Baptist Theological Institute of Bucharest

The Baptist Theological Institute in Bucharest (ITBB) was formed by the upgrading of the former Baptist Theological Seminary in Bucharest, which had been in operation since 1921. At the initiative of some Baptist ministers in the country, including some studying at Baptist seminars in Budapest and Hamburg , It was decided to set up a mission school to meet the needs of the Christian Baptist churches in the country. The seminar started its courses at Buteni, Arad County, under the leadership of the director Ioan R. Socaciu, who formed as a theologist in the United States of America at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The Romanian Governor, Ferdinand I, on the ceremony of signing the Constitution Act Of the Seminar, suggested raising the rank of the school to a university degree. The reduced number of holders of the baccalaureate diploma led the seminar director to keep the institution at the average level, eligible for the high school. After a brief activity at Buteni and Arad, because of the persecution, the leadership of the Seminar decided to move all the activities of the newly formed institution in the capital of the country. With the support of American Baptist believers in the Southern Baptist Convention, it was possible to buy a property on Berzei street no. 29 and the construction of two buildings that would serve for almost 90 years the Baptist theological education in Romania. The history of the Seminary, besides the providential aspects, may also evoke an unusual aspect. The Berzei Street campus could not have been accomplished without the dedication and altruism of Baptist Southern Baptist believers who have decided to donate to the Baptist Seminar in Romania the money they get from selling those eggs that are found every Sunday. In 1925, following the promulgation of the Law of Private Education, a legal basis for the Seminar was created.