Our Story
Until recent decades confessional Presbyterianism was virtually extinct in the homeland of the Westminster Confession
Westminster College Cambridge was founded in 1844 in London as the Presbyterian Church in England’s Theological College. In 1967, having cast off its theological moorings, it merged with the Congregational Church’s Cheshunt College. Since 1972 it has been a training centre for the United Reformed Church.
For most of the last century England was devoid of a confessional Presbyterian seminary
The dramatic underperformance of the confessional faith in England over the last century can be explained in terms of this single cause. Wherever the Reformed faith has gone elsewhere in the world, almost the first order of business has been the establishment of a confessional seminary to sustain the long-term growth and health of the church.
There are now twenty nine confessional Presbyterian churches and counting
In 1969 the International Presbyterian Church planted a congregation in Ealing, London; 17 years later forty-six delegates at a conference in London signed a declaration that would lead to the founding of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in England and Wales.
From these two denominations twenty-nine confessional Presbyterian churches have been planted in England and Wales, with others in major European cities. This is only the beginning.
In 2013 Westminster Presbyterian Theological Seminary was born
Recognising the need for Confessional theological training in England, Dr J Pipa and Dr I Hamilton, President and Trustee of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and Dr W Schweitzer, church-planting minister of Gateshead Presbyterian Church, established Westminster Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 2013. Westminster's first graduate completed his studies in 2016.
Westminster Presbyterian Theological Seminary gained Charitable Incorporated Organisation status in 2020, since which time the relationship between Westminster and Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary has matured into a flourishing partnership.