History
St John the Baptist Theological College is the College of the Anglican Diocese of Polynesia. It was established in 1952 to prepare and train young men across the Diocese for ordained ministry. It has changed over the years in its location from a simple two-room native house at Wailoku settlement to Tower Street and to its current location at Des Vouex Rd, Suva. The College is now embracing the training of both men and women for ordained and lay ministry. This is where all the baptized are equipped for the mission and ministry of the Church.
The College is unique not only because it provides theological education for the Diocese but of its multicultural nature which encompasses the islands of Fiji, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, and our Polynesians in Aotearoa, New Zealand.
The College recognizes the pioneers and influential figures dedicated to serving and studying at the College, contributing to what it has become today. This includes the late Assistant Bishop Fine Halapua from Tonga, who was in preparation for ordination, and Jivaratnam from Labasa, for a catechist. Additionally, two young men were residing at the College to explore their vocations when it started at Wailoku.
In 1957, Reverend Greenside relocated the college from its original location to St. John’s House at Tower Street. The college was dedicated by the late Bishop Kempthorne, the second Bishop in Polynesia, on May 30th of the same year. The first two candidates for ordination when it moved to St. John’s House were Edward S. Armagum and Sunipa Tevi. The college was completely developed under the direction and patronage of Bishop John Charles Vockler OGS, the third Bishop in Polynesia, in 1962. In 1964, The Reverend John Pittman elevated the standards of the College until he left that same year. The Vicar of Savusavu at the time, the Reverend M. Basden, and a visiting Dr. H. Smythe, who was the Anglican representative in Rome, became acting wardens. There were 16 students on campus, and two students from Torres Strait Island joined them under the leadership of Red Canon Edwin Harvey.
