WELCOME 

Ni sa Bula Vinaka!

As Principal of the Pacific Theological College (PTC), I greet you in the name of our Triune God. Welcome to the regional ecumenical institution of the Pacific!

Who studies and work at PTC?
PTC offers academic and formation education to both ordained and lay candidates from the Congregational, Methodist, Wesleyan, Presbyterian, Anglican, Uniting, Protestant, and Lutheran traditions who own the college. The college is also open to candidates from outside of these Christian traditions and outside of the Pacific region. With an internationally recognized faculty and well-equipped administration staff, PTC is able to deliver the much-needed theological education complemented by one of the best libraries in the region. PTC has also been a hub for renowned visiting international scholars, church and government
leaders, as well as ordinary people who visit daily. As a multi-cultural, multi-denominational, multi-ethnic, and recently a multi-faith institution in terms of its personnel, PTC is ecumenically structured and organized, offering deep, innovative, and transformative theological education to equip future leaders in their teaching and social justice ministries.

Why is PTC unique in the Pacific region?
Since its founding more the 50 years ago, PTC has been instrumental in producing many educated church leaders, scholars, theologians, ethicists, and activists both for the Pacific churches and for the wider Pacific community. It is also the first institution in the Pacific to introduce and emphasize the importance of indigenization and contextualization both in theology and education, as well as assisting the churches and the countries in the region through the contributions of its graduates in their transitions towards religious and political self-autonomy. The college has also been instrumental, and still is, in shaping and guiding the theological responses of the churches in the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) as it addresses critically many of the political, economic and social issues in the region from the perspective of the Christian Gospel.

What kind of learning environment is at PTC?
PTC promotes a holistic learning environment that academically and spiritually nurtures the body, mind, and spirit. While ecumenism, contextual theology and missiology define the hallmark and shape the identity of the college, what sets PTC apart from local and international theological institutions is the Pacific focus and the contextual nature of these.
PTC prides itself in the mainstreaming of ‘pacificness’ in all its programmes and in the urge to decolonize and reconstruct the Christian gospel as holistic and life-giving. PTC also promotes a kind of theology spanning boundaries in its agenda whereby theology is required to be taken outside of the institutional confines of the church in order to dialogue with other disciplines, non-theological institutions and grassroots communities and to strengthen its capacity to critically address issues of social justice.

What does PTC offer?
PTC offers a range of academic programmes from Certificate to Bachelor level which are available both residentially and through extension mode. The postgraduate programmes up to PhD level are only available residentially. Recently PTC has enjoyed its vibrant PhD programme. Through its leadership and academic courses and programmes, PTC through its Institute of Mission and Research (IMR) is able to reach and facilitate the training of the most remote grassroots local communities on themes relating to pastoral counselling,
peacebuilding, as well as social, economic, and ecological justice. PTC also has an education by extension department that facilitates the offering of certificates up to Bachelor of Divinity level for non-residential candidates. Equally important is the fact that PTC offers a life centered on worship and spirituality.

Where is PTC?
PTC is located in Suva, Fiji. With Fiji increasingly becoming the hub of the Pacific, PTC’s geographical location makes it not only a central ecumenical institution in the region but also the bridge between the local and the international community in terms of theological education. Its learning and hiring facilities are convenient and economical to many who have visited PTC.

Can PTC be your place of study?
If you are passionate about discovering in one place contextual, ecumenical and missiological theology, biblical and doctrinal depth, the richness of Oceanic cultures, wealth of indigenous philosophies and spiritualities, and the courage to critically reflect on the colonial and postcolonial experiences of small island communities in Oceania from the theological and Oceanic perspectives, PTC is the right place for you. We can assist you achieve your purpose.

May your study and stay at PTC be fruitful!

Rev. Dr Upolu Luma Vaai
PRINCIPAL