HARTLEY VICTORIA COLLEGE
Tutors
Dr Tony Moodie (Principal)
DTh (Unisa), MEd (Natal), BA (Unisa), BSc (Natal), Ed. Dip (Natal), Dip.Sp.Ed. (Unisa)
Rev’d. Dr. Andrew Pratt (Tutor)
Ph.D. (Liverpool) M.A. (Durham) M.Sc. (Wales) B.Sc. (London) P.G.C.E. (Exeter)
Rev’d. Nicola Price-Tebbutt (Tutor)
M.A. (Manchester) B.A. (Sheffield)
Oversight and Executive Committees
Chair : Rev’d. Dr. Keith Davies Ph.D. (Cambridge) M.Th. (St. Andrews)
Secretary: Rev’d. Trevor Dixon AdDipEdTech, DipSocPastTheol
Admissions
Information about entry to Methodist Training can be obtained from your own Circuit or District or direct from the Formation in Ministry team at:
Methodist Church House
25 Marylebone Road
London
NW1 5JR
0207 486 5502
HARTLEY VICTORIA COLLEGE – PAST AND PRESENT
Hartley Victoria College has two major foundations – Hartley College of the Primitive Methodist Church and Victoria Park College of the United Methodist Church. Ranmoor College Sheffield is also part of the history of the foundation, and this name is preserved in the name of one of our ‘chairs’. The college therefore is rooted in the non-Wesleyan strands of Methodism and its constituent foundations represent noble commitments on the part of these small and financially poor connexions to providing education for ministry. Hartley College was so called because of the benefaction of Sir William Hartley, a noted primitive Methodist industrialist. Hartley’s jam may still be purchased! One of the most distinguished tutors of Hartley College was Arthur Samuel Peake, the editor of the famous ‘Peake’s Commentary’, the first Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism in Manchester University and also Pro Vice Chancellor. His memory is honoured through the ‘Peake’ room in Luther King House.
At the time of Methodist union the two colleges came together in the building of the old Hartley College on Alexandra Road South in Manchester, a fine building which still stands, now owned by the Kassim Darwish Muslim Independent school for boys. In 1973 the building was sold by the Methodist Church and the college community moved to share the premises of the Northern Baptist College. The Baptist and Methodist Colleges were shortly joined by the Northern College (United Reformed, Congregational and Moravian) and the Unitarian College, and a partnership with the Northern Ordination Course was consolidated.
In 1975 the Northern Federation for Training in Ministry was formed comprising the Baptist, Northern and Methodist Colleges, together with the Northern Ordination course, with the Unitarian College as an associate member.
In September 1998 the Federation ceased to exist, its members taking the initiative to form the Partnership for Theological Education. The change of name expressed two very important related developments:
Whilst the Federation had only five members (full or associate) the Partnership includes a much larger number – including local Methodist districts and circuits – and their equivalent in other denominations.
Whilst the Federation (as its name implies) was concerned primarily with training for ordained ministry the Partnership is committed to theological education for the whole church. Preparing people for ordination will remain an important part of its work – but only a part. Those preparing for recognised ministry study alongside others to their mutual enrichment.
Early in the life of the Federation the Manchester Christian Institute was formed as the ‘lay education’ arm of the Federation. In September 1998 the Institute ceased to exist as its work was incorporated into that of the Partnership. This expressed a commitment to the whole people of God (lay, ordinand and ordained) learning together. The Luther King House Open College now serves as a collegial location within the Partnership for those studying without any direct church sponsorship channelled through the denominational colleges.
Luther King House, originally the building of the Northern Baptist College and owned by Baptist Trustees, is now vested in the ‘Luther King House Educational Trust’ of which the Baptist College, the Northern College, the United Reformed Church and the Methodist Church, are stakeholders.
HARTLEY VICTORIA COLLEGE – TODAY
Hartley Victoria is not and does not have a building. It is a college in the sense of being a collegial community. The building was sold in 1972 and the college community since then has worked within the building currently known as Luther King House. Its shared educational work has been through the Partnership for Theological Education.
Until recently Hartley Victoria College has worked in partnership with the Northern Baptist College, the Northern College, and the Unitarian College, on a validated programme in contextual theology. In 2005-06 as part of a desire on behalf of church leaders in the North West region to collaborate more closely in the provision of theological education the Southern North West Training Partnership came into being. Luther King House became part of the network comprising this Partnership which serves the North West Region by providing a developing FdA course entitled Learning for Mission and Ministry open to members of the constituent denominations of Luther King House and the Church of England.
The work and area of interest falls into three main areas:
Education for Discipleship (an opportunity to enable lay Christians to further develop
their learning. For Methodists this is consonant with EDEV.
Training for Ministry through the Learning for Mission and Ministry Course
Continuing Ministerial and Professional Development for those in accredited lay and ordained ministries
Courses are being offered in various modes through six regional centres and also through e-learning. A pathway is being developed to a full degree programme.
Currently Hartley Victoria College as part of Luther King House participates fully in the life and work of the RTP while continuing to service those completing the old Faith in Living BA of Manchester University. It continues to participate in the collegial responsibility for research and publication involving staff and the servicing of students wishing to continue on a taught MA validated by Manchester University and in research for MPhil and PhD degrees in the broad field of contextual theology.
METHODISM’S PRINCIPLES OF THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION
The college is committed to the ‘Nine principles of Theological Education’ as approved by the Conference of 1991. According to these, theological education should be:
1. available to all, lay and ordained
2. ecumenical wherever possible, including co-operation with secular bodies wherever feasible
3. interdisciplinary where practicable, to help those doing theology to relate their area of expertise to the wider community of knowledge
4. international, living on a large map, and exploring the riches of other cultures and faiths
5. flexible in relation to the needs of different people as well as in teaching method
6. collaborative and consultative in style
7. seeking academic excellence, earthed in the contemporary world, relative to the abilities of the individual students in training
8. concerned not only with initial but also with ongoing training
9. disposable in form so that future generations are not faced with a 1990s approach fixed in tablets of stone.
Hartley Victoria College is well equipped to embody these principles, not least because of our participation in partnerships which are ecumenical and committed both to theological education for the whole church and to theological education as a life-long vocation. The principles are fully consistent with those of the educational and training programmes used by the college.