THE Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Richard Chartres, has blessed
the new home of St Mellitus College, a £7.3-million conversion of
St Jude's, Courtfield Gardens, in Kensington.
St Jude's, a Grade II listed former parish church, built in
1870, now houses four lecture spaces as well as a new central
library for the college's 510 students. The Dean of St Mellitus,
the Revd Graham Tomlin, said that he had been "surprised and
delighted" by the growth of the college over the past five years.
Jointly founded by the dioceses of London and Chelmsford, it now
serves 110 ordinands and 400 other students.
The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Revd Stephen Cottrell, said
that the "generous orthodoxy" of the college provided "excellent
training". The diocese's partnership with it had made a "major
contribution" to the growth in the number of people in
self-supporting ministry from 68 in 2003 to 104 in 2010.