Trinity College Theological School (TCTS) is an educational division of Australia's Trinity College,[1] the oldest residential college of the University of Melbourne. It is also one of the constituent colleges of the University of Divinity. The School provides theological education and shapes men and women for ordained and lay ministry in the Anglican tradition, as well as providing other programs of study, including higher degrees by research.
The school was founded in 1877 by Bishop James Moorhouse for the purpose of training a "learned and dedicated clergy" in Victoria, obviating the need to send candidates interstate for training.[2] From this founding vision the school's focus has now broadened to modern forms of theological education and formation for lay people as well as ordination candidates. Trinity teaches across the broad-church, moderate and Anglo-Catholic traditions of theology, worship and spirituality and seeks to engage critically and reflectively with the contemporary world.[3]
Until the 1960s, Trinity theological students normally undertook a degree program of the University of Melbourne, followed by the Licentiate in Theology of the Australian College of Theology. In 1969 Trinity became a foundation member of the ecumenical United Faculty of Theology (UFT). This partnership with the Jesuit Theological College and Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregational theological schools (later combined as the Uniting Church Theological Hall) created a rare ecumenical context for higher learning in theology.
Trinity was a founding member of the Melbourne College of Divinity (MCD) from its inception in 1910. In 2012, the MCD became the University of Divinity and, with the dissolution of the UFT at the end of 2014, Trinity became one of the present 11 colleges of the university. The University of Divinity is the awarding institution of all the degree programs offered within the college. In 2018, Trinity College appointed the university's first research professor and first post-doctoral research fellow.[4]
Trinity College Theological School currently offers the following award programs of the University of Divinity:
Trinity students have access to the collections of both the Leeper Library at Trinity and the Dalton-McCaughey Library, the joint collection of the Jesuit and Uniting Church colleges, with one of the largest theological collections in the southern hemisphere.[5]
Leadership of theological education at Trinity was originally the responsibility of the college chaplains under the supervision of the warden. Since the 1970s there have been lecturers specifically appointed to teach in and lead the school, holding the positions of Stewart Lecturer, Director and, more recently, Dean. The following have held these offices:
Trinity has produced many clergy who have held significant appointments in the Anglican Church. These include: