History
Tilsley College started as the training wing of Gospel Literature Outreach (GLO) in Europe
The college came to be named after Colin Tilsley who launched the work of GLO in Australia in 1965.
GLO remains an international movement which aims to bring the good news of Jesus to the world through short and long term missionary teams and in cooperation with commending churches, missionary service organisations and national leaders. There are now around 230 people in more than 20 countries, engaged in serving God throughout the world, through church planting and mission teams. There are also training centres (like Tilsley College) in Australia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru and Zambia.
GLO Europe was established in Motherwell, Scotland in 1974. The work included the organising of short term mission teams, development of long term teams, and the establishing of a Bible Training Centre. The GLO Centre also includes a bookshop, coffee shop and conference facilities. Funds from these ministries are used to support the work of training and mission in Europe. GLO Europe currently has over 90 people working full time in what are mainly church planting ministries and training, with some involved in administrative support.
The Training offered by GLO in Motherwell started as a 20 week course in Bible study, evangelism and local church ministry, which ran from 1974 to 1983 under the title, ‘Training for Service’. During the mid-1980s, the course was developed and expanded until in the 1990s it was taught over a full academic year at roughly the level of the first year of a degree programme.
In 1995, the name ‘Tilsley College’ was adopted, reflecting a vision for Tilsley College to be not only a training ground for GLO workers, but also for others who wished to be equipped to serve God wherever that may be. In 2004 a second year option commenced in the form of a church or ministry-based apprenticeship, giving students the opportunity to develop ministry skills in a structured and mentored way.
A major step was taken in 2008 when the one year programme gained accreditation from the European Evangelical Accreditation Association (now the European Council for Theological Education). This accreditation recognised the level of training as being equivalent to that of the first year of a bachelor degree. The development of accredited programmes continued with a revised second year programme receiving accreditation from ECTE in 2015. In 2017, the next important stage was reached when Tilsley started offering a third year which leads to a European Baccalaureate the equivalent of a vocational bachelor’s degree; this was accredited in 2018.
The College also offers training for those who cannot take a full year or more to devote to study. This programme is called “Joshua” and is available at the College or other Joshua Centres around the UK. Since September 2016, it has also been possible to follow the lectures online. Another online programme is “Learning to Lead” which runs twice a year and is aimed at the continued development of church leadership teams.
The college also participates in “FirstServe”, a gap year programme run as a partnership between GLO, Echoes International and Counties.
