Originally a partnership in 1972 of three colleges (Ridley Hall, Wesley House and Westcott House), with a focus on training for ordained ministry in an undergraduate context, the Federation has expanded to include twelve institutions. Westminster College joined in 1976 and in later decades came the Eastern Region Ministry Course, the Institute of Orthodox Christian Studies and the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology as members, and the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide and the Woolf Institute as associate members. In 2018, we were joined by the Faraday Institute and Westfield House. The Federation is now open also to those training for lay ministry or who simply have an interest in the study of faith. The balance of the Federation’s student body has moved steadily towards the provision of opportunities for postgraduate study and research. The Federation now includes Anglican, Methodist, Orthodox, Roman Catholic and United Reformed institutions as members and both the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide and the Woolf Institute for the study of relations between Jews, Christians and Muslims as associate members.
Dates of joining the Federation
1972 Ridley Hall
1972 Wesley House
1972 Westcott House
1976 Westminster College
1993 Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology
1993 ERMC (then, East Anglian Ministerial Training Course)
1998 Woolf Institute (then, Centre for Jewish-Christian Relations)
1999 The Institute of Orthodox Christian Studies
1999 Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide (then, The Henry Martyn Centre)
2018 Faraday Institute
2018 Westfield House
2021 Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology in Cambridge