History of IBI

The work of the Irish Bible Institute began 25 years ago when a group of evangelical leaders in the Republic of Ireland formed the Irish Bible School (IBS) in Coalbrook, Co. Tipperary. Their vision was the development of an Irish-based, non-denominational, evangelical Bible College to train the future leaders of the emerging Irish church.


In 1992 the School of Biblical Christianity (SBC) began to offer evening classes to students in Dublin. After 5 years SBC undertook an evaluation of its ministry. This led to a new name, Leadership Institute (LI), and in September 1998 a program for full-time, day students started with 18 students.

A relationship between IBS and LI developed and strengthened through the years and led to a merger in 2000 to form the Irish Bible Institute. It was decided that much more could be achieved together by combining resources.

IBI's vision is to see vibrant, gospel-centred churches making an impact for Christ across Ireland. Our mission is to serve the Church through commitment to excellence in biblical education and leadership development for the Irish Church.

Our core values are the Word of God, developing Irish church leadership, biblically relevant training, the diversity of our students and Christ's great commission

We believe that God has blessed the decision to merge and work together. However, it began with disappointment when in 2002 we were refused planning permission to extend our existing borrowed premises. We decided to focus our attention on developing programmes while trusting that God would show some way forward on the building issue.

In January 2004, work began on developing a Strategic Plan for the next 5 years. A series of meetings were held with Board members, staff, and people committed to IBI. The outcome was a clear focus on program accreditation (validation) and premises development. We were encouraged to engage in ‘blue sky thinking’ – and forgetting about practical realities to think boldly about what sort of premises and what sort of courses would we dream of for the future? We did not imagine then, how quickly and generously God would meet these dreams.

BA and MA in Applied Theology, accredited by the University of Wales

We were enabled to work towards an MA due to an unexpected bequest from a lady we had never met. It enabled us to employ Steven Singleton to develop the program and by November 2004 it was successfully validated (accredited) by the University of Wales. In May 2005 the programme was launched with 17 students taking a course in Biblical Interpretation taught by Dr. Craig Blomberg. Today we have 42 students, most of whom are church leaders. And in September 08 we experienced the joy of seeing the first four graduate. This program continues to exceed our expectations.

The next step was to begin a BA Degree. After a year’s work, this program was also successfully validated (accredited) by the University of Wales and launched in September 2006. Again we had more students than expected. The total student body now numbers over 130. In September 2008 by God’s grace, we had seven BA graduates, the first in the Republic of Ireland in over 300 years.

Premises

In early 2004 we hosted an event for ‘Christians in Business’. Due to sharing borrowed facilities we ended up in a most unsatisfactory room for the seminar and were deeply embarrassed. About two months later a businessman who attended that meeting got in touch. He made us a remarkable and generous offer to provide a new home for IBI. Consequently, in September 2004, the IBI Board were in a position to purchase 10,000 sq.ft. in an office block in Foley St., Dublin 1 and by July 2005 we had moved in to brand-new purpose-designed facility. It is located in the heart of the city, close to all major transport options, which makes IBI accessible to students from all over Ireland.

Another remarkable part of this story unfolded when Derek Langran, a past Board Chairman, told us that his late father had worked in Foley Street during the 1950s and 60s. For years he had prayed that God would ‘do something’ there in what was an area famous for prostitution and crime. IBI now stands on the very same site where he worked. God answers prayer!

Funding of the Irish Bible Institute

Since IBI is non-denominational, financial support comes mainly from individuals and from trusts. Traditionally most funding comes from Ireland and we desire to maintain this sense of ownership by the local evangelical community. However, significant growth recently, the move to new premises and the introduction of MA and BA degrees necessitate us looking further afield.



                                            

 The BA (Hons) and the MA in Applied Theology programmes are validated and awarded by the University of Wales, UK. For further details regarding the University and its validation services, please log onto www.wales.ac.uk/validation
or email validation@wales.ac.uk