Committed to Offer Quality THEOLOGICAL EDUCATION: To train Leaders, Ministers & Scholars for the betterment of Church & Society.

The Senate of Serampore College was established in 1818, in the Danish settlement of Serampore, West Bengal, India, by three pioneer Christian missionaries and their associates – William Carey (1761-1834), Joshua Marshman (1768-1837), and William Ward (1769-1823). The College was started to instruct Indian youths in arts and sciences to irrespective of caste, colour, and race and to train leaders for the churches in India, Bangladesh, Srilanka, and Nepal. The College was incorporated by a Royal Charter, granted by King Frederick VI of Denmark, with University status and powers under the authority of an independent College Council. In 1845 in the Treaty of Purchase, which transferred Serampore College from the Danish government to the British, it was provided that the rights and immunities of the Serampore College should not be interfered with. Thus, the College has been in existence for more than 200 years. The College has secular and theological education coexisting on its campus from the beginning. The secular wing of Arts, Science, and Commerce is affiliated to Calcutta University. The theology department functions in its own right as a teaching institution in theology.

The Senate of Serampore College is the theological wing of Serampore College, created in 1918, through the Serampore College Act 1918 passed by the West Bengal Government and the Charter. The Act empowers the Senate to frame courses of studies and make rules for the conduct of examinations with the approval of the Council. The aims and objectives of theological education are to equip the people of God in their respective contexts, to live out the doxological-liturgical, koinonia, reflective, diaconal, and missional dimensions of their existence, with a deep commitment to liberate the marginalised people – Dalits, Adivasis, Tribals, women, disabled, HIV and AIDS, LGBTQIA+. The Senate has been serving as a centre for theological training for the ministry of the Church in India and the neighbouring countries in South Asia – Srilanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal. The Senate of Serampore College desires that the services of Serampore College as a University should be available to all theological institutions that wish to become an integral part of the University as affiliated colleges. Currently, the Senate has 71 affiliated Colleges/Seminaries from across the Churches’ denominations and ecumenical. Thus, it is indeed a very ecumenical in nature and practice. It confers the degrees in B.Th., BMiss, BD, BCS, BBT, MCS, MCP, CPC, MTh, D.Min, and D.Th (PhD). It also confers diplomas in Christian studies (Dip.C.S), Clinical Pastoral Counselling (D.C.P.C), Dip.B.T, Dip. Worship & Music (DWM), Dip.Contextual Theology (DipCT), and Dip. Christian Education (Dip.CE). More than 15,000 students are enrolled in different programs in different affiliated colleges.

Rev. Dr. Limatula Longkumer
Registrar