Nationality Indian Died 12 January 2009, Guntur | Years active 1947-1995 | |
Full Name Venkata Subbamma Bathineni Born 1 July 1925 ( 1925-07-01 ) Bodipalem in the Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh, India Occupation teacher, educator, missionary Known for founding Christian ashrams for Hindu women Books New Patterns for Disciplining Hindus: The Next Step in Andhra Pradesh, India Education Andhra Christian College | ||
B. V. Subbamma also known as Bathineni, Venkata Subbamma (1 July 1925 – 12 January 2009) was an Indian theologian and scholar. Noted for founding Christian ashrams, she was widely recognized for her analysis of introducing and planting Christianity from a cultural perspective. She was one of the first women in India to attain theological training and was one of the inaugural women pastors ordained by the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC) in 1999.
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Biography
Venkata Subbamma Bathineni was born on 1 July 1925 in Bodipalem in the Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh, India to Seshamma Bathineni and Veeraiah Bathineni. After studying at the Lutheran school in Bodipalem and she went to the Government High School of Pedanadipadu. During her education, she became interested in Christianity, but because of the cultural divisions associated with the caste system in India, she did not convert until 1942. In that year, she realized that she did not have to give up her caste and cultural identity to become a Christian and was baptized.
Continuing her studies, Subbamma entered the Andhra-Christian College graduating with a BA in 1947. She also earned a Bachelor of Education from St. Joseph's College of Education in Guntur and began teaching school. After nearly a decade of teaching, she enrolled in a master's program through the New York Theological Seminary and graduated with her M.A. in Education in 1958. She returned to India and served as principal for Charlotte Swenson Memorial Bible Training School for another decade before deciding to pursue theological training, but continued to serve as principal at the school with 27 years of service. She entered the Andhra Christian Theological College in Rajahmundry, an affiliate of the Senate of Serampore College earning a Bachelor of Divinity in 1968. That same year in June, she founded a Christian ashram at Rajahmundry with the goal of helping women attain an education and become nurses, social activists and leaders. In 1969, she returned to the United States, completing a master's degree at the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California in 1970 and then began studying for a PhD at the Hamma School of Theology at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. While she was in the U.S., she spoke at several Lutheran conferences.
After obtaining her theological training, Subbamma wrote extensively on colonialism, culturalism, Christianity and women's opportunity. She was recognized as "one of the most influential women leaders in the Third World Christian church", for her mission work and ministry. She focused on introducing Christianity to Hindu women, believing that an indigenous approach brought understanding and integration of cultures. From 1977-1984, Subbamma served on the Executive Committee of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Geneva and was an honored guest as a pioneer in missions at the LWF's 50th anniversary convention held in Hong Kong in 1997. She served on the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg and was a member of the Senate of Serampore University, the first woman to hold a post on the university senate. In 1994, Serampore University granted her an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree.
Subbamma retired in 1985 but continued volunteering with the United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India (UELCI) of Chennai. On 20 February, 1999, she was finally ordained into the ministry, when the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC) allowed 17 women ordination. Of the 32 men and 17 women who were ordained, Subbamma was the oldest and was acknowledged to have been one of the first women who earned theological training in India.
She died on 12 January 2009 in Guntur.