INNOVATION MINISTRIES n INNOVATION MINISTRIES n INNOVATION MINISTRIES n INNOVATION MINISTRIES n IN Stuart Blythe, IBTS Centre Rector

European Seminary Makes Bold Changes

IBTS Centre, the successor to the International Baptist Theological Seminary (IBTS), is at an advanced stage of its

newest iteration. Founded in 1949 in Switzerland, IBTS was relocated to Prague,

Czech Republic, in 1997 and was re-focused to concentrate on higher degrees for seminary teachers and Baptist leaders. These degrees were validated by the University of Wales (UW) and the Czech Ministry of Education. In 2008, IBTS began a PhD program through UW. The latest set of changes was made after the global financial

downturn of the past few years adversely affected the seminary’s income. The increasing financial burden of the upkeep of a large suite of buildings in Prague led to a severe financial crisis for IBTS from 2008 onwards. In addition, internal problems at the UW led to a severing of the relationship between the two institutions. In 2012 the European Baptist Federation Council accepted a

proposal to move the school to Amsterdam, Netherlands, and to sell the property in Prague. The new entity, renamed IBTS Centre, has entered into formal arrangements with Free University (VU) in Amsterdam to grant research PhD degrees. Founded in 1880, VU is one of two large publicly funded

research universities in Amsterdam. Formerly a small Protestant institution, VU was transformed into a broad, research-intensive university of approximately 24,500 registered students from a wide variety of backgrounds. IBTS Centre Rector Stuart Blythe, Vice Rector Parush

Parushev and Dean of Research Toivo Pilli explain the benefits of going in the present direction. IBTS, they said, had always, from its days in Switzerland, committed itself to a “research degree program that is accredited by legitimate accrediting institutions.” VU meets that criterion. Amsterdam, being a much more multicultural city, also has

advantages that Prague did not. Because English is the main lingua franca of the center, it benefits from being in a major European city where English is a common second language. This was not the case in Prague where English is not as widely spoken. At VU, instructions and classes are also conducted using English. The multicultural background of VU and IBTS Centre students

adds to the richness of the program. Current IBTS Centre students are from countries such as India, Ghana, Croatia, Australia and Cuba.

The center’s leaders stress that, even though the Faculty of

Theology at VU includes various Christian traditions, Baptists are able to maintain their own distinctiveness. “Free University brings together various theological traditions and we are experiencing the benefits of this dialogue between the various traditions,” the IBTS Centre leaders said. However, “IBTS is developing its own research culture and teaching.” While the university and its theological faculty expect Baptists to be conversation partners, “They expect us to be Baptists. You

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do not leave your faith or tradition when you enter the door of the university. You contribute to the whole but you are allowed to do theology implicitly and explicitly from a Baptist position and perspective. That is very healthy.” An important part of the new arrangement

is the relationship with Dutch Baptists. In Prague, the school and its students had little impact on the local culture, including

Baptist life. “Prague was more like an island,” they said. The close relationship with Dutch Baptists includes the sharing of resources such as property, and collaboration at various levels and in different ways. Affordability is also a major reason for the move to VU and Amsterdam. Even though Amsterdam is known to be a relatively expensive city, many students who enroll at VU do not pay tuition due to the special arrangements that VU and other similar schools have with respective governments in continental Europe. Fees that students pay are mostly to help meet the expenses of the IBTS Centre.

Pursuing a research degree means that students can do much of their research and writing in their home country as the program does not require full time residency in Amsterdam. In addition, IBTS Centre students can use the VU’s extensive library. But while there are benefits, there are also challenges, one

of which is finding affordable accommodation in Amsterdam. But this, they claimed, is balanced out by the student not paying tuition to VU and doing much of the research and writing from one’s home country. Another challenge is in assisting students to conform to a

continental approach of doing research that may be different from that of their home country. In much of Europe, each professor develops a research project and students are expected to fit into this area of research. This is unlike other contexts, such as the United States or the United Kingdom, where students choose their own research project. It is in this that the help of IBTS Centre is most crucial. IBTS

Centre processes applications, helps the prospective student prepare the research proposal and walks the applicant through the process of identifying a professor at VU as supervisor. In addition to the VU professor, IBTS Centre names its own supervisor that works with the student throughout the period of study.

The IBTSC library, with librarian Pieter van Wingerden