It was founded by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, known as 'the Prince of Preachers' and in his time minister of the largest non-conformist church inthe world, the Metropolitan Tabernacle at Elephant and Castle. Spurgeon himself only ever taught one morning per week and left the running of the College to others. Originally named The Pastors' College when it opened in 1856, it was renamed in honour of its founder, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, when it moved to its present building in 1923. C.H. Spurgeon's own lectures were published in several volumes as Lectures to my Students.Spurgeon's College is in membership with the Baptist Union of Great Britain. For its 150th anniversary in 2006, the College had its history A School of the Prophets written by Dr Ian. M Randall.
Academic outreach
Spurgeon's College has since its foundation aimed to give opportunities for training to persons with little academic background. In the 19th century different courses were offered depending on ability. Spurgeon himself said in 1871 that someone who needed help with English "should not muddle his head with Hebrew". To this day the College offers tailor-made packages to those training for Christian ministry. Biblical Greek and Hebrew are offered on several of its courses but are never compulsory.
College today
Spurgeon's College has as its basis of faith that of the Evangelical Alliance. Since 2017 its Principal has been the Revd Prof Philip McCormack MBE BD MTh PhD PhD PFHEA. The teaching staff includes persons from other denominations. Among the students are an increasing number from ethnic minorities, and the College is fully committed to equal opportunities. Despite the temptation to move out of London, the College decided to stay in order to serve the growing and increasingly diverse London churches. It delivers training for the Baptist ministry both in the UK and elsewhere. It also offers a suite of other courses including online learning, a part-time Degree course, several Master's courses, a Doctorate of Ministry, and research for a PhD. Most of these degrees were until 2012 validated by the University of Wales. In 2008 the College was also accredited by the British Accreditation Council. In 2011 the College underwent three external inspections. A week-long inspection by the ecumenical churches declared the College 'fit for purpose' and the University of Wales judged that the preparation for research degrees meets the current standards. Finally, the 2011 quinquennial review by the University resulted in a report recommending the programmes should continue subject to two conditions being met within months and other recommendations should be carefully considered. Due to a change of policy at the university announced in October 2011, the accreditation by the University of Wales was withdrawn in 2012. In September 2012, the college announced that its degrees had received provisional accreditation by the University of Manchester, a member of the Russell Group of British universities subject to adjustments and negotiation.. In 2020 the College announced a consultation period for an ambitious redevelopment programme of its buildings as part of their vision to become Croydon's 'first homegrown university'.
