John Wesley College is the seminary

Seminary

A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...

 of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa

Methodist Church of Southern Africa

The Methodist Church of Southern Africa is a member church of the World Methodist Council.Methodism in Southern Africa began as a result of lay Christian work by an Irish soldier of the English Regiment, John Irwin, who was stationed at the Cape and began to hold prayer meetings as early as 1795...

 situated at Kilnerton in Pretoria

Pretoria

Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. It is most commonly referred to as John Wesley College Kilnerton. It has been in its current location since 1994.

History

The facility was first established as Kilnerton Institution in 1886 and situated in Weavind Park, a suburb of Tshwane (Pretoria

Pretoria

Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...

), and was named after the Rev John Kilner, secretary of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society who encouraged the formation of an indigenous clergy in South Africa. The goal was to provide education for the local people. There was also a request from local chiefs for the Methodist Church to provide land where they could safely settle. When Kilnerton Institution was established these people settled at what became Kilnerton Village. Kilnerton served the community with a primary school, a high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

, a training college or normal school as well as with a clinic and special domestic science course. Their spiritual needs were served by the services held in the chapel on the hill.

Revival

Kilnerton became the site of the revival of John Wesley College when the Federal Theological Seminary of Southern Africa

Federal Theological Seminary of Southern Africa

The Federal Theological Seminary of Southern Africa aka Fedsem was a multi-denominational seminary in South Africa. It was opened in Alice, Eastern Cape in 1963, in response to Apartheid legislation such as the Group Areas Act which forced colleges such as St Peter's Theological College in...

 closed, opening its doors on 6 February 1994. This occasion also marked the revival of Kilnerton as a training institution after 32 years. With the closure of the Department of Theology and Religion at Rhodes University

Rhodes University

Rhodes University is a public research university located in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, established in 1904. It is the province’s oldest university, and is one of the four universities in the province...

in 2000, John Wesley College Kilnerton became the only centre for residential theological education in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa.