General Information About STM

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT STM

Introduction and History

STM came into existence as a joint Anglican, Evangelical Lutheran and Methodist venture on the 6th of January 1979. For Anglicans and Evangelical Lutherans this marked a further stage in their co-operation in theological education in Malaysia, which had earlier included the Christian Training Centre and Kolej Theoloji Malaysia. We are conscious of the vision and contribution of the many people who played their part in the growth and development of STM and we are also aware of the immense task that still lies ahead.

Until the year 1998 we have had to be located at three different sites in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya. From 1979 to mid-1983 we were guests of the Evangelical Lutheran Church at Brickfields and after that we were renting premises from the Methodist Church in Sentul. In the years that we were in Sentul, improvements were made to the facilities, but it was then recognised that a larger and permanent site was required for the long term development of our ministry to the churches of Malaysia. Then in 1990 we had to move again, this time we had to rent office space, classrooms and student accommodation from the Catholics in and around St. Francis Xavier Church, Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya.

The good news is that God has been very gracious to us in when we were provided with a site in Seremban for a new campus. The building project was launched in 1993 and completed by the end of 1997. We finally moved to our permanent campus at Seremban for the new academic year in 1998.

During our short history the number of students has grown to over 70 at any one time, and we have graduated over 230 students who are now serving in all parts of Malaysia. Our faculty has increased in qualifications and experience, and we are glad to see that the supporting churches are taking steps to prepare suitably qualified ministers for teaching in the seminary. Our founding fathers, the late Bishop Emeritus C.N. Fang, the late Bishop E.B. Muthusami and the late Bishop Tan Sri J.G. Savarimuthu, together with the first principal, the Rev Dr Denis C. Dutton (now Bishop Emeritus of the Methodist Church of Malaysia and also a Datuk) have left an outstanding contribution to their vision and capacity for getting things done. We are pleased to be building on the foundation that they and others have laid.

The accreditation of the seminary by the Association for Theological Education in South East Asia in 1984 was an important milestone, but on the whole our development has been steady rather than spectacular. We have continued to revise the curriculum, to bring lectures and assignments into a corresponding balance, to improve the quality of field education experience and to make adjustments to details of community life. We have also consolidated our administrative procedures and enlisted the basic facilities required by the seminary community. We have continued to add more books to the library. Last by not least we have sought to pray and to plan and to act with foresight as we look to the needs and challenges of the future.

Statement of Purpose

Vision
God’s people equipped for ministry and mission.

Mission
To help both full-time workers and lay people to grow in Christian maturity and to train them for ministry and service in and through the Church.

Objectives

To train pastors and Christian workers to meet the growing needs of the Church.
To enable lay people to be more effective in their Christian witness and ministry.
To provide training which integrates spiritual formation, academic excellence and development of ministerial skills.
To develop a centre for research on issues facing the Malaysian Church.
To provide theological education in a contextually relevant and sensitive manner.

Doctrinal Basis

The seminary, in its life and teaching, seeks to be faithful to the central truths of the Christian Faith as contained in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and summarised in such historic confessions of the Christian Church as the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed, and the doctrinal standards of the Anglican, Evangelical Lutheran and Methodist Churches. These truths include:

There is one God. He eternally exists as Father, Son and Holy Spirit and is the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of all things. He is perfect in love.
God has revealed Himself to us through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Living Word. He has also made Himself known through the divinely inspired Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, the Written Word, which is our supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.
We were made for fellowship with God, but by disobeying Him we have become sinners and guilty in His sight, alienated from God, ourselves, our fellow human beings and from nature.
Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, lived a sinless and self-giving life and died on the Cross for us as the perfect sacrifice for sin. By this He revealed the love of God, removed our guilt, set us free from sin and death and their powers, and reconciled us to God.
We are justified by the grace of God through faith in Christ who was crucified and raised by God from the dead.
The Holy Spirit leads us to repent of our sins and to trust in Christ. He lives in us, enables us to grow in the knowledge and love of God and empowers us for mission. To these ends he generously provides the necessary gifts to all believers.
The Church, the Body of Christ, is of Divine origin. Out of every race and nation, the people of God are called to respond to Him, to offer acceptable worship to Him, to follow Christ and to serve Him by proclaiming the Gospel to all nations. The Church is nurtured through the ministry of the Word and Sacrament, and through pastoral care. In the context of a pluralistic society Christians are also called to strive for social justice and the relief of human distress in co-operation with people of goodwill. Within the total ministry of the whole people of God, lay and ordained have their distinct yet complementary roles.
Jesus Christ the Lord of the Church has called us to live in love. Christians should strive for unity that is not merely spiritual, but also visible, so that the world might believe.
Jesus Christ will return one day as Lord and Judge and fully manifest His kingly rule over all creation.

Accreditation

As of October 1984, the seminary has been accredited by the Association for Theological Education in South East Asia (ATESEA) to grant the Bachelor of Theology, the Bachelor of Divinity, and the Master of Divinity degrees. In November 1994, we were accepted as a participating school of the South East Asia Graduate School of Theology (SEAGST) which also offers the Master of Theology degree. This means that degrees granted by the seminary have international acceptance.

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