Type Private Dean Gregory C. Jenks Founded 1920 Affiliation Anglicanism | Established 1920 Campus Urban Headquarters Jerusalem, Israel | |
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Location East Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Palestine/Israel Similar Virginia Theological Seminary, Berkeley Divinity School, Episcopal Divinity School, Seminary of the Southwest, Boston University School of Profiles | ||
St George's College Jerusalem (SGCJ) is a continuing education center of the Anglican Communion. It is an agency of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, with a mission to the local church within the Diocese, to the wider Anglican Church in the Middle East, and to the global Anglican Communion.
Contents
History
The College was founded as a seminary for Palestinian seminarians. When George Francis Popham Blyth, a Church of England cleric with sympathy for High Church Anglicanism, became the bishop of the diocese in 1887, he found himself estranged from the evangelical societies which were working in Jerusalem at the time; the Church Mission Society and the London Jews Society. Therefore, he formed his own Jerusalem and the East Mission, purchased land outside of the Old City, and raised funds for the construction of St George's Collegiate Church (which is today the diocesan cathedral), and St George's College as well.
In 1962, it expanded its mission to include educating clergy and laity from other parts of the world.
Today the College programs focus on pilgrimage, community, study, and reconciliation. Programs typically last 8, 10 or 14 days, and are open to clergy and laity of all denominations and any faith.
The major program areas for SGCJ courses are:
Campus
The college is on the grounds of the Cathedral. It is in East Jerusalem, near the American Colony Hotel and is ten minutes’ walk from the Old City of Jerusalem. The school has a three story building containing en suite rooms capable of housing up to 42 people. The 21,000 volume library is one of the largest English language libraries in Jerusalem.