China Evangelical Seminary was established in 1970 by James Hudson Taylor III. As founding president, Taylor saw the seminary as an institution to train university graduates in theological education.[1]
In 1979, upon receiving an invitation to serve as general director of Overseas Missionary Fellowship, Taylor recommended to the seminary board to appoint a Chinese to lead the seminary.[2] From 1980 to 1990, the seminary president was Timothy Lin, who also taught Old Testament and Pastoral Ministry.[3]
In 1986, an extension campus was established in the Los Angeles suburb of Monterey Park, which is now known as the China Evangelical Seminary North America. This extension became independent in 2011.[4]
Founded in response to the increased evangelistic work of Christian college students throughout Taiwan, the Seminary has undergone significant growth since its establishment. Forty years after its founding, there are more than 2,000 alumni of China Evangelical Seminary engaged in mission and pastoral work across the world.[5]
In its early years the faculty at China Evangelical Seminary was supported by faculty from the Chinese Theological Institute of Hong Kong and the Baptist Theological Seminary of Taiwan. Today, the Seminary has thirteen full-time faculty, over twenty part-time instructors, and five faculty members who are undergoing further studies.[7]
Current and past resident faculty members include:
Among its student awards, China Evangelical Seminary awards an annual prize for Excellence in Preaching in honor of the acclaimed American theologian and writer Frederick Buechner. Winners of the prize are selected by faculty in recognition of their significant achievements in the area of homiletics. Additionally, the Seminary has regularly distributed copies of Buechner's works among its students.[8]
