of Ridley Hall is the Revd Canon Andrew Norman, succeeding the Rt Revd Dr Christopher Cocksworth, who was consecrated as Bishop of Coventry in July 2008.[4]
It also is one of the five centres that host the Centre for Youth Ministry, a Christian youth Work training course, throughout the United Kingdom. The other four centres are situated in Oxford, Nottingham, Bristol and Belfast.[5]