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The Theological College of Lanka (TCL) was inaugurated in 1963 by the Anglican Church, the Methodist Church and the Baptist Church in Sri Lanka. Later the Presbyterian Church (Presbytery of Lanka) joined the federation, to educate the new clergy in the environment of Sri Lanka and their own languages, Sinhala and Tamil. Rev. Basil Jackson, a British Methodist Missionary, became the founding Principal of the college in 1963. (Prior to the foundation of TCL, Jackson served as the founding director of the Ecumenical Institute for Study and Dialogue in Colombo). It is believed that language is the vehicle of culture and when Christians begin to think, speak, preach, pray and write in their own languages, they soon become familiar with their cultural values and begin to appreciate them in the practice of their Christian faith. This new step was foreseen by all the churches as an attempt to produce indigenous theology by people who are being educated in Sri Lanka. Before this venture, the ministers of Sri Lankan (then Ceylon) Protestant traditions have been educated mainly in India (United Theological College, Bishop's College etc.) or elsewhere for the pastoral ministry. TCL is situated in Plimatalawa village, Kandy district, about 100 km away from Colombo. The Theological College of Lanka is affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University) of India and accredited by the Association of the Theological Education in South East Asia (ATESEA). Over 90% of the active clergy in the constituent churches in Sri Lanka today have received their theological and pastoral education at the TCL. The TCL is the only accredited Ecumenical Theological College among the Protestant churches of Sri Lanka, which not only maintains its ecumenical foundation, but also brings together the Sinhala and Tamil students who are both men and women in a fellowship both at work and at leisure. This is an integral aspect of the personal and spiritual formation of the future ministers of a country which is torn apart by ethnic divisions. Contributing to the theological-praxical debate, College publishes a biannual journal – Sri Lanka Journal of Theological Reflection (SLJTR)] which was commenced in July 2005. == Towards Sri Lankan Identity == After independence from Britain in 1948, the outward occurrences in Sri Lanka, especially the decreasing missionary influence and the independent parliamentary system, affected the Christian churches in many ways. Christians became aware of their self-identity and the selfhood of the church. There was a small group of Christians who had foreseen the need to think and act as in new ways after independence. Among them was the Reverend Lakdasa de Mel whose process of indigenisation launched at Baddhegama in the 1920s was an important step. His efforts eventually created what is now called the Ceylon Liturgy, using Sinhala folk music derived from sources such as the paddy farmers, cartmen and boatmen in rural areas of Sri Lanka. Pioneering activities such as this became valuable when the British left the Island in 1948. People who had become Christians through the work of missionaries were forced to rethink their identity in the emerging post-colonial context. Significant cultural and social changes did not begin to take place until the late 1950s, and especially after the 1956 general election. The coalition government headed by the newly formed Sri Lanka Freedom Party set out to establish a new cultural identity. The English language was displaced by the use of Sinhala and Tamil for all official business as well as in education. The Church equally accepted the importance of local languages but saw its own future looking very bleak when the government decided to take over management of the school network. In 1963 three of the Protestant churches in Sri Lanka, namely (Anglican ), Methodist and Baptist decided to form a theological college for the training of future ministers. After much discussion and consideration the founders of this college opted for the use of local languages and a localised cultural emphasis. Later, the Presbyterian Church in Sri Lanka joined with the other churches to formulate the training of their ministers. When the Theological College was founded in Lanka in 1963 it was almost unthinkable that theology should be taught in local languages, namely Sinhala and Tamil. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Theological College of Lanka」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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