The Baptist University of the Américas (BUA) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

university in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. It was founded in 1947. It was previously known as the Mexican Baptist Training School, the Mexican Baptist Bible Institute, the Hispanic Baptist Theological Seminary and the Hispanic Baptist Theological School. The school is associated with the

Baptist General Convention of Texas The Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT), more commonly known as the Texas Baptists, is a Baptist Christian denomination in the U.S. state of Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Baptist World Alliance. Tex ...

History

In 1947, the school was founded by missionary Paul Siebenmann and named the Mexican Baptist Training School, which was changed to the Mexican Baptist Bible Institute. Initially, churches in the community hosted the school's classes. The school moved into a building at West Martin and North Leona in 1950. A new campus was established on the Pam Am Expressway in 1964. Initially affiliated with the San Antonio Baptist Association and the

, the school entered into a merger with the

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological institute in Fort Worth, Texas. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. It was established in 1908 and in 2005 was one of the largest seminaries in the wor ...

in 1982. The merger prompted a name change to the Hispanic Baptist Theological Seminary. In 1989, the relationship between the school and Southwestern seminary was dissolved. The institution fell under the authority of the Baptist General Convention of Texas again. The name was changed again to the Hispanic Baptist Theological School in 1999 to avoid suggesting that the institution was an accredited seminary. The school took its present name in 2003.

Academics

The university is associated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

the Association for Biblical Higher Education The Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE), formerly The Accrediting Association of Bible Colleges (AABC) is an evangelicalism, evangelical Christian organization of bible colleges in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. It is a m ...

. The school maintains an articulation agreement with

Texas A&M University–Commerce East Texas A&M University (ETAMU; formerly Texas A&M University–Commerce) is a public university in Commerce, Texas, United States. With an enrollment of over 12,000 students as of fall 2017, the university is the third-largest institution in ...

. The university offers Bachelor of Arts degree programs and an Associate of Arts degree program in Cross-Cultural Studies. Rene Maciel was named president of the school in 2007 after working as an assistant dean at

George W. Truett Theological Seminary George W. Truett Theological Seminary is a Baptist theological seminary in Waco, Texas. The seminary, named after Southern Baptist preacher George Washington Truett, was founded in 1993 as part of Baylor University and is affiliated with the Ba ...

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

. BUA operates three institutes for specialized study. The Baptist Bible Institute is a non-degree program that provides "training to leaders, future pastors and church planters in their own geographical location, in their language and at a reasonable cost." The Christian Institute of Islamic Studies prepares Christians to serve Muslims by bringing them the gospel of Jesus. This program offers non-degree training as well as concentrations within the university's biblical studies degree. The Latina Leadership Institute offers trainings and conferences to develop Hispanic Christian female leaders.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baptist University of the Americas Baptist universities and colleges in the United States Universities and colleges in San Antonio Universities and colleges affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention