In 1964, the college was founded in Luthergiri, Rajahmundry, East Godavari with the merger of three[17] theological colleges.[18] In 1967, Ramayapatnam Baptist Theological Seminary, Ramayapatnam moved from Ramayapatnam to Rajahmundry, as a separate part of the college in Rajahmundry until it merged in 1972.[12][19][11]
By 1973, the college had moved from Rajahmundry to Secunderabad due to pollution from nearby paper mills.[22] The new buildings were dedicated by Church of South India bishop Pereji Solomon in the presence of Catholic archbishop Samineni Arulappa and seminarians from St. John's Regional Seminary.[23] During the 1990s, the college's postal address changed to Hyderabad (now in Telangana).
Personalities
Bishop A. C. Solomon Raj, previously Chairperson of Board of Governors
The commission's report, presented to the board of governors, suggested increasing the Bachelor of Divinity curriculum and abolishing the Licentiate in Theology programme.
The college motto is derived from Ephesians 4:12, which reads in the LatinVulgate: "Ad consummationem sanctorum in opus ministerii..."[51] ("For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry..." in the King James Version).
Hall system
W. D. Coleman, the college's first principal, explained the hall system: "Each of the participating denominations has its own 'hall'. There are two hours of instruction each week about the liturgy, history, and policy of each denomination".[52]
The churches commonly associated with Protestantism in southern India include the Anglicans, Congregationalists, Wesleyan Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans and Methodists. Each church has its own tradition. At ACTC, students learn their respective church doctrine in addition to general theology.[53]
Principals
The principal serves a four-year term (2022-2026), with each participating church having an opportunity to provide a principal. The current principal is the Rev. G. Varaprasad, AELC, D.Th. (Serampore).
Through distance education, ACTC has Bachelor of Christian Studies (B.C.S.) and Master of Christian Studies (M.C.S.) programmes for Christian students[58] and a Diploma in Christian Studies (Dip. C.S.) programme for Christian and non-Christian students.[56]
Registrar visits
When the college was founded in 1964, university registrarChetti Devasahayam (CBCNC) delivered its inaugural address;[21] registrar D. S. Satyaranjan visited the college annually. Current registrar S. K. Patro has visited ACTC to investigate the prospect of upgrading the college to a postgraduate institution.[59]
University convocations
Senate of Serampore College (University) has held two convocations at ACTC. The February 1979 convocation[60] was hosted by college during the tenures of the Old Testament faculty Victor Premasagar, CSI and G. Babu Rao, CBCNC; both had been associated with the Serampore College.[61] The convocation was attended by university registrar D. S. Satyaranjan and master A. D. Khan. The university president was Victor Premasagar.[62] The Commemoration Mass was led by G. Babu Rao (CBCNC) at St. Gregorios Malankara Orthodox Syrian Cathedral near[63] the college,[64] and the convocation address was delivered by Samuel Rayan,[60]S.J.[62]
Campus
Academic block face
Bell tower
Creche
The college hosted[59] the 2016 convocation under the tenure of Old Testament scholars T. Matthews Emmanuel,[59] CBCNC and Vasantha Rao, CSI. The university was represented by master John Sadananda,[59] Senate president Issac Mar Philoxenos,[59][62]South Asia Theological Research Institute dean P. G. George[59] and university registrar S. K. Patro. The Commemoration Mass was led by S. I. Nirmal Kumar, CBCNC at the Chapel in the campus. The Convocation address was delivered by Klaus Schäfer.[62]honorary doctoral degrees were conferred on D. S. Satyaranjan[59] (who led the 1979 convocation) and Klaus Schäfer,[59] who taught New Testament courses at the college from 1988[65] to 1993.[66]
The college has begun an initiative to admit Christian candidates to a M.Div. programme, for which it has been accredited by the Asia Theological Association.[67]
ACTC's library has reading-room facilities, over 38,000[89] books and 35 periodicals. When the college was founded, it was known as the Dunkelberger Memorial Library.[19] The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America[90] had sponsored the library[90] in memory of Roy Martin Dunkelberger,[91] AELC, a Lutheran missionary in Rajahmundry.[92]
The library was renamed the Gipson Memorial Library in 2014 in honour of Baptist missionary T. G. Gipson, STBC, who had modernized the library during his second term as a visiting faculty member at the college.[93] The renaming ceremony was held during the tenure of T. Matthews Emmanuel (CBCNC) as principal, in the presence of board of governors chair K. Frederick Paradesi Babu (AELC) and board member V. Prasada Rao (CSI).
ACTC has recreational facilities which include throwball, tennis, basketball and volleyball courts, a table tennis room and a playing field for football and cricket. Daily mass is said in the chapel for students and teachers, and Sunday mass is open to the public. College festivals include the Christian Home Festival, Carey Day, CSI Day, Reformation Day, and Independence Day.
Sankar Ray, The Hindu (Business Line), 11 April 2008 "Almost a century later, the charter was endorsed officially under the Bengal Govt Act IV of 1918." Internet, accessed 30 November 2008.
The Senate of Serampore College (University) is a University within the meaning of Section 2 (f) of the UGC Act, 1956 under which a University means a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, a Provincial Act or a State Act, and includes any such institution as may, in consultation with the University concerned, be recognised by the Commission in accordance with the regulations made in this behalf under this Act. The UGC took the opinion that the Senate fell under the purview of Section 2 (f) of the said Act since The Serampore College Act, 1918 was passed by the Government of West Bengal.Archived 12 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine
Edmund Davies draws attention to Prof. Wilfred Scopes, a Missionary of the London Missionary Society who taught in the seminaries in Gooty and Dornakal. Edmund Davis, The History of Theological Education in Jamaica: The United Theological College of the West Indies and its four antecedent colleges (1841-1966), 1998, page 167.
Margaret Eunice Hawkinson née Coleman, That they may be one - The Story of the Andhra Christian Theological College, Published by the Mission Council of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church, and printed at the Lenox Press, Madurai, 1966.
Victor Paul has a postgraduate degree in New Testament from the Senate of Serampore College (University). In addition, he also has a doctoral degree in the field of Christian Ministry.
70 years of God's Faithfulness: CSI (Medak Diocese) UK Telugu Christians Souvenir commemorating the 70th year of the formation of the Church of South India, 2016, p.15.Archived 27 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine
"Archived copy"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
P. Satyanarayana, Emmanuel D.K. Meduri, Use of Distance Education by Christian Religion to Train, Edify and Educate Adherents, Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, Volume 14, Number 2, April 2013.
Minutes of the twentieth biennial Convention of the United Lutheran Church in America, Board of Publication of the United Lutheran Church in America, 1956, p.991.
Martin Luther Dolbeer, The Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church: A Brief History, Department of Religious Education of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1951, p.145.
Margaret Eunice Hawkinson née Coleman, The Church is Planted - A Biographical Record of the Missionaries in India of the Lutheran Church in America 1842-1987, Florida, 1987.
G. Babu Rao, Bibliography of some of the writings of Victor Premasagar in H. S. Wilson (Edited), The Church on the Move: A Quest to affirm the Biblical Faith, Christian Literature Society, Madras, 1988, p.157.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
