American Baptist Seminary of the West
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American Baptist Seminary of the West (ABSW) is a theological school affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the Progressive National Baptist Convention. It is located in Berkeley, California, USA. It is part of the Graduate Theological Union, a consortium of theological schools and centers in the Berkeley area. Formerly, the ABSW was called BBDS (Berkeley Baptist Divinity School).
[edit] History
The earliest roots of the American Baptist Seminary of the West lie in the chartering of California College, Vacaville, in 1871. In 1887 the college moved to Oakland, and in 1912 to Berkeley, at which time it changed its name to Berkeley Baptist Divinity School, keeping this name until 1968. In 1915 BBDS merged with the Pacific Coast Baptist Theological Seminary, which had begun in Oakland in 1890 and had moved to Berkeley in 1904. In 1968 BBDS merged with California Baptist Theological Seminary (founded in 1944 in Los Angeles, and located in Covina since 1951). To reflect the fact that the school was no longer wholly in Berkeley, it was renamed the American Baptist Seminary of the West, but six years later the Covina faculty moved to the Berkeley campus, effecting considerable cost savings and at the same time availing themselves of the resources of the Graduate Theological Union.
[edit] External link
American Baptist Seminary of the West • Church Divinity School of the Pacific • Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology • Franciscan School of Theology
Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley • Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary • Pacific School of Religion • San Francisco Theological Seminary • Starr King School for the Ministry
