Students of all ages come to Cornhill – from some in their early twenties, right through to the 70-somethings!
Students have very varied experience: some are quite new Christians, whilst others may have been to a residential theological college and have a paid leadership role in a local church. Some are ministry trainees or ‘apprentices’ putting a first toe in the water to explore whether full-time ministry might be for them. Others are Sunday School teachers, home-group leaders or church elders wanting to be better equipped to continue in that role. Some are employed by a church, whilst others stay in their secular job and come to us one day a week, and still others juggle Cornhill with a busy home life.
Students come from a wide spectrum of church and theological backgrounds and there’s usually a handful of international students who come to the UK on our bursary scheme. Our culture is to welcome this rich mix, enjoying the diverse life experience that gets thrown together. Break-out group discussion is a feature of all classroom learning, and it’s good to debate and discuss with those who bring a different perspective.
It is possible to enter our courses at different points depending on previous experience and training. For example, some will have previously completed a year or two on a ministry training course at a Regional Gospel Partnership, or received training as part of an intern scheme with a parachurch organisation, or even attended a theological training college. Whatever your starting point, we encourage people to come to us for as long as possible! Some stay for just a year, or two: indeed, our first year is almost double the size of our second year, which is again about double the size of our third year. This is because people are looking for different levels of training. We welcome this and can provide flexibility in the training we offer.
