{"id":17,"date":"2014-07-14T00:30:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-14T00:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/?p=17"},"modified":"2015-12-20T14:38:17","modified_gmt":"2015-12-20T14:38:17","slug":"blog-interview-dr-stafford-carson-union-theological-college-belfast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/blog-interview-dr-stafford-carson-union-theological-college-belfast\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog Interview \u2013 Dr Stafford Carson \u2013 Union Theological College, Belfast"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/logo_thumb-25255B2-25255D.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"display: inline; margin: 0px 0px 5px 15px; border: 0px;\" title=\"logo\" src=\"http:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/logo_thumb-25255B2-25255D.png\" alt=\"logo\" width=\"242\" height=\"95\" align=\"right\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><b> 1. Please introduce yourself and your role at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.union.ac.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\">Union Theological College<\/a>.<\/b><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Carson-25252C-252520Stafford_thumb-25255B2-25255D.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"display: inline; margin: 0px 15px 0px 0px; border: 0px;\" title=\"Carson, Stafford\" src=\"http:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Carson-25252C-252520Stafford_thumb-25255B2-25255D-238x300.jpg\" alt=\"Carson, Stafford\" width=\"193\" height=\"242\" align=\"left\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a> My name is Stafford Carson. I am the Principal and Professor of Ministry at Union Theological College.<\/p>\n<p><b>2. Tell us a little about Union Theological College.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Union Theological College is the denominational college of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and a constituent college of the Institute of Theology at Queen\u2019s University, Belfast. We have 240 students enrolled in both undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes. Thirty-nine of our students are in training for the ministry of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. We offer the Bachelor of Divinity degree, Bachelor of Theology, Master of Theology and Doctor of Philosophy degrees plus Graduate Diploma in Ministry and Diploma\/Certificate in Youth Ministry.<\/p>\n<p><b>3. Are the courses full time, part time or a mixture of both?<\/b><\/p>\n<div style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Union-Theological-College.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Union-Theological-College.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"213\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>A mixture of part time and full time.<\/p>\n<p><b>4. How do Union Theological College students fund their studies?<\/b><br \/>\nThrough the Student Loan Company and through the Students\u2019 Bursary Fund of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.<\/p>\n<p><b>5. Does Union Theological College take student from overseas?<\/b><br \/>\n<b><br \/>\n<\/b>Yes.<\/p>\n<p><b>6. What type of ministry is Union Theological College intended to prepare students for?<\/b><\/p>\n<div style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><a style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/2958-chpl.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/2958-chpl.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"213\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>We prepare students for the ordained ministry of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, and many of our students use their theological education for a variety of careers in education, church-based ministry and community work.<\/p>\n<p><b>7. When students leave Union Theological College what kind of ministries\/jobs do they go into?<\/b><br \/>\n<b><br \/>\n<\/b><a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/class_2767.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/class_2767.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a>Ordained ministry of word and sacraments, youth ministry, community work.<\/p>\n<p><b>8. What is distinctive about what Union Theological College offers compared with other colleges in the UK and overseas?<\/b><br \/>\n<b><br \/>\n<\/b>We are a distinctively reformed and Presbyterian college where all our faculty subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith and catechisms.<\/p>\n<p><b>9. Please tell us about the library and other research facilities.<\/b><br \/>\n<b><br \/>\n<\/b><\/p>\n<div style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><a style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/librarynew.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/librarynew.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"208\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" href=\"http:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/library_2934.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/library_2934.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a>Our library, the Gamble Library, has over 70,000 books and 20,000 pamphlets and takes over 70 journals and periodicals. It is by far the largest theological library in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n<p><b>10. Does Union Theological College offer a distance or on-line learning option.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<div style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<p>No.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>My thanks to Revd Carson for taking part in this interview series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1. Please introduce yourself and your role at Union Theological College. My name is Stafford Carson. I am the Principal and Professor of Ministry at Union Theological College. 2. Tell us a little about Union Theological College. Union Theological College is the denominational college of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and a constituent college of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-colleges","category-interviews"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Blog Interview \u2013 Dr Stafford Carson \u2013 Union Theological College, Belfast - Biblical Studies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/blog-interview-dr-stafford-carson-union-theological-college-belfast\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blog Interview \u2013 Dr Stafford Carson \u2013 Union Theological College, Belfast - Biblical Studies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"1. Please introduce yourself and your role at Union Theological College. My name is Stafford Carson. I am the Principal and Professor of Ministry at Union Theological College. 2. Tell us a little about Union Theological College. Union Theological College is the denominational college of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and a constituent college of...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/blog-interview-dr-stafford-carson-union-theological-college-belfast\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Biblical Studies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rob.bradshaw\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rob.bradshaw\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-07-14T00:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-12-20T14:38:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/logo_thumb-25255B2-25255D.