These are exciting times for us as the AoG Bible College as we move into the next phase of our life. Having begun in Hackney with moves to Preston, Hampstead Heath, Kenley and Mattersey we have served in shaping Pentecostal ministry for the last 111 years.
Over the last 18 months we have done a root and branch review of everything that we do as a college, identifying many positives and also some challenges.
We came to 2 significant conclusions:
- We are as committed as ever to high quality teaching and learning and AoG is absolutely committed to higher education. We will continue to be a college that as well equipping people with theological training produces leaders and ministers for the Church.
- Our site at Mattersey, which has served us so well for nearly 50 years, is no longer the best site for us.
We have already begun to make significant changes to curriculum & delivery; and in the last 6 months we have created and had approved by Chester University a brand new BA in Theology and Christian Leadership. We have also made the decision to move from a residential teaching programme to a blended delivery programme including classroom, placement and digital learning environments, for our undergraduate courses. This will allow many more people to access Higher Education specifically tailored to a Pentecostal context.
In terms of where the college will be situated we have begun a search for a new site with multiple requirements:
- A more urban environment
- Strong national transport links
- A modern state of the art, cost effective premises
- The ability to teach both live and online at the same time
- Situated near a variety of short term accommodation options.
In searching for the right site we are looking at a number of different locations in multiple towns and cities.
We are committed to teaching the current academic year on site here at Mattersey, planning to be on the new site in September 2021. Mattersey Hall has been put on the market this week and we are now waiting to see what offers come in. AoG is committed to reinvesting all monies into future property.
We are excited about the future; looking forward to continuing being one of Europe’s premier Pentecostal Bible Colleges, focussed particularly on forming ministers to lead local churches.