Baptist Theological Seminary is a Baptist seminary located in Jagannaickpur, Church Square, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is affiliated with the Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars.

History The Seminary was founded in Samalkot in 1882 by the Canadian Baptist Mission, under the stewardship of the John McLaurin.Ministry of Home Affairs List of organizations 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 comprising the American Baptists and the Canadian Baptists began taking classes. In 1928, the Seminary was reopened in Kakinada and the faculty were recalled from Ramayapatnam.

In the beginning, in 1949, the seminary was affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University).Indian Church History Review, Volume 13, Church History Association of India, 1979, p.77. Please refer to Andhra Christian Theological College – The Kretzmann Commission 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 in 1964 for Senate approved courses. The BTS began offering self-managed and operated Graduate of Theology courses under the seal of the Seminary Council since then.

In 1964 the Seminary moved to Rajahmundry in the campus of the Lutheran Theological Seminary.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. With the formation of the ecumenical seminary – Andhra Christian Theological College in 1964, the B.Th. and B.D. classes were moved in 1964Prospectus 1964 of the Andhra Christian Theological College, Printed by A. Nageswara Rao at Saraswathi Printing Press, Rajahmundry, 1969. to it while the Seminary retained the stand-alone diploma courses.

The BTS was upgraded from S. Th to B. Th in August 2015.

Members of faculty Present (resident and visiting) The Rev. N. Leela Grace,Senate of Serampore College (University), Statement of marks for M. Th. qualifying examination, 2013, p.13. CBCNC, Faculty member, The Rev. B. Devasahayam,The Rev. B. Devasahayam underwent ministerial formation at the Andhra Christian Theological College, Secunderabad where he took his B.D. After a period of ecclesiastical ministry, Devasahayam pursued an M. Th. at the Gurukul Lutheran Theological College, Chennai where he studied Christian theology from 2013-2015 and attended the convocation of the University held at his alma mater, the Andhra Christian Theological College, Secunderabad in February 2016 where he was awarded a degree by the Master of the University, John Sadananda. CBCNC, Faculty member, The Rev. B. Theophilus, CBCNC, Faculty member, The Rev. Vara Joseph Deepak Raj Kumar,Senate of Serampore College (University), Madras Theological College and Seminary – Examination paper registration for B. D., 2013, p.1. CBCNC, Faculty member, The Rev. K. Ranjit Kumar,Senate of Serampore College (University), Teaching faculty. CBCNC, Faculty member and Principal, The Rev. P. V. Raja Babu, CBCNC, Faculty member

Past Resident Prof. M. Theophilus, CBCNC, The Rev. B. Arjuna Rao, CBCNC, The Rev. T. Theophilus, CBCNC, The Rev. C. Bhanumurthi, CBCNC, The Rev. A. B. Masilamani, CBCNC, The Rev. G. Noah Raju, CBCNC, The Rev. G. S. Albert Ezekiel,Indian Church History Review, Volume 13, Church History Association of India, 1979. CBCNC, The Rev. K. P. Israel, CBCNC, The Rev. I. Samuel, CBCNC, The Rev. C. L. Timpany, CBM The Rev. J. I. Richardson, CBM

Visiting The Rev. K. David,K. David, The development of the concept of salvation in the Qumran Community and its significance for our understanding of salvation in the NT, Indian Journal of Theology, Volume 30, Issue 3-4, July–December 1981, pp.131-137. CBCNC, The Rev. G. Babu Rao,H. S. Wilson (Edited), The Church on the Move: Essays in honour of Victor Premasagar, Christian Literature Society, Madras, 1988, p.vi. CBCNC, The Rev. D. J. Jeremiah,D. J. Jeremiah, Christian Ministerial Training in the Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars from 1882 to 1971. A B. D. thesis submitted to the Senate of Serampore College (University) through the Andhra Christian Theological College, Rajahmundry, 1971. Cited by W. G. Carder in On theological education in Andhra Pradesh of the Canadian Baptist Mission Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars 1880-1975 in Indian Church History Review, Volume 13, Issue 1, 1979, pp.70-84. CBCNC, The Rev. K. D. G. Prakasa Rao,See Succession of Principals in Andhra Christian Theological College. CBCNC, The Rev. Paul Carter,Paul Carter pastors First Baptist Church, Orillia, Canada. Surge 2007, p. 12. CBM

