Baptist Theological Seminary

This article is about the seminary in India. For the seminary in Richmond, Virginia, United States, see Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond.
Baptist Theological Seminary (India)
Kakinada Seminary
Established 2 October 1882
Type Propaedeutic Seminary
Principal Rev. C. L. Johnson
Location Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, India
16°56′15″N 82°14′18″E / 16.93750°N 82.23833°E
Campus Rural
Affiliations formerly affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University), Serampore 712 201, West Bengal.
Data as of May 2008
Seminary Principals
  • John McLaurin[1]
  • H. E. Stillwell[2]
  • H. B. Cross[3]
  • J. B. McLaurin[1]
  • Gordon P. Barss[4]
  • Chetty Bhanumurthy[5]
  • A. B. Masilamani[5]
  • Waldo Penner[6]
  • Victor Hahn
  • Paul Anthrobus
  • T. Gnananandam
  • Gordon P. Barss
  • S. E. Krupa Rao
  • C. L. Johnson

Baptist Theological Seminary[7] is a Baptist seminary located in Jagannaickpur, Church Square, Kakinada in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India.

History

More than a century ago, missionaries from Canada stepped onto coastal Andhra Pradesh to spread the Gospel. The area of their operation included the district of Srikakulam in the north through the district of Krishna in the south. This apart from their work in the interiors of Orissa.

They established a Seminary in Samalkot in 1882[2] under the stewardship of the pioneer Canadian Baptist Missionary John McLaurin. In 1912,[2] the Seminary was shifted from Samalkot to Kakinada. However, in 1920, the Seminary closed and was merged with the Ramayapatnam Baptist Theological Seminary and a joint faculty composed of the American Baptists and the Canadian Baptists began taking classes. In 1928, the Seminary was reopened in Kakinada and the faculty recalled from Ramayapatnam. In 1959 the Seminary moved to Rajahmundry in the campus of the Lutheran Theological Seminary[8] and functioned as a separate entity along with the American Baptists. With the formation of the ecumenical seminary – Andhra Christian Theological College in 1964, the B.Th. and B.D. classes were moved to it while the Seminary retained the stand-alone diploma courses.

A leadership programme conducted for Pastors. Seated on the extreme left is Rev. Noah Raju, a member of the faculty. Rev. C. L. Johnson, the Principal, is seated on the extreme right.

In the beginning, the seminary was affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University).[9] However, with the formation of the Andhra Christian Theological College (ACTC) in 1964, the seminary began sending its students for Bachelor of Theology and Bachelor of Divinity to ACTC. After the formation of ACTC, an ecumenical seminary in Rajahmundry in 1964, the BTS got itself amalgamated into it for Senate approved courses. However, the BTS began offering self managed and operated Graduate of Theology courses under the seal of the Seminary Council since then.

Council

Chairman: Rev.K.John Immanuel, Secretary: Rev.C.L.Johnson, Board members: Sri.M.Vijay Kumar, Sri.T.Issaic, Rev.Dr.M.Jesudas, Rev.Ch.Sampath Kumar, Sri.V.J.L.Raju. Seminary Council Administrting Baptist Theological Seminary KAKINADA, Eve Rose Yark Bible Training and Technical School For Women TUNI, Santhi Parisodhana Patasala RAJAHMUNDRY, Andhra Christian Theological College HYDERABAD.

Present Staff

Resident Faculty

Visiting Faculty

Past Faculty

See also

External links

References

Notes
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Paul R. Dekar, Biographical note on John Bates Mclaurin pp.450–451 in Gerald H. Anderson Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 M. L. Orchard, Canadian Baptists at Work in India, Published by Read Books, 2008.
  3. ↑ Colin Campbell McLaurin, McLaurin (Eds.), Pioneering in Western Canada: A Story of the Baptists1 1854–1940, 1939. p.232.
  4. ↑ Stanley Reed (Ed.), The Times of India Directory and Year Book including Who's Who, Bennett and Coleman, 1922.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 R. R. Sundara Rao, Bhakti Theology in the Telugu Hymnal, Published for the Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society, Bengaluru by the Christian Literature Society, Chennai, 1983. pp.56–58.
  6. ↑ Waldo Penner, Jeremiah's Idea of Religion, McMaster University, 1945.
  7. ↑ Ministry of Home Affairs List of organizations
  8. ↑ Robert George Torbet, Venture of Faith: The Story of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society and the Women's American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, 1814–1954, Judson Press, 1955.
  9. ↑ Please refer to Andhra Christian Theological College – The Kretzmann's Commission
  10. ↑ Paul Carter pastors First Baptist Church, Orillia, Canada. Surge 2007, p. 12.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Indian Church History Review, Volume 13, Church History Association of India, 1979.
Further reading