The birth of Ecumenical Theological Seminary (ETS) is a realization as well as

an expression of a continuous search for a theological education that is truly

responsive to the needs of the churches.

     With the recommendation of seven out of nine conferences in the North Luzon Jurisdiction

(NLJ) of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), followed by the approval of

the NLJ Cabinet members and officers on October 13,1995, and the subsequent

endorsement of the UCCP Council of Bishops; the UCCP General Assembly through its

Executive Committee had approved on May 23,1996 the establishment of ETS in Baguio

under the direct supervision of the Council of Bishops through the NLJ Bishop's Office.

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      Then, on May 28, 1998, the UCCP General Assembly approved and accredited ETS as one of UCCP's ministerial formation centers. Hence, ETS became the first seminary put up by the UCCP by General Assembly action since its founding in 1948.

      An organizing Board was formed to run the Seminary under the chairmanship of the incumbent NLJ Bishop, Rev. Alan Ray B. Sarte. Conferences under the NLJ were represented in the Board by their Conference Ministers on a rotation basis. A Constitution and By-Laws was drafted and approved by the Board. A seminary logo was designed, and a seminary hymn was composed by a couple: Rev. Luna L. Dingayan, who served as the first president of the Seminary, and Rev. Perla Pascua- Dingayan, who also served as the first registrar.

      The whole concept of ETS was a brainchild of Rev. Luna L. Dingayan. It was a product of his experiences in both formal and non-formal theological education. It uniquely followed a ladderized curriculum and an action-reflection approach to theological education. It was founded on the philosophy that theological education happens not only in the classrooms, but also in the concrete life situations where people worked and lived. All students were assigned in local churches or in church-related programs. They would come to the Seminary by batch once a month for a week of lectures, reports, discussions, reflections and examinations. For the rest of the month, the students would be in their church assignments and participate in the ministry of the church, do their required readings and write their papers.

      Convocation was held on June 13, 1996, to mark the formal opening of the Seminary. The first day of classes was on June 17, 1996, with thirty five (35) students enrolled. To date (SY 2008-2009), we have a total of four hundred sixty-four (464) students in the various curricular programs. And they come from different denominations and nationalities. ETS was accepted member of the Association for Theological Education in Southeast Asia (ATESEA) in November 2000.