Succession of seminary principals Sl. No Name Tenure Domicile Earned academic credentials 1.The Rev. John McLaurin, CBM1882Paul 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.-1887John Craig, Forty Years Among the Telugus: A History of the Mission of the Baptists of Ontario and Quebec, Canada, to the Telugus, South India, 1867-1907, 1908, pp.123-178. CanadaB.A. (Canadian Literary Institute)William H. Brackney, Biographical note on John McLaurin in Gerald H. Anderson (Edited), Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids/Cambridge, 1999, p.450.2.The Rev. H. E. Stillwell,M. L. Orchard, Canadian Baptists at Work in India, Published by Read Books, 2008. CBM1888-1898CanadaB. A.3.The Rev. John Craig, CBM1899-1905CanadaB. A. (Toronto)University Monthly, Volume 10, 1910, p.3774.The Rev. H. B. Cross,Colin Campbell McLaurin, McLaurin (Eds.), Pioneering in Western Canada: A Story of the Baptists1 1854–1940, 1939. p.232. CBM1912-1920CanadaB. A.5.The Rev. J. B. McLaurin, CBM1926-1939CanadaB.A.,Calendar, McMaster University, Hamilton, 1906, p.85. B.Th.The Calendar, University of Calcutta, Calcutta, 1930, p.638. M. A.6.The Rev. Gordon P. Barss,Stanley Reed (Ed.), The Times of India Directory and Year Book including Who's Who, Bennett and Coleman, 1922. CBM1939-1945CanadaB. A. (Acadia), B.D. (Rochester)7.The Rev. Archibald Gordon, CBM1945-1952CanadaB. A. (Brandon), B. Th., (Brandon), B. D. (Toronto)8.The Rev. C. Bhanumurthy,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. CBCNC1952-1955IndiaL.Th. (Serampore)9.The Rev. A. B. Masilamani, CBCNC1955-1958IndiaL. Th. (Serampore), B. D. (Serampore), M.A. (Calcutta), Th.M. (Toronto), PhD (Osmania)10.The Rev. Waldo Penner,Waldo Penner, Jeremiah's Idea of Religion, McMaster University, 1945. CBM1958-1964CanadaB. A. (McMaster), B. D. (Berkeley), M. Th. (Berkeley)11.The Rev. Victor Hahn, CBM1964-1966CanadaB. A. (McMaster), B. D. (McMaster), S.T.M. (ANTS)12.The Rev. Paul Antrobus, CBM1966-1968CanadaB. A. (Brandon), B. D. (McMaster), PhD (Waterloo)13.The Rev. T. Gnananandam, CBCNC1968-1969IndiaB. D. (Serampore), M. A. (Calcutta)14.The Rev. Gordon D. Barss, CBM1975-1977CanadaB. A. (Acadia), B. D. (ANTS)15.The Rev. S. E. Krupa Rao, CBCNC1977-1979C. L. Johnson (Edited), Canadian Baptist Mission 125 years Jubilee Celebrations of Baptist Churches in Northern Circars, Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada, 1999, p.217-219.IndiaL. Th. (Serampore), B. D. (Serampore), S.T.M. (UTS)16.The Rev. Gordon D. Barss, CBM1979-1980CanadaB. A. (Acadia), B. D. (ANTS)17.The Rev. S. E. Krupa Rao, CBCNC1980-1993IndiaL. Th. (Serampore), B. D. (Serampore), S.T.M. (UTS)18.The Rev. C. L. Johnson, CBCNC1993-2014IndiaBSc (Andhra), B. D. (Serampore)19.The Rev. P. V. Raja Babu, CBCNC2014-2018IndiaB. A. (Andhra), B.D. (Serampore)20.The Rev. K. Ranjit Kumar, CBCNC2018–IndiaB. Com. (Andhra), B. D. (Serampore), M. Th (Serampore)

See also Eva Rose York Bible Training and Technical School for Women, Tuni Canadian Baptist Ministries, Canada Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars Andhra Christian Theological College, Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh Senate of Serampore College (University), Serampore, West Bengal

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