One of Belfast's landmark buildings, Union Theological College on Botanic Avenue celebrates its 150th anniversary this Thursday, 4 December at 4pm in nearby Fitzroy Presbyterian Church with a Service of Thanksgiving and its reopening and rededication after major refurbishment.
Opened originally on 5 December 1853, it was established by the Presbyterian Church as a college for the training of its ministers and was known affectionately as 'Assembly's College' after the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. It became Union in 1978 when it merged with the other Presbyterian training centre at Magee College in Londonderry.
Today Union still trains students for the ministry but also forms part of the Theological Faculty of Queen's University and this year some 400 students will pass through its doors undertaking undergraduate and postgraduate courses leading to degrees in theology and divinity. In addition there are part time day and evening classes at both degree and 'A' level.
The College is now also home to the Magee Institute which has a distinct emphasis on life-long learning and offers a series of short courses aimed at enthusing and equipping Christians for ministry in the broadest sense.
Perhaps the greatest asset in the College is the Gamble Library which specialises in Theology and contains 45,000 books, 15,000 pamphlets and takes 75 theological journals annually.
The library has also played its part in the history of Northern Ireland when from 1921 to 1932 it was the home of the Northern Ireland Parliament before it moved to Stormont.
The 150th Anniversary is being marked by a service of Thanksgiving in the nearby Fitzroy Presbyterian Church at 4pm on Thursday 4 December and this will be followed by the official reopening and rededication of the College by Presbyterian Moderator Dr Ivan McKay on completion of a £2.8m refurbishment programme.
Among those present will be the speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Lord Alderdice who will bring greetings and present a painting to the college emphasising its historic link to Stormont
In the evening at 7.30pm the festivities continue in Fitzroy Church with a public lecture by Dr Alister E McGrath, Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford entitled "Renewing our vision for the future of Protestant Christianity in Northern Ireland.
Among the guests at celebrations to mark the 150th Anniversary of Union Theological College was Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Lord Alderdice (right) who presented Union College Principal, Professor Patton Taylor (left), with a painting of the members of the first Northern Ireland Assembly. This marked the close association between Parliament Buildings and the Union College building where the first parliament of Northern Ireland met for its first 11 sessions between 1921 and 1932 until Stormont was completed.
Issued by Stephen Lynas, Presbyterian Information Services. Info@PresbyterianIreland.org
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