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 under the stewardship of the pioneer Canadian Baptist Missionary John McLaurin. In 1912, 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 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.
In the beginning, the seminary was affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University). 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.
Read more about this topic: Baptist Theological Seminary
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