About Bible College SA

Purpose & Beliefs

Statement of Faith

The Bible College of South Australia is orthodox in faith, evangelical in outlook, evangelistic in emphasis and interdenominational in character. The following fundamentals are strictly held:

1. We believe in the Old and New Testaments as inspired of God and wholly trustworthy, and that they are of supreme and final authority in faith and life.
2. We believe in one God, eternally existing in three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
3. We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary, and is true God and true man inseparably joined in one person for ever.
4. We believe that men and women were created in the image of God, that they sinned and thereby incurred not only physical death, but also that spiritual death which is separation from God; and that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
5. We believe in the personality of the devil and the universality and heinousness of sin.
6. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures as a substitutionary sacrifice; and that all who believe in Him are justified on the ground of His shed blood.
7. We believe that salvation is by grace through faith, and that all who by faith receive the Lord Jesus Christ are born again of the Holy Spirit, and thereby become children of God.
8. We believe in the physical resurrection of our Lord, in His ascension into Heaven, and in His present life there for us, as High Priest and Advocate.
9. We believe in the return of our Lord Jesus Christ to gather His elect, to manifest His Kingdom in power and glory, and to judge the world in righteousness.
10. We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting punishment of the impenitent.
11. We believe that the Church is the company of all who have been born again through faith in Christ and have been formed by His Spirit into one body, of which He is the Head, and that the Church is commissioned to go into all the world and proclaim the good news of salvation.
    

Our Objectives

• To prepare students to serve the church and the world. To this end we shall endeavour to offer such programs of study and training as will best fit men and women to move into positions of ministry in local churches, para-church organisations, or cross-cultural situations both locally and globally.
• To present a program of training which will lead each student into a consistent lifestyle of discipleship, as interpreted by the Bible.
• To contribute to the work of the gospel by pursuing excellence in learning, teaching, research in theological education.
• That each man and woman will graduate from the college with a deep experiential knowledge of God, rooted in a thorough understanding of the Word of God, and a practical understanding of prayer and spiritual warfare.
• That all students will graduate from the college with a desire to grow in devotion to the Lord Christ, and a desire and ability to make Christ known in whatever situation they are placed by the Lord.
• To be recognised leaders in theological education and thereby known as a hub for the Christian community of South Australia.
• To promote the study of theology and other disciplines related to Christian ministry in the Christian community of South Australia.

History

Bible College SA has been training men and women for gospel work in both Australia and overseas since 1924. For many years known as ‘Adelaide Bible Institute’, the College offered evening classes to train people for missionary service. In 1949, the College became residential, first based 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 at Mt Breckan, Victor Harbor where Rev. Geoffrey Bingham became Principal and oversaw a continued increase in the student body.

The College was renamed ‘Bible College of South Australia’ in 1973 and in 1980, the strategic decision was made to move back to the city. The former Concordia College girls’ boarding house was acquired and continues to be the College’s home today.

In the 1990s, the College partnered with Burleigh Baptist Theological College to start teaching the Bachelor of Theology and Bachelor of Ministry degrees of the Australian College of Theology, the country’s oldest and largest accredited provider of tertiary theological education. At the end of that decade, the same partnership saw the establishment of the South Australian Graduate School of Theology. This enabled the teaching of Masters and Doctoral degrees in addition to the range of undergraduate awards. In 2010, following the closure of Burleigh, the Graduate School was amalgamated into the College proper.

Over the past few years the College has revitalised its faculty, wider staff team and engagement with the wider Christian community, and has also enjoyed a strong new wave of enrolments. We believe our ministry continues to be critical to the long-term health of the Christian community in our city, state and world and so pray that God will continue to bless and build his work at Bible College SA so that more and more men and women are equipped for faithful and fruitful Kingdom service in the years and decades ahead.

Governance

Current Directors of the Board:
Ray Bell – Secretary
Geetha Chandran
Sum Lock – Chair
Tim Patrick – Principal (ex officio, non-voting)
Don Reddin
Scott Tilley – Treasurer
Geoff Watson

For a copy of the College’s Constitution, please contact admin@biblecollege.sa.edu.au