History of SFTS - Pasadena

The Southern California campus of San Francisco Theological Seminary was established in 1990. SFTS began to offer credit-bearing courses in English and Korean to degree candidates and laypeople who live and work in Southern California. At that time students had to complete their degree with at least the equivalent of one year’s residency on the main campus in San Anselmo.  For the past ten years, the M.Div. degree, as well as the MATS, can be earned from SFTS entirely in Southern California.

In its infancy, the program began in modest facilities provided by Pasadena Presbyterian Church.  As the program grew, larger facilities were needed and for a period of years SFTS/Southern California shared facilities with the Claremont School of Theology.  In 2005 the SFTS Southern Campus returned to its “roots” and occupies classroom and administrative space in the Kirk House Community Center of Pasadena Presbyterian Church.

SFTS/Southern California specializes in offering contextual education, with language and culture-specific courses designed for nurturing church leaders in the African-American, Hispanic, Korean, and other racial/ethnic communities.

In 1993, the Master of Arts in Theological Studies program was designed to enable students already ordained, or not headed for ordination as pastors, to enrich their understanding of theological perspectives and religious practices in graduate study.