For the Church, With the Church

Any theological college or seminary is, by definition, a parachurch organisation. That means its purpose is to serve and strengthen the church.

At Oak Hill College, this conviction is literally written on our walls. Our mission is simple: we exist to see the church flourish.

The church is central to God’s plan for the world. A healthy relationship between churches and theological colleges begins here. 

Students should be sent and supported by their church and remain connected to it as they train. That relationship keeps formation grounded — not just in lectures and libraries, but in the lived life of faith, prayer and service.

When this partnership works well, both benefit. Churches send their people for deeper training; seminaries help them return better equipped — in doctrine, in maturity, and in love for the body of Christ.

At Oak Hill we partner with a large number of churches from different denominations and backgrounds, to help train and equip their people for a lifetime of faithful and joyful service.

“

“Having training alongside working with Godly people and being exposed to lots of different situations and aspects of ministry. Both study and church life informed each other really well.”

Adam Goddard

Adam Goddard was sent by a church in Richmond, studying part-time over six years whilst working as an Assistant Pastor.

How we seek to serve the church

Students sent by their churches

For each student we look, within their application form, references and (where applicable) at interview, to see the support of their sending church/minister to train.

All students must have a reference from their church leader to apply for one of our accredited courses. 

Applicants who are preparing for ordained ministry in the Church of England must be recommended for training following a Church of England Stage 2 Panel.

Providing flexible programmes

Our programmes are flexible to serve the needs of the church and the students they are sending. All our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes can be studied either full-time or part-time allowing people to either move to college or stay in their current church, depending on their needs. 

Offering a variety of bursaries

As a college we remain committed to our founder's vision of making theological training as accessible and affordable as we can. 

We have a number of bursaries available to reduce the cost and to allow the college to partner directly with churches in their funding of training.

These include:

  • A First Degree Bursary where we offer matching the financial support a student raises from their church and individual supporters for someone’s first undergraduate degree. 

  • A Small Church Partnership Bursary for churches with an annual income of less than £100k a year to receive 50% off fees for any student they send who are accepted onto our programmes.

Read more about all our bursaries here.

“

“Being able to experience different churches has been really helpful and I've really enjoyed seeing how those churches are led and thinking about what it means to be trained up to work in different churches."

Dorna Nash

Dorna was a full-time student at college for three years, experiencing a couple of church placements during her time at Oak Hill.

Students attending church at college

All our students are expected to be attending a church whilst studying with us. 

How you stay part of a church as a student will vary, depending on the programme and mode in which you study.

Undergraduate (CertHE, DipHE, BA(Hons)) students and postgraduate Church of England ordinands have placements as part of their courses. They are a compulsory part of the qualification.

We work with the student to find a church placement suitable for them.

Normally, Church of England ordinands do their weekly placement in one church for the first year, and a different church for the second year, and independent students usually stay in one for both years. 

For those of you with families, we want to encourage you to get stuck in to these placements as a family if at all possible and learn and be enriched and serve together. 

Part time students normally undertake their placements in churches with whom they are already connected.

You can find out more about placements on our info sheet here.