Trinity College, Glasgow
Trinity College, Glasgow is an independent part of the University of Glasgow's School of Divinity. It provides special supervision of candidates for the ministry through a Principal (appointed by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland) and an academic senate. The College is the official channel of liaison between the University of Glasgow, the Church of Scotland, and the United Free Church of Scotland
The current Principal is the Reverend Professor George Newlands.
History
In the 19th century there was a schism in the Church of Scotland, resulting in the creation of the Free Church of Scotland. The Free Church established its own colleges or seminaries, detached from the universities, for the education of its ministers. The Glasgow College, funded by local subscription, was established in 1856. It was a multi-disciplinary institution of considerable reputation, existing outside the University of Glasgow's Faculty of Theology.
Later, in 1930, following the reunion of the churches and theological teaching facilities, the Glasgow Church college was renamed "Trinity College". After the reunion of the main Scottish Presbyterian churches in 1929–30, the two teaching facilities in the University and the Church College were reintegrated. From 1976, when the Church-owned Trinity College buildings at Park Circus, were finally vacated, all teaching of theology took place in the university Divinity Faculty. Accordingly, while Trinity College still exists, it is a body without walls.
Some notable teachers
Teachers in the pre-1930 College included Archibald B. Bruce, James Denney, Thomas M. Lindsay, George A. Smith, James Moffatt, Henry Drummond, and James Orr. In the modern era, in the reunited faculty, notable teachers have included John Macquarrie, Ronald Gregor Smith, William McKane, William H.C. Frend, Ernest P. Best, William Barclay (theologian), John Zizioulas, Robert P. Carroll, and George Newlands.
Further reading
- Stewart Mechie, Trinity College Glasgow 1856–1956, London & Glasgow, 1956.
- W. Ian P Hazlett (ed.), Traditions of Theology in Glasgow 1450–1990, Edinburgh, 1993.
- D. Wright, "Trinity College Glasgow", in Dictionary of Scottish Church History & Theology, Edinburgh, 1991.