In our country the Baptist Theological Education started at the first decades of the XIXth century. Lajos Balogh, who’d got his diploma in Hamburg in 1893, started short theological courses at the region Hajdusag (Esternpart of Hungary).The very first whole country level educational term, 6 month long, was opened in Budapest in 1899, it was called “preachers school”. In 1906 started the regular theological education, with it the Baptist Theological Seminary was established. The founder director was Andras Udvarnoki, classmate of Lajos Balogh in Hamburg. It’s location changed several time. Since autumn of 1926 the Seminary’s first home was next to the river Danube, opposite to the Parliament. By the cooperation of the Southern Baptists and with the donation of Varina Brown it became possible to buy the building. That building was bombed in 1944.
After the war the education went on in different rented buildings. In 1949 it took its place in the same building where it is nowadays with the help of international support, at the Benczür Street. Sadly, the building was taken away by the communist government at the summer of 1950 for the Korean People’s Democratic Republic’s embassy. After years of hardships — since 1959 the seminary existed at the Bimbo Street, at the Buda side. The government limited the student’s number to four per years. The transition opened new doors in front of the seminary. The building at the Benczür street was given back in ruins in 1992. After the construction — since 1995 — the education is going on in that building.
Since 1998 the choice of educational courses is widen. Nowadays there are two Bachelor of Art level (in Theology and in Music) and since 2010 the Master of Art is exists. In the Music school there are two option for studies (gospel and classical music). In 2012 the seminary had got permission to open three more courses, Christian Education, Religious science, Christian Hospice. The biblical courses for lay workers and Sunday school teachers restarted following the previous tradition.
The number of students has increased to 500 since 2012. The Seminary’s door is open to students coming from any other Christian denomination. More than half of the number of students are from different denominations (around from ten different churches and denominations) with the students from the Hungary Baptist Union, who is the owner of the institution.