The Anglican Church has deemed 2013 the year of theological education and every parish has been challenged to contribute to an endowment fund for the College of Transfiguration here in Grahamstown.
The Anglican Church has deemed 2013 the year of theological education and every parish has been challenged to contribute to an endowment fund for the College of Transfiguration here in Grahamstown.
The only residential centre for training Anglican clergy, the institution aims to raise R100 million from the 3.6 million active Anglican communicants across the country.
“Come 2014 the College of the Transfiguration intends to take its place with pride among the higher education institutions of this country,” said College rector Prof Barney Pityana, “offering the best possible qualifications and training and the best men and women for service in church and society”.
Pityana explained that when he assumed his position in 2011 he was tasked with three main objectives: To move the College towards registration as a provider of higher education and accredited qualifications, improve the academic standards and establish the Anglican ethos in spirituality, worship and theology.
The first step was to re-vision the College and design a compelling vision strategy, he said. Next was to move towards attaining the legally-required registration and accreditation, which “gives clergy a credible higher education… comparable to any discipline in the higher education system”.
This means the College will now award its own degrees and diplomas and that the programmes and qualifications of the College will meet both Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) and South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) requirements.
The College has received provisional accreditation, meaning its proposals for the diploma in theology were found to be broadly compliant with the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) when reviewed by the HEQC.
The programmes may not be offered, however, without two further steps: registration with the Department of Higher Education and Training and entry by the national qualifications authority in the NQF.
An unsuccessful application was also made to introduce a Bachelor of Theology degree, Pityana said.
“All outstanding matters have now been addressed and we remain hopeful that all requirements will be met to allow the College to introduce the new qualifications in 2014.”
The College’s constitution – a necessary instrument for compliance with the Higher Education Act – has also been revised and approved by the College council. Its purpose is to ensure good governance, clarify objectives, define the College’s relationship to the church, and provide for financial accountability, academic administration and management.
The final step in the College’s transformation is to create a secure, self-contained campus with facilities for learning, residences and recreational amenities “to provide students with a quality of life for their spiritual growth and academic achievement,” Pityana said.
The blueprints for these improvements have been approved and endorsed by the Anglican Church and will include a new administration building, multi-purpose assembly hall and upgrades to infrastructure.
The College’s library, for instance, is among the best theological libraries in the country and its modernisation will also create a digital learning commons.
Founded in its present form in 1993, the institution was named "The College of the Transfiguration" to mark the new life of the church in a democratic South Africa.
Now a host of improvements and plans for growth will drive its own transfiguration.
