European Baptist leaders approve Prague seminary move

European Baptist leaders approve Prague seminary move

The elegant complex of 19th-century buildings that houses International Baptist Theological Seminary (IBTS) in Prague, Czech Republic, will likely be sold now that European Baptist Federation (EBF) leaders have greenlighted a plan to move the seminary as a cost-saving measure.

There is a chance, however, that the campus — to which the seminary moved from Rüschlikon, Switzerland, in 1995 and for which many teams of Baptists from the United States and elsewhere contributed thousands of volunteer hours and dollars in renovations — could be saved.

Officials of the federation — which owns the seminary and represents 51 national and regional Baptist bodies in Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East — voted to sell the campus at their Sept. 22–25 council meeting in Rome. The sale and move, following the recommendations of a special strategy group, will take place over a three-year timetable, including a last-ditch effort over the next year to retain the current campus by boosting income from renting parts of the campus or finding strategic partners to share the site.

“There was a very good debate, and the decision, while not unanimous, was certainly overwhelming,” said Tony Peck, the EBF’s general secretary. “People definitely want the work of IBTS to continue, but the seminary has made cuts, and we feel we’ve cut as far as we can. There is definitely sadness, because people feel the site is wonderful and that it is in an excellent position for EBF in Europe. But there are financial difficulties in managing such a large site.”

The strategy group has been studying the 162-student school’s future for the past year, after severe financial difficulties put its continued existence in doubt. Hits to its donations and investment funds because of the global financial crisis, a weak dollar diminishing the value of U.S. gifts, skyrocketing energy costs and a significant amount of deferred maintenance combined to create significant shortfalls in the IBTS budget.

If the current campus — located in a picturesque park about three miles northwest of Prague’s historic city center — can’t be saved, then options are to either seek a more affordable site in the Czech Republic or relocate to another EBF partner union.

The council determined that such relocation could involve a strategic partnership with another Baptist seminary or “compatible theological community.”

The council set up an implementation group to carry out the sale and relocation. Its membership will comprise three people chosen by EBF leaders, three members of the seminary’s board of trustees and up to three others chosen by the implementation group itself for their expertise in the subject areas needed.  (ABP)