Torchbearers International & Capernwray Bible School

In 1946 Major Ian Thomas and his wife Joan bought Capernwray Hall, a country house in Lancashire, and opened it to young people after the war. The first Bible school began there in 1949. From it grew Torchbearers International — a fellowship of centres that today runs Bible schools and holiday conferences in about twenty countries.

The schools are short and residential. You live in community for anything from three weeks to nine months, study the whole Bible book by book, and serve alongside the staff. They are meant as a year of grounding before university, work or ministry, not as a degree.

In Europe the centres closest to Poland are Tauernhof and Schloss Klaus in Austria, Klostermühle and Bodenseehof in Germany, and a centre in Romania.

• Founded
  Capernwray Hall bought in 1946; first guests in 1947; first Bible school in 1949
• Founders
  Major W. Ian Thomas and Joan Thomas
• Led by
  Peter Reid, General Director of Torchbearers International
• Based in
  Torchbearers International: Estes Park, Colorado. Capernwray Hall: Carnforth, Lancashire, England
• Reach
  Centres in about 20 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific (their pages count 23 to 25 centres)
• Course length
  From three weeks to nine months. At Capernwray: a 22-week Winter School, a 10-week Spring School, and taster weeks of 1–4 weeks
• Cost
  Across the network, about $200–$700 a week. At Capernwray: Winter School 2026–27 £9,995 (£7,996 with financial assistance), Spring School 2027 £4,530, including room, meals and teaching; plus a £30 application fee and a non-refundable deposit
• Accreditation
  In their own words, most Torchbearers Bible schools are not accredited. Capernwray is accredited by the British Accreditation Council as a short-course provider, and its courses lead to a Level 3 qualification. These are not university degrees
• Languages
  Mostly English; some centres teach in German, French, Spanish, Albanian, Romanian or Hindi
• How to join
  Online application on each centre’s site, with two references. For advice on choosing a school: bibleschool@torchbearers.org
• Statement of faith
  Published on torchbearers.org and capernwray.org
• Legal status
  Capernwray: The Capernwray Missionary Fellowship of Torchbearers, UK registered charity 1073139. For the year to March 2025 it reported income of £2,706,351
• Polish
  No centre in Poland and no Polish-language school or page
• Contact
  Capernwray: +44 1524 733908 · info@capernwray.org. Torchbearers: +1 970 586 0277
• What we checked
  The history, centres, course lengths, fees, accreditation and beliefs come from torchbearers.org and capernwray.org; the charity figures from the UK Charity Commission register

Torchbearers International & Capernwray Bible School does not sponsor or endorse Embassy of the Kingdom, and we are not affiliated with them. We list them because we checked them and would put them in a friend’s hands. If you lead a ministry and would like to be considered, or believe something here should be corrected, write to us — we read every message ourselves.