Irish Baptist College


The Irish Baptist College is a college, a department of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland. It is part of the Baptist Theological Centre which is located in the Baptist Centre and is shared with ABC. IBC is accredited and reached Premier College Status by the Accreditation Service for International Colleges.

History

IBC began on 4 October 1892 in Dublin, now Republic of Ireland. In 1964 the college moved to a new campus in Belfast in Northern Ireland. On 10 May 2003 the college moved into the purpose built Baptist Theological Centre in the Baptist Centre located outside Lisburn in Moira in County Antrim.

Ethos

While existing primarily to serve the needs of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland churches and missions department, IBC welcomes candidates from all kinds of Christian backgrounds, and the suitability of its courses for the equipping of men and women for the whole spectrum of Christian service is recognised widely. Students from other denominations include those from Anglican churches of an evangelical persuasion, Congregational Union of Ireland, Elim Pentecostal Church, Evangelical Presbyterian Church churches, Pentecostal churches and Reformed Presbyterian churches.
IBC is committed to the absolute authority of Scripture and to the outworking of all matters of faith and practice within a purely evangelical framework.

Campus

IBC is part of the Baptist Theological Centre which is located in the Baptist Centre and is shared with ABC. The campus is in a rural area near to the M1 motorway and within the boundaries of the City of Lisburn. IBC is a campus university.

Organisation

The Principal of the college is Edwin Ewart.

Faculty

IBC offers degrees accredited by the University of Chester, University of Wales, Lampeter, and IBC awards.

Sport

and table tennis are both played at IBC. The current IBC table tennis champion is Reverend Peter Cooper, following his 3-2 victory in the 2019 final against Deacon Luke Keys. The Doubles Tournament, scheduled to be held in early 2020, did not take place.