May 06, 2014 – Christian Today – Michael Trimmer

With the International Christian College in Glasgow and St Michael’s College in Cardiff both recently announcing their closures, to what extent are UK Bible colleges in a state of peril?

Reverend Richard Tiplady, Principal of the ICC, says that from where he is sitting, the nation’s Bible colleges are facing a lean future.

“Of the ten largest bible colleges in the UK, only one is growing,” he says.

In the case of the ICC, the numbers were beyond the pale. Between 2000 and 2013 the annual intake of new undergraduate students dropped from 57 to 16.

What is causing this decline? Are Christians less interested in academic study around the Bible these days? Are people taking up alternatives, or not taking up anything at all? Or are there other explanations for the current malaise?

According to Reverend Tiplady, one of the biggest problems is simple demography.

“There are fewer young people in the country each year hitting the age of 18. There are also fewer Christian young people among them,” he says.

The UK’s birth rate has dropped considerably since the days of the baby boom, with average children per woman of 1.98 in 2011 compared to 2.93 in 1964.

In 2010 the ONS predicted that by 2017 there will be 4.9 million teenagers in the UK, compared to 5.4 million teenagers in the UK at that time.

In 2001 the census showed that teenagers made up 7.6 per cent of the population. In 2011 that had dropped to 7.4 per cent.

The 2011 census also revealed that the average age of a British Christian is approximately 50, not the primary age most people choose to go to Bible college.

So demography is one problem, but another big one according to Rev Tiplady is competition.

Bible colleges were usually thought of as the first port of call for Christian students, particularly Evangelical Christians, who wanted to enter church ministry. But now, two competing visions of Christian qualification have emerged.

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