Introducing Carlile College

Carlile College is passionate about training men and women for Christian mission. Our greatest desire is to see the continent of Africa radically transformed through the power of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our task is to train the people who can fulfil this great commission. We have a fifty year heritage of equipping people for mission and evangelism so that we now have former students working in ten different African nations. We are an international Anglican College whose desire is to equip Church leaders with the skills that they need to transform Africa by the power of the gospel. The programmes that we offer are focused on the realities and practice of Christian mission in the African context.

Our Context

Carlile College is located in south east Nairobi, in the poorer industrial suburbs of the city. Nairobi is rapidly expanding with a current population of about 4 million people, 60% of who live in informal settlements that are amongst the poorest and most densely populated slums in the world. Despite this, the reality of life for most people living in East Africa is a situation of rural, not urban, poverty. Yet in the face of many challenges, God’s church is thriving. In Kenya, more that one third of the entire population profess to be born again Christians. One of the critical needs of this rapidly expanding church is for the provision of properly trained and equipped leaders who are able to disciple people and lead them towards Christian maturity. A mature local Church will be well placed to make a radical and transforming impact on its local community. This is the context in which Carlile College exercises its ministry.

Our History

Carlile College is a ministry of Church Army Africa – a society of Evangelists working as a part of the Anglican Church. Throughout the world there are eight international Church Army societies. We trace our origins to England in 1882, when a young Anglican clergyman called Wilson Carlile was called by God to take the gospel to some of the poorest and most deprived parts of Victorian London. Carlile was so moved by the appalling poverty of the London slums that he set about raising an army of Evangelists with the aim of transforming the lives of thousands of people through the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Church Army Africa was founded as an autonomous African mission agency in 1954 and embraces the vision of Wilson Carlile – to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ with the poorest in Society.

Church Army Africa has over 400 personnel working throughout our region – men and women engaged in gospel ministry from Southern Sudan to Malawi, Kenya to Congo. Our vision is to equip and send out an additional 1000 people into mission ministry in the next decade.

Now that you know our history, you also understand our College’s name! Carlile College seeks to ensure that the original vision of Rev Wilson Carlile is relevant and powerful in Africa today.