Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology

University partners
We work with two universities, University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University to offer a range of courses and qualifications.

Cambridge Theological Federation
The Institute is a full member of the Cambridge Theological Federation (CTF), through which we carry out most of our academic work.

Founded in 1972, the CTF has grown from a membership of three theological colleges (Ridley, Wesley and Westcott) to the present seven full members and four associate members. Federation membership brings many advantages:

• Working together, members can pool the theological knowledge and pastoral experience of around forty tutors
• Bringing together students from across all members means a student body of more than 400 women and men at any one time, with a wealth of experience between them
• Bringing together Christians from across traditions, and those of other world religions, all of whom are concerned with theology for ministry and mission, makes for real learning about self and others.

Our partners in the CTF are:

Eastern Region Ministry Course: A non-residential training provider for Anglican and Methodist women and men training for ordination and living in East Anglia. The Centre is based in Wesley House.

Henry Martyn Centre for the Study of World Christianity: A specialist research centre and library with an excellent collection for the study of Christianity all over the world and for the study of mission. The Centre is based in Westminster College.

Institute for Orthodox Studies: The Institute serves the Orthodox Churches in Great Britain, offering courses for lay people in Orthodox Studies as well as participating in the Federation’s courses. It was founded in 1999 with the blessing of all the Western hierarchs as the only place in Britain for Orthodox Studies.

Norwich Diocesan Training Course: A part-time Church of England provider for ministry education.

Ridley Hall: An evangelical Anglican college for ordination training in the Church of England. Founded in 1879, it has a distinguished history of providing leaders within the Church of England, including John Stott and hymn-writer Timothy Dudley-Smith.

St Edmondsbury and Ipswich Diocesan Training Course: A part-time Church of England provider for ministry education.

Wesley House: Founded in 1921 as a Wesleyan theological college for training Methodist ministers within the precincts of the University of Cambridge, Wesley House is now the main residential college for educating women and men for ministry in the Methodist Church.

Westcott House: Named after Bishop B.F. Westcott, who was Professor of New Testament in the University of Cambridge, Westcott House was founded in 1881 to train men for ordination to the Church of England. It now attracts some seventy women and men a year who are training for priesthood in the Church of England and who are attracted by its diversity and progressive Catholicism.

Westminster College: A centre for learning within the United Reformed Church. It began life in 1844 in London and moved to Cambridge in 1899. Westminster is now a theological resource to the national and local United Reformed Church.

Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths: An umbrella organisation for the Centre of the Study Jewish-Christian Relations and the Centre for the Study of Jewish-Muslim Relations. It began in 1998 and is a pioneering institute, with an MA offered by e-learning and in Cambridge. It undertakes educational work with a range of partners in the public sector.

University partners
Through the CTF, the Institute works in partnership with both universities in Cambridge – the University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University – to offer a range of degrees at all levels of study.

Our staff are affiliated lecturers of the Divinity Faculty of the University of Cambridge, and associate lecturers of Anglia Ruskin University.

Through these partnerships, our students have access to a rich range of learning resources and to the intellectual strengths of two different universities.

Diocese of East Anglia
Working with the Commission for Evangelisation of the Diocese of East Anglia, the Institute was invited to serve as the Centre for the diocesan Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies (CCRS). The Diocesan Pastoral Plan stated that any future diocesan education and training programmes would be developed in collaboration with the Institute.We are now in our third year as Centre for CCRS, with almost 20 participants on the programme from across the diocese.

Blackfriars House, Cambridge
Blackfriars is the home of the Dominicans in Cambridge, and is the novitiate for the British Dominican Province.

Rev Dr Martin Ganeri OP, Prior of Blackfriars, is committed to collaboration between the Institute and the friars to provide teaching for Institute and Federation students wherever possible. In the last two years Rev Nicholas Lombardo OP and Rev Dr John Patrick Kenrick OP have taught Christology and Sacramental Theology respectively.