During the 1930s A. J. Vereker, secretary of the
Crusaders' Union,
Sir John Laing and others set up a meeting to propose a Bible college in London which would provide high quality academic training for Christian teachers in the City. The initial meeting, in May 1939, was followed by a larger one with greater representation, which set the vision and plans for the college. Subsequent meetings that year, which included preacher
Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd Jones, drew up a report which included an outline of the fundamentals of the college. It would be residential for 40 (expanding to 80) places with a possibility of including evening students. It aimed for its courses to be recognised by London University. The 1939 outbreak of
World War II put the plans temporarily on hold. The conveners resumed in early 1942 among a wider group of evangelical leaders. In October a doctrinal basis for the college was agreed. In November "The Bible College Council" was founded: In March 1943, Graham Scroggie was invited to be the director of the college for the duration of the war, and to preside over teaching matters. Laing provided "generous financial help", and the council of
All Nations Christian College gifted £200. In the autumn of that year, the first lectures and classes were held in Eccleston Hall, which marks "the beginning of the public activities of the college". The first faculty consisted of
Ernest Kevan,
L.F.E. Wilkinson (later principal of
Oak Hill College) and
Frank Colquhoun. By 1944, over 300 students were enrolled, and two years later the number was up to 1,400. In 1970 the college moved to Northwood on a campus previously occupied by the
London College of Divinity (or London School of Divinity), an
Anglican institution. The 1990s saw the opening of a new
postgraduate centre, the Guthrie Centre, which had formerly housed the Centre for Islamic Studies. Between 1962 and 1997 the College published its own journal,
Vox Evangelica, which ran for 27 volumes. It was edited by Ralph P. Martin (1962-1964), Donald Guthrie (1962, 1965-1980), Harold H. Rowdon (1981-1991) and Anthony Billington (1992-1997). The majority of the early articles were written by members of the faculty. In 2004 the name of the college was changed to the London School of Theology. ==Staff members==