B. V. Subbamma

B. V. Subbamma
Born	Venkata Subbamma Bathineni 1 July 1925 Bodipalem in the Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh, India
Died	January 12, 2009 (aged 83) Guntur, Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	teacher, educator, missionary
Years active	1947-1995
Known for	founding Christian ashrams for Hindu women

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.

Biography

Venkata Subbamma Bathineni was born on 1 July 1925^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[3][4]

Continuing her studies, Subbamma entered the Andhra-Christian College^[5] graduating with a BA in 1947.^[2] She also earned a Bachelor of Education from St. Joseph's College of Education in Guntur^[6] and began teaching school. After nearly a decade of teaching,^[2] she enrolled in a master's program through the New York Theological Seminary^[6] and graduated with her M.A. in Education in 1958.^[2] She returned to India and served as principal for Charlotte Swenson Memorial Bible Training School^[7] for another decade before deciding to pursue theological training,^[2] but continued to serve as principal at the school with 27 years of service.^[8] She entered the Andhra Christian Theological College in Rajahmundry,^[2] an affiliate of the Senate of Serampore College^[9] earning a Bachelor of Divinity^[6] in 1968.^[2] That same year in June, she founded a Christian ashram at Rajahmundry^[10] with the goal of helping women attain an education and become nurses, social activists and leaders.^[11] In 1969, she returned to the United States, completing a master's degree at the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California^[6] in 1970 and then began studying for a PhD at the Hamma School of Theology at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.^[2] While she was in the U.S., she spoke at several Lutheran conferences.^[6][12]

After obtaining her theological training, Subbamma wrote extensively on colonialism, culturalism, Christianity^[13][14] and women's opportunity.^[11][15] She was recognized as "one of the most influential women leaders in the Third World Christian church", for her mission work and ministry.^[7] She focused on introducing Christianity to Hindu women, believing that an indigenous approach brought understanding and integration of cultures.^[16] From 1977-1984, Subbamma served on the Executive Committee of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Geneva^[2] and was an honored guest as a pioneer in missions at the LWF's 50th anniversary convention held in Hong Kong in 1997.^[17] 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.^[2] In 1994, Serampore University granted her an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree.^[18]

Subbamma retired in 1985 but continued volunteering with the United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India (UELCI) of Chennai.^[2] 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.^[19]

She died on 12 January 2009 in Guntur.^[1]

Selected works

• Subbamma, Bathineni Venkata (1970). Open Doors: New Patterns of Church Growth Among Hindus in Andhra Pradesh. Passadena, California: Fuller Theological Seminary.
• Subbamma, B V (1970). Daughters of the Church: Women and ministry from New Testament times to the present. South Pasadena, California: William Carey Library. ISBN 978-0-878-08306-0.
• Subbamma, B V (1973). Christ confronts India: indigenous expression of Christianity in India. Madras, India: Diocesan Press. OCLC 2001815.
• Subbamma, B V (1993). Christian ashrams: Years (1968-1993). India: Navashakthi Press. ISBN 978-0-889-46854-2.
• Subbamma, B V (2000). Vision and fulfillment. Tamil Nadu, India: Christian Ashrams. OCLC 608534564.

References

1. "In Memoriam The Rev. Dr. Bathineni Venkata Subbamma". Mumbai, India: The Times of India. 13 January 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
2. "Bathineni Venkata Subbamma". Kamma Velugu. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
3. Subbamma, B.V. (February 2005). "Smoothing the paths: A caste Hindu tells her story". Voice of Bhakti (Kathmandu, Nepal: Bhaktivani) 4 (1). Retrieved 11 December 2015.
4. Yee, Edmond (May 2011). "Leaders in Ministry Series: Bathineni, Subbamma Veeravenkata" (PDF). Bridge (Monterey Park, California: Asian and Pacific Islander Community Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) 3 (5). Retrieved 11 December 2015.
5. "130 years of excellence". Hyderabad, India: Hans India. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
6. "Hindu Guest to Speak at 2 Services". Van Nuys, California: The Van Nuys News. 5 June 1970. p. 24. Retrieved 11 December 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Tucker & Liefeld 2010, p. 566.
8. Hedlund et al. 2011.
9. "Welcome to Andhra Christian Theological College". Hyderabad, India: Andhra Christian Theological College. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
10. Subbamma 1975, p. 767.
11. Bennema & Bhakiaraj 2011, p. 228.
12. "700 Registerd for Lutheran Convention at Ashland College". Mansfield, Ohio: News Journal. 19 June 1971. p. 6. Retrieved 11 December 2015 – via Newspaperarchive.com.
13. Joy & Duggan 2012, p. 6.
14. Dena, Lal (2014). "A Century of Christianity in Southern Manipur: Towards its Indigenisation". Journal for North East India Studies Comment (Association for North East India Studies): 9–15. ISSN 2277-6869. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
15. Tucker & Liefeld 2010, p. 533.
16. Richardson, K. L. (1993). "The Church and Native Culture: A Telugu Lutheran Perspective" (PDF). Indian Journal of Theology (Kolkata, India: Serampore College Theology Department and Bishop's College) 35 (2): 80–86. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
17. "Lutheran World Federation celebrates 50th anniversary of founding". Washington, DC: Worldwide Faith News. 30 August 1997. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
18. "List of the Recipients of the Degree of Doctor of Divinity (Honoris Causa)". West Bengal, India: Senate of Serampore College. 1994. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
19. Imhoff, Frank (1 March 1999). "Historic move as Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church ordains". Washington, DC: Worldwide Faith News. Retrieved 11 December 2015.

Bibliography

• Bennema, Cornelis; Bhakiaraj, Paul Joshua (2011). Indian and Christian: Changing Identities in Modern India. Oxford, England: SAIACS Press & Oxford House Research. ISBN 978-81-87712-26-8.
• Hedlund, Roger E; Athyal, Jesudas M; Kalapati, Joshua; Richard, Jessica (2011). The Oxford Encyclopaedia of South Asian Christianity. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-198-07385-7.
• Joy, David; Duggan, Joseph F. (2012). Decolonizing the Body of Christ: Theology and Theory After Empire?. New York, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-137-02103-8.
• Subbamma, B. V. (1975). "Evangelization Among Women". In Douglas, J. D. Let the Earth Hear His Voice: International Congress on World Evangelization, Lausanne, Switzerland; Official Reference Volume; Papers and Responses (PDF). Lausanne, Switzerland: World Wide Publishing. pp. 765–773.
• Tucker, Ruth A.; Liefeld, Walter L. (2010). Daughters of the Church: Women and ministry from New Testament times to the present. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. ISBN 978-0-310-87746-2.