Mennonite Brethren Centenary Bible College (MBCBC), Shamshabad, founded in 1920, is a ministerial training institution of the Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Churches in India, a Protestant Church Society headquartered in Jadcherla and is affiliated to the nation's first University, the Senate of Serampore College (University) {a University under Section 2 (f) of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956}with degree-granting authority validated by a Danish charter and ratified by the Government of West Bengal. The MBCBC is among the four Theologiates operating in Telangana, promoting the vocation of Priesthood to take forward the Christian missions, with the other three being, St. John's Regional Seminary (Theologiate), Ramanthapur (founded in 1926 in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh and relocated to Ramanthapur in 1965) Andhra Christian Theological College, Secunderabad (founded in 1964 in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh and relocated to Secunderabad in 1973) Calvin Institute of Theology, Yacharam (founded in 2009 in Tamil Nadu and relocated to Yacharam) Among these theologiates, St. John's Regional Seminary (Theologiate) is affiliated to the Pontifical Urban University, Rome, while the remaining three, which includes the MBCBC, are affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University), Serampore. History The Missions The Mennonites initiated their Christian mission in Telangana with the arrival of Abraham and Maria Friesen in 1890 and worked together with the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society/Samavesam of Telugu Baptist Churches in Nalgonda. Paul D. Wiebe writes that after they went and returned from a furlough in 1899, they began to work on establishing their first mission station in 1903 in Malakpet in Hyderabad. After realising the need for theological education, the CMCBI began to send its ministerial candidates to STBC-Ramayapatnam Baptist Theological Seminary in Ramayapatnam. Establishment of the Bible College The year 1920 is attributed to the founding of the College in Nagarkurnool under the name Bethany Bible School which later on was moved to its present location in Shamshabad. Over a period of time, the School was rechristened as Mennonite Brethren Bible Institute. The Rev. S. Solomon in A Brief History of Mennonite Brethren Bible Institute recorded the movements of the College to various towns chronologically, 1920 in Nagarkurnool, 1921-1923 in Shamshabad, 1923-1929 in Nagarkurnool, 1930-1944 in Shamshabad, 1945-1952 in Devarakonda, 1952 to present in Shamshabad It must be noted that even though the Church Society founded a seminary in 1920, it continued to send its ministerial candidates to STBC-Ramayapatnam Baptist Theological Seminary in Ramayapatnam until 1970, when