17°25′00.4″N 78°29′17.7″E / 17.416778°N 78.488250°E / 17.416778; 78.488250

Andhra Christian Theological College

Coat of arms
Other name	ACTC
Motto	Latin: Ad consummationem sanctorum in opus ministerii
Motto in English	"Equipping the saints for the work of the ministry"
Dean of Women	The Rev. P. Priscilla Das, CMBCI
Warden	The Rev. M. Yonathan, STBC
Type	Affiliated institution
Established	July 1, 1964; 60 years ago (1964-07-01)
Founders	Churches in Telugu states
Accreditation	Asia Theological Association
Affiliation	Senate of Serampore College (University)
Religious affiliation	Christianity
Academic affiliation	Advanced Institute for Research on Religion and Culture
Chairperson	The Rev. R. R. D. Sajeeva Raju, STBC
Visitor	Bishop Anilkumar John Servand, MCI
Principal	The Rev. G. Varaprasad, AELC
Dean	The Rev. K. J. Premavardhan, CSI
Registrar	The Rev. Y. J. Rajendra Prasad, STBC
Academic staff	18+
Total staff	40+
Address	Lower Tank Bund Road, Gandhinagar Post , Secunderabad , Telangana , 500 080 , India 17°25′00.4″N 78°29′17.7″E / 17.416778°N 78.488250°E / 17.416778; 78.488250
Campus	Residential, 10+ acres
Language	Telugu and English
Bursar	The Rev. V. Alfred Sudhakar, CBCNC
Chaplain	The Rev. G. Niranjan Nishchal, CSI
Website	www.actc.edu.in

Andhra Christian Theological College (ACTC) is a seminary^[1] in Telangana which was founded in 1964.^[2] It is affiliated with India's first^[3] university, the Senate of Serampore College (University) (a university under section 2(f) of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956),^[4][5] and has degree-granting authority under a Danish charter ratified by the government of West Bengal.^[6] ACTC is on the Hussain Sagar canal (north) in Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the Secunderabad Junction railway station.^[7]

The college was founded on the Lutheran Theological College campus in Rajahmundry and the founding societies included^[8][10] the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Church of South India, the Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars, the Methodist Church in India and the South Andhra Lutheran Church. The Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches held its B.D. classes at ACTC in 1967, and in 1972 the B.D. programme of the Ramayapatnam Baptist Theological Seminary was integrated into the college. When M. Victor Paul was principal (1991–1993), Good Samaritan Evangelical Lutheran Church joined the college.^[11][12][10]

Christian missions in Andhra Pradesh^[13] opened seminaries in Gooty (Union Theological Seminary),^[14] Dornakal (Andhra Union Theological College,^[15] for the Church of South India), Ramayapatnam (Baptist Theological Seminary, for the American Baptists), Luthergiri^[16] (Lutheran Theological College), Kakinada (Baptist Theological Seminary, for Canadian Baptists) and Shamshabad (Mennonite Brethren Centenary Bible College, for the Anabaptists). Although professors were exchanged among the seminaries, Bachelor of Divinity students attended Serampore College in West Bengal.

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]

• 1964
  • Andhra Union Theological College in Dornakal,
  • Baptist Theological Seminary in Kakinada,^[20] and
  • Lutheran Theological College in Rajahmundry.^[20]
• 1972
  • Ramayapatnam Baptist Theological Seminary, Ramayapatnam

With William D. Coleman as its first principal, the college was dedicated on 1 July^[19] 1964 by R. M. Clark^[19] of the BTESSC.^[a] The inaugural address was delivered by Senate of Serampore College registrar C. Devasahayam in Rajahmundry.^[21]

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

Aprem Mooken, a Visitor to the college in 1988.^[24]

Homiletics Scholar, The Rev. A. John Prabhakar, an Alumnus of this institution, and past Principal.

ACTC constituted the Kretzmann Commission in 1969,^[25] consisting of:

• M. L. Kretzmann, D.D., secretary for planning, study and research of the Lutheran World Federation's Department of World Missions
• K. Devasahayam, M.A., B.D. (Hon.), S.T.M., Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church
• A. B. Masilamani, M.A., Th.M., Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars
• C. S. Sundaresan, bishop of the Church of South India's Diocese of Rayalaseema

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 is administered by a board of governors composed of representatives of participating Protestant ecclesiastical societies:

• Telangana
  • Church of South India (CSI) Dioceses of Dornakal, Karimnagar, Medak (headquartered in Dornakal, Karimnagar and Medak)
  • Good Samaritan Evangelical Lutheran Church (headquartered in Bhadrachalam)
  • Methodist Church in India, Hyderabad Regional Conference
  • Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches Society, Deccan Association
• Tamil Nadu
  • CSI Dioceses of Madras and Vellore (headquartered in Chennai and Vellore)
• Andhra Pradesh
  • Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church, headquartered in Guntur
  • CSI Dioceses of Krishna-Godavari, Nandyal and Rayalaseema (headquartered in Machilipatnam, Nandyal and Kadapa, respectively)
  • Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars, originally headquartered in Kakinada
  • Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches, originally headquartered in Nellore
  • South Andhra Lutheran Church, headquartered in Tirupati

The college motto is derived from Ephesians 4:12, which reads in the Latin Vulgate: "Ad consummationem sanctorum in opus ministerii..."^[51] ("For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry..." in the King James Version).

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]

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).

The college has affiliated since its founding with the Senate of Serampore College (University).^[56]

ACTC and Serampore^[57] offer two degrees for pastors: Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.) and Master of Theology (M. Th.) under the aegis of Advanced Institute for Research on Religion and Culture (ARRC).^[56]

Campus

Dormitories

Refectory

Students residential quarters

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]

When the college was founded in 1964, university registrar Chetti 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]

• 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.

• Charles W. Ranson (1946). "The Christian Minister in India, His Vocation and Training: A Study Based on a Survey of Theological Education by the National Christian Council, United Society for Christian Literature, Lutterworth Press".
• Margaret Eunice Hawkinson née Coleman (1966). "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".
• M. L. Kretzmann (1970). "Kretzmann Commission Report: a survey and study of the task of theological education in the churches related to the Andhra Christian Theological College, Andhra Christian Theological College, Hyderabad".
• J. Herbert Kane (1971). "A Global View of Christian Missions from Pentecost to the Present, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan". Second.
• Senftleben, Martin (1992). Influences of Hinduism on Christianity in Andhra Pradesh. Unpublished PhD thesis, Sri Venkateshwara University, Tirupati (PDF) (Thesis). Vol. I. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2008. Retrieved 5 March 2006.^{[self-published source?]}
• Influences of Hinduism on Christianity in Andhra Pradesh. Unpublished PhD thesis, Sri Venkateshwara University, Tirupati (PDF) (Thesis). Vol. II. 1992. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2006.^{[self-published source?]}
• Talathoti Punnaiah (2010). My Memoir, Ministry and Message - 60 years Life Experiences 1950-2010.^{[full citation needed]}
• P. Satyanarayana, Emmanuel D.K. Meduri (April 2013). "Use of Distance Education by Christian Religion to Train, Edify and Educate Adherents in Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education" (PDF).