The Bishop Patteson Theological College (BPTC) at Kohimarama is about 25km west of Honiara.
The College Legend:
The desire to train Melanesians to lead their own people towards the Christian faith saw the establishment of a theological school now known as Bishop Patteson Theological College (BPTC). It was through his visionary and mission strategy for Melanesia that Bishop Augustus Selwyn, first bishop of New Zealand, established the school.
The College is named after Bishop John Coleridge Patteson who became the first missionary bishop to Melanesia where he laid down his life as a martyr of Melanesia on the tiny Island of Nukapu in Temotu Province in 1871. The college was first established in a suburb of Auckland in New Zealand called Kohimarama.
The School proved to be unsuitale for the Melanesians as it was too cold for them and a far away place from home. This led Bishop Patteson to acquire land at Mission Bay to relocate the School. That move was also found to be unfavourable for the Melanesians. And so in 1867 the School was moved to Norfolk Island. For the Melanesians this was the famous St.Barnabas School as it was called. Many Melanesians attended this School and returned to the Islands either as ordained priests or catechists. They joined those who were trained earlier to evangelise and to minister to their own folk.
In 1916, Bishop Cecil Wood, another missionary bishop to Melanesia, decided to move the School to the British Solomon Islands Protectorate. It was then re-sited at Maravovo on Guadalcanal. The journey continued and in 1920 it was relocated to Siota on the Island of Ngela in the Central Islands Province. In 1935 it was further relocated at Maka in South Malaita. From there it was further moved to Taroniara, another site on Ngeloa. Here it was called St. Andrew’s Catechist and St. Peter’s College. The final journey to its present site came in 1970 when Bishop John Wallace Chisolm, later to be first Archbishop of the Province of the Church of Melanesia, decided to move it to its present site on the main Island of Guadalcanal.
Situated on a hill approximate 25km west of Honiara and 1km inland, the present site is again called Kohimarama. With a journey of many decades, Bishop patteson Theological College now stands to the glory of God, serving the Church of Melanesia and the United Church of Solomon Islands; BPTC continues to e a place where men and women are trained for ministry.
From “The College Legend”, Bishop Patteson Theological College, Kohimarama, handbook, 2008; Ts., p.5-6.
In 2011, there were ? residential students at BPTC plus their families.
The college offers programmes leading to the following awards: Bachelor of Tehology (BTh), Licentiate in Theology (LTh), Diploma in Theology (Dip Th), Certificate in Theology (Cert Th), Certificate of Women’s Studies (Cert WS).

Please note, the copyright of unpublished documents is held by the author of the document. Researchers may access this material for research purposes only. Permission to quote or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the copyright holder.

To obtain the contact details of the copyright holder please write to:
Fr. Anthony Kame (Principal)
Bishop Patteson Theological College
Kohimarama
Anglican Church of Melanesia
PO Box 19
Honiara
Solomon Islands

Theses submitted for the Diploma in Theology, 1970-2010, the Bachelor of Theology, 2008-2010, Master of Theology (Suva 2008), PhD in theology (Aukland 2010) and some additional staff papers. Theses cover a wide range of topics beyond theology, including history, culture, economics, politics etc.; mostly concerning Solomon Islands but also elsewhere in the Pacific.

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