Wycliffe Hall, Oxford facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Wycliffe Hall
Blazon: Gules, an open book proper the pages inscribed with the Latin words "Via Veritas Vita" in letters sable on a chief azure three crosses crosslet argent and in base an estoile or.
University	Oxford
Location	54 Banbury Road, Oxford
Coordinates	51°45′47″N 1°15′36″W / 51.76302°N 1.260095°W / 51.76302; -1.260095
Motto	Via, Veritas, Vita "The Way, the Truth, the Life" (John 14:6)
Established	1877; 147 years ago (1877)
Named for	John Wycliffe
Sister college	Ridley Hall, Cambridge
Principal	Michael Lloyd
Undergraduates	~90
Postgraduates	~30
Visiting students	~50
Map
Location in Oxford city centre

Wycliffe Hall is a Church of England theological college and a Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is named after the Bible translator and reformer John Wycliffe, who was master of Balliol College, Oxford in the 14th century.

Founded in 1877, Wycliffe Hall provides theological training to women and men for ordained and lay ministries in the Church of England as well as other Anglican and non-Anglican churches. There are also a number of independent and undergraduate students studying theology, education and philosophy. The hall is rooted in and has a history of Evangelical Anglicanism and includes strong influences of Charismatic, Conservative and Open Evangelical traditions.

The hall is the third-oldest Anglican theological college and, as of April 2020, claimed to have trained more serving Church of England bishops than any other such institution (21 of c. 116).

History

Wycliffe Hall was founded in 1877 to train Christian workers as pastors and missionaries, especially as clergy within the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion. It is one of more than 20 Anglican theological colleges established in England during the late 19th century. Its "sister college" is Ridley Hall, Cambridge, which opened in 1881. It was founded following evangelical public meetings in 1876 where the concerns were raised about how "the majority of clergy are professionally ignorant".

The college is named after John Wycliffe, master of Balliol College, Oxford, in the 14th century. He was a philosopher and theologian who argued for biblical theology. One of the founders of Wycliffe was J. C. Ryle, a Bishop of Liverpool and theologian.

For many centuries the University of Oxford was explicitly Christian and Anglican. It was officially secularised by the Oxford University Act 1854 and the Universities Tests Act 1871, when it was opened to students and lecturers of all religious faiths or none. Wycliffe Hall’s vision was to maintain the teaching of biblical and evangelical theology at Oxford. Its first pioneers aimed to promote "doctrinal truth and vital godliness". Its Victorian trust deed upholds the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, which is the part of the English Reformation heritage of the Church of England, although it now welcomes students from all Christian denominations. Since the 19th century the college has had close links with the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union and the Oxford Pastorate, two evangelical organisations working with Oxford students.

During the First World War, Wycliffe Hall housed refugees from Serbia and trainees from the Royal Flying Corps who built a practice aeroplane in the dining hall.

In 1929 Wycliffe Hall staff and students on pilgrimage to Jerusalem were commissioned as peacekeepers during riots in Palestine. One student was shot through the shoulder.

William Henry Griffith Thomas, one of Wycliffe Hall’s best known principals and a noted theologian, is remembered by a bronze bust in the dining room.

In 1996 Wycliffe Hall became a Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford, under the leadership of Alister McGrath. In 2005 it launched the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics in partnership with the Zacharias Trust.

Recent history

Wycliffe became a focus of media attention in 2007 when a significant number of the academic staff left, including the vice-principal and head of pastoral theology. Three former principals wrote to the chair of the college council to protest about the way staff complaints of being bullied were ignored. The crisis continued as a member of the council also resigned, having no confidence in the Chair of Council, Bishop James Jones. The issues became public as members of the academic faculty lodged grievances against the principal, Richard Turnbull, for bullying. After monitoring by the university, senior academics at Oxford complained that the curriculum was narrow and offered students insufficient intellectual development. That year the bishop and the college were taken to an employment tribunal and admitted breaking the law. In 2009 the college was inspected by the Bishops' Inspection: it was commended in some departments but the inspectors expressed "no confidence" in its practical and pastoral theology. Shortly after, the bishop, James Jones, resigned as chair.

In May 2012, under a new chair, the Bishop of Chester, the principal was given leave of absence from the college and he stepped down the following month. Late in 2012 the college began advertising for a new principal who could offer "wide and generous understanding of the major trends in contemporary Anglican evangelicalism, together with high level pastoral skills". In December 2012 it was announced that the Rt Revd Mike Hill, Bishop of Bristol, had become chair of the college's council. The process of appointment of a new principal stalled in January 2013: the Hall Council considered that five candidates were "of real quality" but that none of them offered "the desired balance of skills and attributes" required.

In April 2013 the college announced that the Revd Michael Lloyd, Chaplain of Queen's College, Oxford, had been appointed as principal, and he took up the position in the middle of the year.

Buildings

Wycliffe Hall’s buildings were first designed in the 1860s as family houses, until converted to their present use. Tom Arnold, literary scholar and brother of Matthew Arnold, once lived there.

The chapel was opened by the Bishop of Oxford in 1896 and has a stained-glass window representing John Wycliffe.

The building at 52 Banbury Road, at the junction with Norham Gardens, was designed by Frederick Codd in 1868. It initially housed the Holy Rood Convent. The building at 54 Banbury Road was designed by John Gibbs in 1866, with additions by William Wilkinson and Harry Wilkinson Moore in 1882–3. Wycliffe Hall was established in 1877 and started at No. 54, adding No. 52 in 1883. A chapel was added between the houses in 1896, designed by architect George Wallace.

