A Brief History Of Holy Cross Theological College

Holy Cross Theological College ( then known as College of the Holy Cross) had a very humble beginning, originated as a Bible school at Kyimindaing. It was the first Bible school opened in Yangon Diocese by the Rt. Revd. John Miller Stranchen in 1883. Due to the lack of school teachers, the Rt. Revd. R. S. Fyffe moved the school to Mandalay and Myittha (upper Myanmar) in 1916. Then in 1924, it was moved back again to St. Michael’s Church, Kyimindaing which was the mission centre for Delta and Pyay areas at that time.

In August 1929, the Yangon Diocesan Council decided that the Divinity School (as it was known then) should be made a proper institution with separate buildings and a full-time missionary in-charge of it. This decision was materialized when the Divinity School was moved from Kyimindaing to Kokkaing where new Bible school buildings were built by the Rt. Revd. Norman Tubbs in 1931. Then it was moved to the present site in 1934 and was called “College of the Holy Cross”. The foundation stone of the College of the Holy Cross was laid by the Metropolitan of the Church of India, Burma, and Ceylon, the Most Revd. Foss Westscott on 12 February 1934. The new College building containing hostel facilities for ordinand training was completed within a few months. The new College was consecrated by the Rt. Revd. G.A.West on 27 February 1935. The aims and objectives of the whole venture were to educate and train indigenous ministers to meet the new conditions in Myanmar.

The College was closed during WWII from 1942 to 1945. After the war, it was reopened in 1946 to 1950. Again it was closed from 1950 to 1955 due to the internal unrest. During that period it was opened as an Interdenominational University students’ Hostel. The College was reopened for ordinands in 1955 by the Rt. Revd. V. G. Shearburn.

IN 1966, all foreign missionaries including the Bishop of Yangon were asked to leave Myanmar for good. Consequently, the Holy Cross College was put under the care of the new indigenous bishop, the Rt. Revd. F. Ah Mya.

On 24 February 1970, the Church of the Province of Myanmar, comprising of four dioceses (namely Yangon, Mandalay, Hpa-an, and Sittwe) was formed out of the former Diocese of Yangon. Accordingly, the College became under the direct care of the Church of the Province of Myanmar. At the 9th Provincial Council held at Toungoo in 1984, a 10-year plan for higher theological education was adopted with a view to conferring theological degree and training of both sexes for ordinands and laity training. The B.Th program was launched in 1989 and the college began to confer B.Th Degree starting from 1993.

Holy Cross Theological College is also a constituent member of the Association for Theological Education in Southeast Asia (ATESEA). The Board of ATESEA approved the B.Th degree of Holy Cross Theological College on 3 March 1999.

Holy Cross Theological College had drawn up a second 10 year Plan (2011-2020) at the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee celebration which was held from 27 to 28 February 2010. The college is starting to implement the improvement program for B.Th. degree as laid down by the plan starting from 2011. Recently in 2012, HCTC launched the Master of Ministry Program for continuing education and lay theological education.