Missio Dei Bible College can trace its historical roots back to 1909, when the newly formed Pentecostal Missionary Union (PMU) started the first European Pentecostal Bible School at Paddington, London.
At this School, male students were trained for overseas missionary work and in the following year, a Bible School for the training of women missionaries was started by the PMU in Hackney. The men’s Training Home relocated to Preston in 1910. Notable students during this time were to include apostolic figures such as George Jeffreys, who established the Elim movement, and William Burton, co-founder of the Congo Evangelistic Mission. These Pentecostal pioneers went on to affect the world of mission and church-planting and establish Pentecostal history.
After the First World War, the School relocated to Hampstead Heath, and was led by Howard Carter for almost thirty years and in 1950, relocated again to Kenley in Surrey, where it became the official Bible College of British Assemblies of God in 1951. Notable Principals at Kenley included seminal Pentecostal leaders and writers such as Donald Gee and John Carter.
In 1973, the Assemblies of God moved the College to Mattersey Hall, an ex-preparatory school for boys in North Nottinghamshire. Over nearly 50 years, the college continued to develop leaders and offer first class theological education within the pentecostal context. As we begin our next phase, we are as committed as ever to developing theologically informed leaders of God’s people.