Background of AFTE

The need for a common platform for theological education in Asia has been raised by many theological institutions and associations in various occasions.  To address this need, Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) has been bringing together theologians through the Congress of Asian Theologians.  The Program for Theology and Cultures in Asia (PTCA) has been organizing inter-regional, sub-regional and national activities in doing theology with Asian resources.  Both the Ecumenical and Evangelical theological education networks have formed “Associations” or “Boards” for accreditation/affiliation of their degree programmes.  All these networks and associations work independently without much cooperation, and sometimes even with some sense of rivalry or competition.

With the sprouting of many theological institutions and Bible schools in various places, there is a need for these theological education networks to come together, learn from each other and work together.  Considering the changing global scenario of ecumenical theological education, the Ecumenical Theological Education of the World Council of Churches (ETE-WCC) brought together representatives from the Board of Theological Education-Senate of Serampore (BTESSC), Association of Theological Education in South East Asia (ATESEA), Asian Theological Association (ATA), Asia Pacific Theological Association (APTA), Association of Theological Education in Myanmar (ATEM), Association of Theological Schools in Indonesia (PERSETIA), CCA and ecumenical partner organizations (FTE, EMW) to a workshop at Bangkok Institute of Theology in Bangkok, Thailand in July 2010, to consider the crucial tasks of theological education – e.g. theological faculty development, promotion of Asian theologies, and production of resources for theological education in Asia.  Participants of the workshop affirmed the need to bring together all theological education networks in an Asian Forum on Theological Education.