Concordia Theological Seminary, India

Location and History:

Concordia Theological Seminary was established in the year 1924 at Nagercoil, the southern most town in the Indian sub-continent. With all trees, birds and the creatures of the land this 13 ½ acre campus serves as the place to train the Church leaders, pastors and lay people for the spiritual, miisterial and academic formation of the young people.

Towards Harmony and Growth:

The term “Concordia” promotes the idea of right relationship with God and with humanity and God's creation. This idea of harmonious living remains the motto of the Seminary.

Concordia Theological Seminary is an organ of the India Evangelical Lutheran Church comprising three synods - Ambur, Nagercoil and Trivandrum synods. Till 2011, it was only a seminary serving IELC. However, by God's grace and mercies, the Church has decided to open its doors to all the mainline denominations to send their candidates to be equipped for the mission of God.

The Library:

The Seminary has a well furnished theological library having more than 22,000 volumes plus periodicals, journals and so on. The main Library is in a two-stored concrete building and the leading with 50 seats capacity is in a tiled building. There is an archives section functioning in a small room attached to the college office block, otherwise called Dr. Ewald Mueller Block.

That the Seminary offers:

The invitation of the Seminary is to provide spiritual formation and academic training suitable for the development of people in general and the Lutherans in particular, so that they can joyfully serve in Pastoral, educational, diaconal and other forms of Christian Ministry. At the grassroot level the Concordia graduates are capable of addressing contemporary issues in the light of the historic Christian faith.

Academic Courses:

The Senate of Serampore College (University) has granted permission to offer B.D., (five years for Higher Secondrary completed people and
B.D (four) for those who are graduates.
The Seminary is also permitted to offer B C S (Bachelor in Christian Studies) and Dip. C S (Diploma in Christian Studies).

The Teaching Faculty:

The Prof. Rev.Dr. Samuel W Meshack - Christian Ethics and -- Principal
Communication
The Rev. Dr. Paramananda Dhas - Christian Ethics and -- Dean of Acaddemic
Social Analysis Studies
The Rev. Dr. Rajendra Babu -- Old Testament - (on study leave)
The Rev. C. Thankappa -- Social Analysis --Bursar, Campus Manager &
Advisor to Field Edn.
The Rev. Jeremiah Anderson - Christian Theology -- Dean of Students Advisor -
Sports and SCMI
The Rev. P. R. Selvaraj -- Religion -- On study leave
The Rev. Nandakumar - History of Christianity - Staff-in-Charge, Library
Rev. Dr. John Vijaya Raj - New Testament. - Faculty Secretary and Advisor to
Literary Prog.
The Rev. D. V. Bernard -- Part time faculty - Christian Ministry
The Rev. Oliver John Snyder - Part-time Faculty, Religions
Dr. James Daniel - Honorary Prof. English


Governing Council:
The Board for Pastoral and Lay Training (BPLT) of the India Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELC) headed by its President is the Governing Council of the Seminary. The Principal of the Seminary by virtue of the office functions as the Appeal Committee Chairman to deal with the problems and litigations in the IELC. So cordial and mutually enriched is the relationship between the Church and the Seminary.