Melbourne School of Theology

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Melbourne School of Theology is an evangelical Christian theological college with its main campus in Wantirna, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.The School has a Chinese department, known as MST Chinese, in which undergraduate and graduate courses are taught in both Mandarin and Cantonese. It also has a postgraduate research section known as MST Centre for the Study of Chinese Christianity.In 2011 the main campus relocated from the suburb of Lilydale in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne to its present location. The Chinese Department, which used to operate in Box Hill, also relocated to the new campus and was renamed MST Chinese.HistoryFounded as Melbourne Bible Institute in September 1920, the institution was established to train missionaries to serve with the China Inland Mission in China. At its opening only one student sat down with the principal in the hall of the Congregational church in the suburb of Prahran near the city centre. They began with the study of the Book of Genesis. The college's first principal was a 54-year-old Anglican priest, the Reverend Clifford H. Nash, who was there because, in his words, he "felt constrained to undertake the task". For six weeks they continued until another man and two women joined the class. They were the first of the 1000 students trained by Nash at the institute. The total now approaches 5000 graduates. At the foundation of the college Nash made a public statement, saying: