Emmanuel College, University of Toronto

Emmanuel College is a theological college of Victoria University at the University of Toronto. Affiliated with the United Church, it is a member institution of the Toronto School of Theology. The principal is the Rev. Dr Mark G. Toulouse. Emmanuel College is a member of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada.HistoryEmmanuel College has its origins in Victoria College, a Methodist college founded in 1836. From 1871 it operated a Faculty of Theology training candidates for the ministry of the Wesleyan Methodist Church. In 1884, with the merger of the Wesleyan Methodists and the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) into a single Methodist Church of Canada, the seminary the MEC had established at Albert University in 1857 merged into Victoria.When the merger in turn to create the United Church of Canada took place in 1925, a number of congregations in the Presbyterian Church in Canada chose to remain a distinct denomination. Knox College, University of Toronto, founded as the Free Church rival to Queen's during the Disruption of 1843 and favourable to church union, was expected to serve as the new church's main seminary. However, the Legislative Assembly of Ontario awarded the building to the continuing Presbyterians. The faculty and most students of Knox left to form "Union College" with the Faculty of Theology at Victoria. Shortly renamed Emmanuel College, the new college became affiliated with the University of Toronto as a United Church of Canada seminary in 1925. The Emmanuel College, Toronto main building was designed by architect Henry Sproatt.