George Whitefield College

The inception of the George Whitfield College was in the early 1970s when candidates for the Church of England in SA (CESA) Ministry were trained at the Bible Institute of South Africa in Kalk Bay. Bishop Bradley and other members of the Church were aware that the candidates were not receiving adequate training and knowledge of the doctrines, practices and history of the Church of England. It was agreed that this was necessary so once a week, these candidates met in the library at the Institute for tuition on the Book of Common Prayer and other issues central to the CESA worship. The Rev Shucksmith from the Pinelands congregation took these lectures until his return to the UK. This tuition however was very hit and miss, on again and off again. In 1976 Rev Streeter joined the lecturing staff of the Bible Institute from Fort Victoria in what was then Rhodesia. (Zimbabwe) He headed up the George Whitfield College. As time passed the Bible Institute became concerned that it may be perceived as being closely aligned to one denomination so it became apparent that change was necessary. George Whitefield College 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,[2] who had for 27 years been Principal of Moore Theological College, Sydney.

In 1997 GWC became affiliated with Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education,(Under the management of Prof C.J. Reinecke) now known as North-West University and with Dr Seccombe an accredited external New Testament professor of NWU. Up until 2010, most students of GWC were also students of NWU, and although they studied at GWC with GWC’s curriculum, they were able to graduate with the Bachelor of Theology, the Bachelor of Arts Honours, and the Master of Arts from NWU. Since January 2010 GWC has offered its own BTh program, one that has been fully accredited by the Council for Higher Education.

Visiting scholars spend time at GWC and conduct PostGraduate modules: In 2011 Dr Paul Bowers (New Testament), in 2012 Dr Abel Ndjerareou (Old Testament), Dr George Athas (Hebrew), Dr Peter Bolt (New Testament) and as special guest in Feb 2013 Dr Mark Thompson, principal elect of Moore Theological College. GWC has also employed new PhDs in a postdoc capacity resulting in the publishing of several books: Dr Vhumani Magezi on Pastoral counselling and Aids in Southern Africa (2011), and Dr Fabulous Moyo in the area of Church history in Malawi (2012).

GWC hosts an annual lecture which in October 2009 was given by former member of faculty Dr James Krohn on the topic of Calvin as preacher of the Word. In October 2010 Dr John Azumah delivered this lecture. In 2012 this lecture was given by Dr Ashley Null.

GWC seeks to maintain friendly ties with the Bible Institute of South Africa situated in Kalk Bay in Cape Town,[3] and two sister CESA colleges: the Johannesburg Bible College[4] and the Kwazulu-Natal Missionary and Bible College (KMBC) formerly Trinity Academy.[5] The college also enjoys close ties with several local churches including St James Church Kenilworth whose rector is former GWC vice principal Dr Mervyn Eloff.[6] The college is also keen to maintain ties with former students and faculty, and supports the creation of electronic pages by students to this end - see GWC Facebook page[7]

George Whitefield College is overseen by a board of directors chaired by Bishop Frank Retief up till September 2010, but recently succeeded by Bishop Desmond Inglesby currently the presiding bishop of the Church of England in South Africa. The board is fully compliant with demands set by King 3.

The GWC faculty in 2013 totals eight full-time members and numerous part-time lecturers. The administration comprises a registrar, assistant registrar, business manager, IT manager, library director, student services manager, a librarian and two development managers. The Explore correspondence course is internally managed, and currently has 100 enrolments in about 10 countries, including Madagascar and Thailand. The library (which started off as Dr Knox's substantial personal library) has grown to 35,000 volumes (adding in about 800 new titles each year), and is housed in a custom-built resource centre. There are currently over 80 full-time undergraduates enrolled for the 3 year BTh, and in the Postgraduate program there are 7 in honours, 11Masters students, and 5 engaged in doctoral studies. Students have the use of a computer centre as well as an intranet, along with wireless access to the internet. Lecture rooms are equipped with data projectors and modern seating. Applications for study flow in from all over the world and it is not uncommon to have students from Chile, England, Germany, Korea and Australia. Most however come from Africa, with the majority from South Africa.

The bulk of the enrollments are for a BTh in Pastoral Ministry, but the college has for many years offered a BTh in Children's Ministry, a unique degree. There is also a fully accredited one year Certificate qualification, and each year several students prior to any engagement with other studies, come to the college for some theological grounding. At the commencement of each year, there is an 8 day language school which introduces the rudiments of Biblical Greek and Hebrew, and is open to members of the public.

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