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"245\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"95\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rob\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@RobBradshaw\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@RobBradshaw\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rob\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Blog Interview \u2013 Dr Stafford Carson \u2013 Union Theological College, Belfast - Biblical Studies","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/blog-interview-dr-stafford-carson-union-theological-college-belfast\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Blog Interview \u2013 Dr Stafford Carson \u2013 Union Theological College, Belfast - Biblical Studies","og_description":"1. Please introduce yourself and your role at Union Theological College. My name is Stafford Carson. I am the Principal and Professor of Ministry at Union Theological College. 2. Tell us a little about Union Theological College. Union Theological College is the denominational college of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and a constituent college of...","og_url":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/blog-interview-dr-stafford-carson-union-theological-college-belfast\/","og_site_name":"Biblical Studies","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rob.bradshaw","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rob.bradshaw","article_published_time":"2014-07-14T00:30:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-12-20T14:38:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":245,"height":95,"url":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/logo_thumb-25255B2-25255D.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Rob","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@RobBradshaw","twitter_site":"@RobBradshaw","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rob","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/blog-interview-dr-stafford-carson-union-theological-college-belfast\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/blog-interview-dr-stafford-carson-union-theological-college-belfast\/"},"author":{"name":"Rob","@id":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/462e07682a1650c5e46f7eeeed9d3c1c"},"headline":"Blog Interview \u2013 Dr Stafford Carson \u2013 Union Theological College, Belfast","datePublished":"2014-07-14T00:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-20T14:38:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/blog-interview-dr-stafford-carson-union-theological-college-belfast\/"},"wordCount":356,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/blog-interview-dr-stafford-carson-union-theological-college-belfast\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/logo_thumb-25255B2-25255D.png","articleSection":["Bible Colleges","Interviews"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/blog-interview-dr-stafford-carson-union-theological-college-belfast\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/blog-interview-dr-stafford-carson-union-theological-college-belfast\/","url":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/blog-interview-dr-stafford-carson-union-theological-college-belfast\/","name":"Blog Interview \u2013 Dr Stafford Carson \u2013 Union Theological College, Belfast - Biblical Studies","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/blog-interview-dr-stafford-carson-union-theological-college-belfast\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/blog-interview-dr-stafford-carson-union-theological-college-belfast\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/logo_thumb-25255B2-25255D.png","datePublished":"2014-07-14T00:30:00+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-20T14:38:17+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/blog-interview-dr-stafford-carson-union-theological-college-belfast\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/blog-interview-dr-stafford-carson-union-theological-college-belfast\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/blog-interview-dr-stafford-carson-union-theological-college-belfast\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/logo_thumb-25255B2-25255D.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/logo_thumb-25255B2-25255D.png","width":245,"height":95},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/blog-interview-dr-stafford-carson-union-theological-college-belfast\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Blog Interview \u2013 Dr Stafford Carson \u2013 Union Theological College, Belfast"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/","name":"Biblical Studies","description":"Making Biblical Scholarship Accessible","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/#organization","name":"Theology on the Web","url":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/biblicalstudies-logo-web.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/biblicalstudies-logo-web.jpg","width":160,"height":135,"caption":"Theology on the Web"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rob.bradshaw","https:\/\/x.com\/RobBradshaw","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/robibradshaw\/","http:\/\/uk.linkedin.com\/in\/robbradshaw","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/robibradshaw\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCN0z_fSGrskHrn7L458ON8A"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/462e07682a1650c5e46f7eeeed9d3c1c","name":"Rob","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0bca484a0159a2e81fbaaea0a5aee7a815b5de8a7cb8899baf3bcc25b4bdd6da?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0bca484a0159a2e81fbaaea0a5aee7a815b5de8a7cb8899baf3bcc25b4bdd6da?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0bca484a0159a2e81fbaaea0a5aee7a815b5de8a7cb8899baf3bcc25b4bdd6da?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rob"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/theologyontheweb.org.uk","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rob.bradshaw","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/robibradshaw\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/robbradshaw\/","https:\/\/x.com\/RobBradshaw","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCN0z_fSGrskHrn7L458ON8A"]}]}},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/logo_thumb-25255B2-25255D.png",245,95,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/logo_thumb-25255B2-25255D.png",150,58,false],"medium":["https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/logo_thumb-25255B2-25255D.png",245,95,false],"medium_large":["https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/logo_thumb-25255B2-25255D.png",245,95,false],"large":["https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/logo_thumb-25255B2-25255D.png",245,95,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/logo_thumb-25255B2-25255D.png",245,95,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/logo_thumb-25255B2-25255D.png",245,95,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Rob","author_link":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/author\/rob\/"},"uagb_comment_info":2,"uagb_excerpt":"1. Please introduce yourself and your role at Union Theological College. My name is Stafford Carson. I am the Principal and Professor of Ministry at Union Theological College. 2. Tell us a little about Union Theological College. Union Theological College is the denominational college of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and a constituent college of...","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalstudies.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}