The history of Weithaga Bible College cannot be written or told without mentioning the Weithaga Mission Centre that came before it. The story would also be incomplete without mentioning the pioneer missionary Arthur Wallace Mcgregor commonly known as Mangereka who did the pioneer mission work in Kikuyu land. Macgregor arrived in Kabete in 1900 and started a mission station there which later became St. Paul Kabete Mother Church from where all mission stations in the Mt.Kenya region sprung from. Kabete is an important station because it’s from there that McGregor traveled to Weithaga to start a mission station in 1903. It’s also at Kabete where Bishop Sospeter Magua and his wife Peninah are buried.

THE CENTRALITY AND THE HISTORICITY OF WEITHAGA AS A MISSION STATION AND LATER AS A BIBLE SCHOOL AND A PRAYER, RETREAT, AND CONFRENCE CENTRE.
Before establishing a mission Centre, Missionaries considered many factors such as; the climate of the area, availability of enough land, proximity to the main road, and the topography of such a place. Weithaga is strategically placed in a cool well-watered place that is very close to the main road. It’s strategically positioned on a hill from where you can see different places atop the highest point for security purposes. The mission station sits on 22 acres of land with flora and fauna all over under indigenous trees some over 200 years old. Over the years, the area has occupied a Church, learning institutions, and a Hospital which was the first dispensary in Muranga which was later transferred to Muranga town and is today Muranga Level 5 Hospital. In 1903, Arthur Wallace McGregor left the Kabete Mission and went to found the Weithaga Mission Centre. McGregor had arrived in the Kenyan Coast in 1890. He first arrived at the court of Chief Karuri Gakure at Tuthu before heading downwards to Weithaga.In 1904, he started the first Church which also acted as a school during weekdays. The first pupils were; Karuri was Karuri, Njoroge Kigondu, and Muturi. The three boys commonly referred to as ihii cia Bwana formed the first Catechumen who were baptized on 5th Feb 1905 by the then Bishop of Mombasa, the Rt.Rev.Peel.The mission station grew with time and gave birth to other mission centers e.g. Kahuhia, Muthiria, Gatuya, and others.

MCGREGOR BIBLE SCHOOL
The first Anglican Bible School in Kenya was established at Frere Town Mombasa in 1903. It was later transferred to Limuru in 1930 and renamed St. Paul Divinity School. Later in 1955, it became St.Pauls United Theological College and in 2007, it was awarded a Charter becoming St.Pauls University. Historically speaking, the college as we know it today was transferred from Embu to Weithaga in 1944. The College offered courses for laypeople up until 1959 when the first two Theology students were admitted. These two students were: Justin Muna and Ben Nyahu who were the first to be ordained by Bishop Obadiah Kariuki in the new Diocese of Fort Hall created in 1961. The first African Principal for Weithaga Bible College was Rev. John Mahiani who became principal in 1961.

WHY ESTABLISH A BIBLE SCHOOL?
With the growth of mission centers in different places, and with the number of Christians getting baptized going up every day, there was a need for Ordained Ministers to cater to the needs of the growing centers and Christians. By 1950, the whole of Mt.Kenya had just a handful of Anglican Ordained Clergy who had been trained at the Divinity School in Limuru. Among the few were native Clergy like, Obadiah Kariuki, Elijah Gachanja, Shadrack Mliwa, Petro Kigondu,Samuel Mbatia, Harmuel Toro, Filex Nyoro, and Samuel Nguru among others. It is imperative to note that by 1938, Revival Brethren had visited Kenya and had come up to Kahuhia spreading the Revival message wherever they went. Many Lay people got saved around this time as well as a few Clergymen. According to Gathogo J. (2017), by this time, there was a huge cry for theological education that was spiritually and intellectually stimulating. The Lay untrained Theology of the East Africa Revival Movement was strongly informing the social ecclesial discourses of the time. The Revival Brethren’s are known to put more emphasis on unrealized eschatology which deals with the future heavenly concern as opposed to the realized of present holistic concern. Given that the Tukutendereza Brethren were the Lay preachers in most of the Churches, and further that the clergy were few and apart, there was an urgent need to start training the Clergy for Ordination. The first two Ordinards were enrolled in September 1959 for a three-month Ordination course.

THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE COLLEGE OVER THE YEARS.
Since 1959, when the first two students were enrolled, the college has trained many more students some of whom have gone on to become Bishops later in life as we shall see later. The course duration has been changing with time with some going for three months, one year, and two years and so on. All this went on until January 1980, when the three-year course began proper with a class of 17 young men namely;
1.James Njenga
2.John Kipukel
3.John Kamau Theuri
4.Titus Njuguna
5.Charles Karuga
6.Peter Nyoro
7.Timothy Ranji
8.George Tharau
9.Wilson Kamau Mwangi
10.David Irungu
11.John Njau
12.James Macharia
13.David Nyoro
14.James Kienye
15.John Mwangi Gikonyo
16.Henry Ngochi
17.Joseph Kamau
That was a complete class that pioneered the three-year Diploma Course at the Weithaga Bible College. It is important to note that in 1975, the Diocese of Mt.Kenya was divided into two to create
Mt.Kenya South and Mt.Kenya East. A young highly educated and visionary man aged 37 years took over as the new Bishop of Mt.Kenya East. David Gitari was among the four people to get a Theological Degree in Kenya in the early 1970s. The first one was John Mbiti. Gitari was young and energetic and he considered Weithaga College not sufficient to train his members of the Clergy for his expansive Diocese which went all the way to Marsabit and Moyale. He immediately came up with a plan to start a Theological College in his new Diocese. St.Andrews Kabare was started not just for Theology but for secretarial and other soft courses. All the students from Mt.Kenya East went to the new school founded in 1977. Folklore has it that a certain donor wanted to give a 20,000-dollar cheque to Bishop Magua for a project of his choice. Due to his Tukutendereza spirit, he declined the cheque. Bishop Gitari heard of it and went to the donor with the master plan of Kabare College, the rest is history. Nevertheless, it is a fact that Bishop Gitari demanded to be given half the books that were in the Weithaga Library by the time the Diocese was subdivided. Bishop Magua sent his Provost and a few other senior clergy to talk to Bishop Gitari who insisted on getting his equal share of the books. Bishop Magua had no option but to order the books to be counted and divided into two.Gitari alikuwa Hatari.In 1984, in the subdivision of the Diocese of Mt.Kenya South, students from Kiambu were recalled by their new Bishop to go to a newly created Bishop Kariuki College. Some were midway in their Theological training at Weithaga.This also destabilized the smooth running of the College for some time. However, the student number rose with time and the college continued with normal operations. When the Provincial Board of Theological Training ordered all Diocesan colleges to close down to build Provincial institutions like St. Paul, some colleges did not close as ordered. Weithaga was the first to close since Mt.Kenya Central is known to be compliant. One of the main colleges that never closed was Kabare. Instructively, the Bishop of Mt.Kenya East was David Gitari who by then was the Chairman of the Provincial Board of Theological Training. Talk of the hyena and the rabbit who planned to go beat their wives one evening. The hyena beat his wife so badly, while wamabuku was busy beating drums.

FUTURE PROJECTIONS
The story of Weithaga Bible College has been an on-off affair. It has not operated continuously as the case would be. The trajectory has been an up-down silent one for many years until when Bishop Timothy Gichere decided to change trajectory altogether.In 2017, on assuming office, the new Bishop set on a path to revive and awaken the giant that is the Weithaga Bible College. As alumni of the College, the Bishop immediately set up a Board to look into the welfare of the college. He also organized a big fundraiser to raise money for key infrastructural and office equipment. The Bishop did not stop there, he gave an Episcopal Order that henceforth, all Diploma Courses for theology will be undertaken at Weithaga. Before then, students from this college were flocking to Kabare and Berea Colleges for Theological training.
This stopped henceforth and the first cohorts of 7 students were enrolled in September 2019 under the pupilage of the Rev. Dr. Washington Chege who was the Principal.
The eight students were:
1.Duncan Mwangi
2.Casper Kimani
3.Fransis Mbau
4.James Maina
5.Peter Mwangi
6.Fransis Munyaga
7.Charles Gichigo
8.Eshter Karuga
Since then, the college has been admitting students almost every Semester. The future projection is that the College will run independently with all the necessary things in place namely; the Faculty, the student body, the Chapel, Subordinate Staff, and such. With the Diocese now focusing on establishing a prayer and retreat center within the College compound, this and the Conference facility coming up in a few years will go a long way in placing the College a higher pedestal as far as pastoral services are required by the other facilities not forgetting the schools around the College that require the same services. The Bishop looks forward to a time when the college will be a beehive of activities with a high number of student population for theology and other courses. The current Principal has his mind fixed on raising up the student population by marketing the institution as the available regional hub for training Theologians for the 21st Century and beyond. He is capitalizing on the strategic positioning of the college and the rich
heritage over the years even as he envisages a new crop of students and invigorates new energy.
into the institution as it were.

PRINCIPALS WHO HAVE SERVED AT WEITHAGA BIBLE COLLEGE
1. Rev H.J Church
2. Rev Peter Riddle
3. Rev John Mahiani later Bishop of Mt.Kenya Central
4. Rev Bedan Ireri later Bishop of Embu
5. Rev.Samuel Muturi
6. Rev Samson Gitau
7. Rev Allan Waithaka later Ass.Bishop
8. Rev Dominic Muthoga
9. Ven Peter Machira
10. Ven Julius Gatambo later Bishop of Mt.Kenya Central
11. Rev Samuel Njuguna Gateru
12. Rev Samuel Masaba from Uganda
13. Ven canon James Gitau
14. Rt.Rev Allan Waithaka
15. Rev Dr.Washington Chege
16. Ven Capt. Benard Kamau

WEITHAGA COLLEGE STUDENTS WHO BECAME BISHOPS
1. Andrew Adano Tuye ASS.Bishop of Kirinyaga-1993
2. Timothy Ranji Bishop of Mt.Kenya South-2004
3. Joseph Kagunda Mt.Kenya West -2004
4. Julius Karanu Muranga South-2014
5. Timothy Gichere- Mt.Kenya Central-2017

CURRENT MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT
1. Lay Canon Prof.David Wachira-Chairman
2. Lay Canon Prof.Paul Mbatia
3.Lay Canon Dr.Dan Irungu
4. Arch.Aidah Munanu
5. CPA Samuel Wangoto
6. Ven Samuel Karabu
7. Ven Canon John Miano
8. Adv. Ruth Kagamba
9. Dr. Moses Muchiri
10. Ven Capt.Benard Kamau
11. Eng. James Mwangi