Wesley College (Bristol)

Wesley College was a theological college in the Henbury area of Bristol, England, between 1946 and 2012. As the successor to an institution established in London in 1834, it was the oldest provider of theological education for the Methodist Church of Great Britain. The college was the core institution of the South West Regional Training Network of the Methodist Church, where its partners were the South West Ministerial Training Course in Exeter and the Southern Theological Education and Training Scheme in Salisbury. It was also involved with ecumenical education.

The Wesleyan Methodist Conference decided in 1834 to establish the Wesleyan Institution for the Improvement of Junior Preachers, which at first was based in London. By 1843, funds were available to establish Didsbury College, Manchester and Richmond College, Surrey; by 1881 these had been joined by Wesley College, Headingley and Handsworth College, Birmingham, all four considered branches of the Wesleyan Theological Institution. In 1967, Wesley College at Headingley was closed and merged into the Bristol institution, which gained the Wesley College name.

Although established to prepare people for ordained ministry in the Methodist Church, and this was still a significant part of its work with an emphasis particularly on pre ordination students who were studying part time, the College programme became much more widely based. The teaching staff came from a wide range of Christian backgrounds. Student ministers worked alongside other students of theology, bringing a wider experience of life into the learning environment. Wesley College provided a wide range of units in Christian theology, validated by the University of Bristol, most of which were open to lay people as well as those preparing for ordination. After 2008 the College offered a Foundation Degree (FdA) in Mission and Ministry validated by St. Mary's University College (Twickenham). who was also Honorary Research Fellow in Medical Ethics in the University of Bristol and a recognised teacher in the University of Bristol and the University of Wales, Cardiff. Other staff amounted to the equivalent of seven full time posts. Enrolled at the college during the 2009/10 academic year were four ministerial students sponsored by the Methodist Council, twenty eight independently funded lay students on courses validated by the St Mary's University College or the University of Bristol, and sixty four independently funded lay students on non validated courses. The site was placed on the market in 2010. In August 2015 it was agreed to donate a shipment of 38,000 'modern' textbooks from the college to Kenya Methodist University.