Preparing for Ordained Ministry

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Christ-Centred Formation for Ministry and Mission

The founding vision of Ridley Hall is "that the Good News of Jesus Christ be proclaimed to the ends of the earth so that individual lives, communities, and cultures may be transformed by God’s redeeming grace."

Today our passion remains unchanged.

At Ridley, our goal is to prepare you for Christ-centred, Gospel-shaped, Spirit-filled, and Kingdom-driven leadership in the church and in the world, deeply rooted in the ancient wisdom of scripture and thoroughly equipped for the demands of the modern age.

Whether you expect to exercise your ordained ministry in a large multi-parish rural benefice or a small urban community, in a bustling city-centre church or a quiet market-town parish, in a fledgling church plant or a medieval cathedral, as a school, university, prison, hospital or military chaplain, as an ordained pioneer or a theological educator, you will find that your time at Ridley shapes and sharpens you.

"Ridley Hall totally laid the foundation for everything I now do in the Middle East."
Revd Canon Andrew White, Vicar of St George's, Baghdad (Ridley 1986–90)

Training for ordination at Ridley Hall will establish the lasting foundations you will need to sustain you for a lifetime of faithful and fruitful ministry and mission.

Forming the Whole Person for Ministry and Mission

At the heart of Ridley's vision lies a profound commitment to the formation of the whole person for Christian discipleship and leadership. Preparing for ordained ministry cannot be reduced to a simple education of the intellect or a straightforward acquisition of practical skills, as important as they are. Rather, formation at its best embraces the whole person, as we grow in holiness and grace, wisdom and discernment, emotional and spiritual maturity, integrity and character, adaptability and resilience.

Combining tradition and innovation in ministerial training, our holistic approach seeks to connect the ministerial, spiritual, academic, and social aspects of ordination training in order to form you for transformational, innovative, and inspiring leadership.

Formation at Ridley centres on the worship of the Triune God in a community of fellow disciples and revolves around the cultivation of a robust biblical imagination and worldview for all of life and ministry. It pursues gracious cultural and missional engagement and encourages the practices of hospitality and service. It is underpinned by a generosity of spirit.

Ridley Hall is known and respected for producing outstanding leaders and committed disciples of Jesus Christ who are versatile, adaptable, rooted in scripture and theology, and able to make strong connections between their theology and the ministries to which God is calling them.

"For top-quality collaborative, mission-minded, biblical ministerial training,
I can't recommend Ridley highly enough."
Revd Rhiannon King, Archdeacon of Ipswich (Ridley 1997–2000)

Ridley is a place where you can grow and flourish through personal, ministerial, spiritual, academic, and social formation.

Our prayer is that the character of Christ be formed in all of us, so that, through the work of the Holy Spirit, we will be better prepared to lead with love and humility, and to share Jesus with kindness and compassion.