History of the Faculty

The Faculty of Theology was started as the Nazarene College of Theology.

The Nazarene College of Theology (NCT) is the oldest theological training institution of the Church of the Nazarene in Africa. Its primary function has been and continues to be the preparation of persons for the Christian ministry.

NCT is the direct result of the Church of the Nazarene missionary efforts in Africa by the Rev. H. Schmelzenbach. This work was begun in the northwest part of the Kingdom of Swaziland in 1910. From 1912 until 1931 the college was situated in the northwestern part of the country and in 1935 the campus was moved to a four-hundred acre site in Siteki in the eastern part of the Kingdom on the Lubombo Mountain range.

Since those early beginnings and the change of location in 1935, numerous developments have taken place in facilities, programmes of study, and faculty. In the early 1950s there were a number of classroom and administration buildings developed; then again in 1973 a two-story wing with classroom facilities was added. The most recent building on the Siteki campus occurred in 1985-89. During this latter stage, two dormitories (hostels), a kitchen-dining hall facility that seats two hundred, a new chapel and a new library facility were added.

The institution has a long history of serving the Church of the Nazarene and other denominations in preparing men and women for ministry and for service in the church. The enlarged and upgraded physical plant has enabled the college to serve a wider constituency than Swaziland. It is truly an international school with learners from many other African nations coming to Siteki to receive their ministerial training.