Phone +61 8 8291 8188 | ||
Address 176 Wattle St, Malvern SA 5061, Australia Similar Adelaide College of Ministries, Australian College of Theology, Trinity Theological College, Sydney Missionary and Bible, Brisbane School of Theology Profiles | ||
The Bible College of South Australia (BCSA), formerly known as the Adelaide Bible Institute, is an interdenominational and evangelical Bible college in Adelaide, South Australia. It offers courses accredited by the Australian College of Theology. The college's particular focus is on teaching "theology for ministry" and seeing men and women trained to serve in Christian ministry "in Adelaide, South Australia and beyond".
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History
Formerly called the Adelaide Bible Institute, the college was established in 1924 and offered evening classes to train people for missionary service. In 1949, the college became residential, first at West Richmond before moving in 1950 to Payneham. It was at this time that the college began to provide full-time ministry training programs. Growing numbers of students meant that, in 1962, the college relocated to larger premises in Victor Harbor where the Reverend Geoffrey Bingham became principal and oversaw a continued increase in the student body.
The college was renamed the Bible College of South Australia in 1973 and, in 1978, the strategic decision was made to move back to the city. The former Concordia College girls' boarding house in Malvern was acquired and continues to be the college's home today.
In the 1980s, the college was a member of the Adelaide College of Divinity along with the Baptist Burleigh College In the 1990s, the college with Burleigh offered the Australian College of Theology Bachelor of Theology and Bachelor of Ministry degrees. At the end of that decade, they established the South Australian Graduate School of Theology to teach masters and doctoral degrees in addition to undergraduate awards. In 2007, following the closure of Burleigh, the graduate school was amalgamated into the college proper where the full range of academic programs are now still offered.
Courses
The college offers tertiary qualifications from diploma to postgraduate level, focussing on the Bachelor of Ministry, Bachelor of Theology and Master of Divinity, these three being commonly recognised as standard qualifications for workers in churches and Christian ministries.
All courses at the college emphasise New Testament and Old Testament studies with the disciplines of Christian thought (e.g. systematic theology, Church history and ethics) and ministry practice (e.g. preaching, leadership and evangelism) also being offered. Courses are taught on-campus by a small in-house faculty and several adjunct lecturers. Several of the Master of Arts units are run in intensive blocks by visiting lecturers.