P r a g u e – Thirty students from 15 countries have completed their studies at the International Baptist Theological Seminary (IBTS) in Prague, Czech Republic. They were presented their degrees and documents by the British theologian and author Dr. Ian M. Randall, who teaches both at IBTS and at Spurgeon’s College in London. Dr. Randall also gave the commencement address, which included insights into the life and work of the educator, theologian and philosopher Erasmus of Rotterdam (1465-1536). Dr. Randall described Erasmus as one of the most significant advocates of humanism at any European university. He helped shape later 16^th-century reformers such as Luther, Zwingli and others. Erasmus is of particular importance to IBTS-students, for some of his principles are at the core of Anabaptist and Baptist life and thought. These include his conviction that faith must be rooted in a careful study of the Scriptures and his desire to further his own education within a community of fellow scholars. He was also convinced that women should be involved in academic study.

Along with Dr. Randall, IBTS-Rector Dr. Keith Jones and Academic Dean Dr. Parush R. Parushev presented the students, who were clad in academic gowns and hoods, with their diplomas. Twelve students received a Masters or Magister degrees in Theology; 15 graduated with the Certificate in Applied Theology and two graduated with the Certificate in English Language for Theology. The remaining students were valedicted as they moved to the thesis writing stage of their Masters, Magister and Doctoral programmes.

The graduates included leading figures in two Baptist Unions: Asatur Nahapetyan (Yerevan) from the Baptist Union of Armenia, and Henrikas Zukauskas (Klaipeda), President of Lithuania’s Baptist Union. Two of the European Baptist Federation’s (EBF) own employees also graduated: The Estonian Helle Liht (Tallinn) completed her Masters degree with honours. Her thesis was entitled: “Restoring Relationships: Towards Ecologically Responsible Baptistic Communities in Estonia”. The South African Alexandra Alexander (Johannesburg) also received her Masters degree. Her thesis title was: “Looking Backwards to Move Forwards: A New Monasticism for the Twenty-First Century”.

Guests of honour at the festivities included the ambassador of Lithuania, representatives of the Theological Faculty of Prague’s Charles University and of other English-language educational institutions from the Czech capital.

The graduates themselves came from Armenia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Serbia, South Africa and Ukraine.

In the upcoming academic year running from July 2008 to July 2009, IBTS will be celebrating its 60^th anniversary and a number of special Diamond Jubilee events are being planned. Patrons of the Jubilee Celebrations are: Dr. David Coffey, President of the Baptist World Alliance, Dr. Denton Lotz, former General-Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, Dr. Karl Heinz Walter, former EBF-General-Secretary, and Dr. John David Hopper, IBTS-President from 1988-1997. Commenting on the upcoming Jubilee Celebrations, Hopper reflected on the beginnings of IBTS. Following World War II, Europe was in dire need of a location for reconciliation. Europeans and North Americans were both been convinced that an educational institution was needed in order to give future pastors and leaders the opportunity to create spiritual fellowship in which mutual encouragement and support could flourish: as a result, IBTS was founded in 1949 in Switzerland, and later moved to its current site in Prague, Czech Republic.