of their own college. In the late 1980s, the Federation took on a programme for the training of Namibian refugees, who added another dimension both to the teaching of development studies and to the lives of the colleges where they lived. There was always an international character to the colleges, with an awareness of foreign theologies that was unusual for British theological institutions until late in the twentieth century. In the 1930s the federation welcomed many important guests, not least Mahatma Gandhi who visited while in Britain for talks on the Indian constitution in 1931, Albert Schweitzer who came as a visiting lecturer, Charles Freer Andrews and Rabindranath Tagore. In the 1980s it pioneered dialogue between Christians and Muslims and between the black-led churches, e.g. of inner-city Birmingham, and the mainstream, and a broad theology of mission. It also developed strong links with the struggle against apartheid in South Africa Throughout its life it influenced both the theologies and the practices of churches overseas through its teaching and its open-minded approaches to issues of controversy. Most of those who taught, and many who came to study, were profoundly influenced by the experience, not just of formal lessons but also of the collegiality, the openness, the opportunities to debate and discuss with those from other backgrounds. Final Years of the Federation Martin Conway, President from 1986, had spent most of his professional life in the World Council of Churches and other ecumenical organisations. All the colleges were under pressure. The missionary colleges were small and expensive to run and it was debatable whether training missionaries for work in developing countries overseas was better undertaken in countries where Christianity was expanding, rather than in the UK. Kingsmead College closed in 1993, its work and some of its staff joining what became the United College of the Ascension. The Multi-faith Centre also closed in 1993, the Jewish Christian Centre the following year. Michael Taylor, a former Director of Christian Aid took over as President in 1997. The Centre for Black and White Christian Partnership ended in 1999, and St Andrew's Hall closed in 2000 after the Baptist Missionary Society withdrew from the partnership with the United Reformed Church and the Council for World Mission; the buildings remain in use as the International Mission Centre, training missionaries for the BMS. The Church Missionary Society moved some of its training to Cowley, Oxford in 2005