Inter-Church College

Vide Support for South Seas' Inter-Church College

By Rev. L. D. Fullerton

fhe coconut curtain has been lifted and things will never be une again. The Church in the Pacific is breaking out of its on.

POSALS to establish an !5,000 Central Theological ; in Suva, for example, are ig wide support from churches Pacific. rches in nine Pacific territories, nting Anglican, Congrega- Lutheran, Methodist and terian traditions, have officially d to participate in the scheme ibstantial donations (totalling )) towards the cost of estab it have already been promised, proposal provides for a central lurch college in Suva, which esent an advanced course of rial training for up to 50 s. The scheme was formulated ; request of the Samoa Con of Churches and Missions) by mltation on Theological Edu held in Suva in May, which •ganised by the International lary Council.

John Havea, the very able i leader, said, with obvious at the final session of the :ation: “Many of you won’t how much these proposals 0 us Pacific Islanders. We’ve oping for this day for so long, s hard to believe that we have 1 this stage. Setareki Tuilovoni irst discussed a central college is more than 10 years ago— ve were students in America.”

Twelve Churches r the Consultation, the in, Congregational, Lutheran, list and Presbyterian churches various Pacific areas were y invited to participate in the ill the end of September, the ng support had been received: churches had decided form affiliate. TONGA—the Free an Church of Tonga; SAMOA Samoan Church (LMS); FIJI todist (Fijian and Indian

Is); Polynesia The

in Diocese of Polynesia; ISLANDS Cook Islands m Church (LMS); DUTCH GUlNEA —Evangelical Christ church (Dutch Reformed); V-NEW GUlNEA—Lutheran

Rev. L. D. Fullerton, chair man of the Fiji-Indian District of the Methodist Church of Fiji, was recently appointed organis ing secretary of the Central Theological College for the South Pacific, which is to be established in Suva—an impor tant development in the work of all South Pacific churches. In the September PIM, Mr. Fuller ton told how a vital new era in the work of the Pacific churches had opened up following an historic conference in Samoa earlier this year, and in this article he underlines the signi ficance of the establishment of the new Theological College.

Mission; NEW HEBRlDES—Presby terian Church; MARSHALLS—Mar shaII Islands Church (Congrega tional); TAHlTl—French Protestant; MELANESIA—The Anglican Dio cese of Melanesia.

Donations totalling £51,000 to wards the cost of establishment, were from: The Samoan Church (LMS), £2,000; The Australian Council of Churches (Department of Inter- Church Aid), £4,000; Methodist Board of Missions (Sydney), £5,000; International Missionary Council (Theological Education Fund), £40,000.

Some of the decisions to affiliate were taken with more than usual enthusiasm. When the Assembly of the Samoan Church decided to affiliate, one of the delegates rose and said: “I will pay the £5O”.

When the Fiji-Indian Methodist Synod resolved to affiliate, one of the Indian delegates, who moved the resolution, said: “It would be a good gesture if we paid the fee ourselves”.

Members agreed and the money was subscribed before the delegates left.

A little more time will be allowed to enable other churches to make formal decisions at their annual church courts. Steps will then be taken to call a provisional meeting

of the College Council, which will consist of representatives of the par ticipating churches which have paid their affiliation fee.

This provisional council will draft a constitution for the college and submit it for approval to the par ticipating churches.

When approval is received, an official college council (of 10 mem bers) will be formally constituted and incorporated. The council will be responsible for getting the college built, staffed and functioning.

The college will be based upon a standard of Christian doctrine to be agreed upon by the co-operating churches. Participating churches will be free, if they desire, to direct the discipline and devotion of their own students.

All students and staff will dine to gether but churches will be allowed to provide separate residences for their students if they wish. Plans pro vide for a student body of up to 50 and a teaching staff of six. The college, however, will probably begin with 25 or 30 students and four lecturers.

Unanimous for Suva Suva was unanimously chosen as the site for the future college—“at a place conveniently near to the heart of a future university”, the proposal says.

The existence of a similar institu tion in Suva—the Central Medical School—was considered important.

Current suggestions to make Koro nivia Farm Institute (near Suva) a training centre for the South Pacific

ivelopment of more than passing it. new college plans to provide a year course leading to the rd of the Diploma of Theology j London University. For an period, a two year prepara ,. Th. (Licentiate in Theology) will be provided. It is planned sr higher courses of study as is students are ready for them ibly the Bachelor of Divinity from the London University, college will attempt to secure ition by one of the universities ;rnational repute, college staff, it is hoped, will hly qualified lecturers, not only vestern countries but also from or Africa—and, at the first e opportunity, qualified Pacific :rs themselves. syllabus will be geared to the needs of Pacific students, xample, Church History will dequately with the history of lurch in the Pacific; courses in iology and anthropology of the will be given. ents will begin with a basic ion approximating to matricu level. It is hoped that the best ;s from the Pacific churches me to the central college to ad their ministerial training. It is also that the college will attract Ist students from Australia, Zealand and further afield.

The Background

Suva Consultation proved to fery representative body. Pre ere nationals of New Guinea, Samoa and Fiji; English, New d or Australian missionaries iamoa, Fiji, the Gilbert Islands, New Hebrides and Cook Is a French missionary from a Dutchman from West New i, Americans from the Caro md New Guinea, and repre

sentatives of the International Mis sionary Council and the Australian Council of Churches.

Chairman was the Rev. Dr. Charles W. Forman, Professor of Missions at Yale University, USA. Professor Forman has travelled extensively in Asia, Africa and Latin America over the last couple of years advising on the development of theological educa tion.

Bishop Lesslie Newbigin, General Secretary of the International Mis sionary Council, was present as chap lain and adviser.

The churches represented were Methodist, Anglican, Presbyterian, Congregational, Lutheran, Dutch Re formed, French Reformed and the Church of South India.

In discussion, four strong reasons were submitted for establishing a central college. • To break the isolation of Pacific churches—separated from one another and the outside world by great stretches of water. • To train ministers for a chang ing Pacific. Again and again delegates insisted that the Church is not taking “seriously and adequately enough the changing conditions of life in the Pacific”, The new college would pro vide opportunities for research as well as teaching. • To provide a higher level of theological training actually in the Pacific environment. Lecturers in the different theological colleges scattered in the Pacific are able and devoted men. But they are grossly over worked.

Urgent Need

Professor Forman told the Suva Consultation: “I know no other part of the world where theological colleges are as poorly staffed as they are in the Pacific”. He was also very surprised that there are so few Pacific Islander lecturers. It is clear that the churches individually haven’t the re sources to provide the theological training the modern Pacific needs. • To enrich the whole Church.

The central college will be a bridge that will enable the world Church and the Pacific Church to share their insights. It will also help the Church in the Pacific to express its own characteristics.

Bishop Lesslie Newbigin spoke of “the absolutely clamant necessity” of establishing an inter-church college such as the one proposed. Asia, Africa and Latin America have all had inter-church ministerial training colleges like this for years. It seems that now the Church in the Pacific considers that this is a project to get on with.