“The heart of missions”, and “School of prophets”, were the names our forebears gave to our institution.
“When Baptists in Hungary began to multiply to the thousands and the number of congregations grew, a significant need was felt for the leaders (spiritual teachers) to receive educational training…” – wrote Attila Csopják in his book “Pictures from the History of the Baptist Mission in Hungary”, published in 1928.
Over the centuries, several world-renowned Baptist theological schools have been established in Britain and the United States. On the European continent, it was common that Baptist pastors received training in one school per country. Johann Gerhard Oncken, the “father of European Baptists”, founded a theological seminary in Hamburg, in which the first Hungarian Baptist pastors received their degrees. It was here where András Udvarnoki graduated, and thirteen years after his return in 1906 he founded our theological seminary in Budapest. After Hamburg, Stockholm, and Rome, the one in Budapest was the fourth Baptist seminary on the European continent and the first in Central Europe.
The Baptist Theological Seminary (BTA), Budapest is a church-maintained, autonomous institution for scholarship and imparting values. Since its foundation, among the international Baptist institutions of higher education, it has been committed to an evangelical, conservative theological orientation free of extremes. In its teaching methodology, distinctively Hungarian Baptist principles are combined with the pedagogical methodology of institutions with a similar theological vision in Germany and North America. In the decades preceding the political system change, Baptist pastor training in the narrow sense was offered in our institution.
From the 1990s, it became possible for all those who accepted the rules of the BTA to participate in the training and obtain a degree, regardless of their denomination. Our school is also involved in the training of theologians for Hungarians living beyond the borders of Hungary. The Seminary cultivates regular contacts with theological institutions of Hungarian churches and denominations and maintains and expands its relations with Baptist higher education institutions abroad.
BTA pays close attention to the latest and emerging challenges in the church and society in the part of the training that addresses the acquisition of practical knowledge. The faculty members who teach at our institution do so with the required seminary training, a commitment to faith, and with a wealth of missionary experience and practice.
In the spirit of freedom of research and training, the Seminary strives to take advantage of new opportunities and effective methods arising from technological progress. Currently, training is offered in three degree programs: BA in Theology, MA in Theology, and Chorister BA. We welcome applications for all three. “Vivat, crescat, floreat nostra Academia!”