Academic achievements

In 2012, the college topped the University of Oxford’s Norrington Table, winning each of the theology prizes and with all five BA students achieving a first class degree.

Notable alumni

1877–1900

• William Henry Temple Gairdner (1896–97) – Missionary in Cairo and amongst Muslims, apologist

1900–1945

• Hewlett Johnson (1900–1901) – The "Red Dean" of Canterbury
• Lamina Sankoh (1921–1924)
• Leonard Wilson (1922–1923) – 4th Bishop of Birmingham
• Verrier Elwin (1925–1926) – President of the OICCU who later converted to Hinduism
• Joseph Fison (1929–1930) – 74th Bishop of Salisbury
• Wilbert Awdry (1932–1933) – Creator of The Railway Series of children's books
• Donald Coggan (1934) – 101st Archbishop of Canterbury
• John Vernon Taylor (1937–1938) – 94th Bishop of Winchester
• Gordon Strutt (1942–1943) – 3rd Bishop of Stockport
• William Chadwick – 4th Bishop of Barking
• Howard Cruse – 5th Bishop of Knaresborough

1945–1970

• Stuart Blanch (1946–1948) – 5th Bishop of Liverpool
• Alec Motyer (1947) – Leading Old Testament scholar & 1st Principal of Trinity College, Bristol
• J. I. Packer (1949–1952) – Author (inc. General Editor of the English Standard Version) and theologian
• Henry Moore (1950–1952) – 2nd Bishop in Cyprus and the Gulf
• Joseph Abiodun Adetiloye (1951–1953) – Bishop of Lagos and 2nd Primate of All Nigeria
• David Young (1958–1959) – 11th Bishop of Ripon
• Ian Harland (1958–1960) – 65th Bishop of Carlisle
• Oliver O'Donovan (1968–1972) – Leading ethicist & Regius Professorship of Moral and Pastoral Theology emeritus
• Bill Sykes – Chaplain of University College, Oxford and author

1970s

• Colin Fletcher (1972–1975) – 7th Bishop of Dorchester
• N.T. Wright (1973–1975) – Writer and theologian, 94th Bishop of Durham
• James Harold Bell (1974–1975) – 10th Bishop of Knaresborough
• Nick McKinnel (1977–1980) – 10th Bishop of Plymouth
• June Osborne (1978–1980) – 72nd Bishop of Llandaff
• Alan Gregory Clayton Smith (1979–1981) – 10th Bishop of St Alban's

1980s

• Paul Butler (1980-1983) – 96th Bishop of Durham
• James Stuart Jones (1981–1982) – 7th Bishop of Liverpool
• Peter Hill (1981–1983) – 11th Bishop of Barking
• David Urquhart (1982–1984) – 9th Bishop of Birmingham
• Carl N. Cooper (1982–1985) – 127th Bishop of St David's
• John Thomson (1982–1985) – 8th Bishop of Selby
• Nicky Gumbel (1983–1986) – Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton and developer of the Alpha Course
• Graham Tomlin (1983–1986) – 12th Bishop of Kensington and President of St Mellitus College
• Anne Dyer (1984–1987) – 12th Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney and former Warden of Cranmer Hall, Durham
• Anthony Burton (1985–1987) – 11th Bishop of Saskatchewan
• Philip Mounstephen (1985–1988) – 16th Bishop of Truro
• Jonathan Goodall (1986–1989) – 5th Bishop of Ebbsfleet
• David Williams (1986–1989) – 6th Bishop of Basingstoke
• Toby Howarth (1987–1990) – 11th Bishop of Bradford
• Vaughan Roberts (1989–1991) – Rector of St Ebbe's Church, Oxford and President of the Proclamation Trust
• Ray R. Sutton – Bishop in the Reformed Episcopal Church

1990s

• Michael Horton (early 1990s) – Theologian, J.Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary
• Paul Gavin Williams (1990–1992) – 13th Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham
• Rod Thomas (1991–1993) – 9th Bishop of Maidstone
• Rico Tice (1991–1994) – Evangelist, co-writer of the Christianity Explored course
• Rachel Treweek (1991–1994) – 41st Bishop of Gloucester
• Martyn Snow (1992-1995) – 7th Bishop of Leicester
• Ric Thorpe (1993–1996) – 2nd Bishop of Islington
• Nicholas Dill (1996-1999) – 12th Bishop of Bermuda
• Vicky Beeching (1997–2000) – Worship Leader and LGBT advocate
• Jonathan Aitken – Politician, author and broadcaster

2000s

• D. Michael Lindsay (2000–2001) – President of Gordon College, Massachusetts
• Jill Duff (2000–2003) – 8th Bishop of Lancaster

Images for kids

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  Memorial poster from Wycliffe Hall, c. 1910, with portraits of the first four principals and views of 52 and 54 Banbury Road prior to the addition of the front dining hall

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  The original part of Wycliffe Hall - 54 Banbury Road, 'Laleham'

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  No. 2 Norham Gardens, the Principal's lodge from 1930 to 1987

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  Wycliffe Hall Chapel

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  A lecture in Wycliffe Hall's LCR

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  A group of Wycliffe Hall students at Martyrs' Memorial