One of the Church of England's most distinguished theological training colleges has been placed on notice that it must improve its academic standards and not succumb to narrow conservative evangelicalism if it is to remain part of Oxford University. Wycliffe Hall, at the centre of a dispute between some staff and its hardline evangelical principal, has been told by the university that it must maintain the values of a liberal education and will be monitored to ensure it does. Complaints of homophobia and misogyny have been levelled at Wycliffe's leadership.
An internal report, drawn up by senior Oxford academics and accepted by the university's governing council, will warn the 130-year-old college of concern about the narrowness of its theological teaching and doubts about whether it is offering students full intellectual development.
The findings, leaked to the Church Times newspaper, have come...
