California Theological Seminary is Christ centered seminary located in the central area of Orange County. CTS offers biblically centered education, intentional spiritual development and vocational preparation within a unique learning community where all faculty, staff and students are professing Christians.
About Us
In 1976, Rev. Kihong Kim, Rev. William Robertson, Rev John Stetz, Rev. Sung Soo Kim founded Full Gospel Central Bible College in Pasadena, CA to train Pentecostal Christian ministers. This was the beginning of today's California Theological Seminary (CTS). In 1988, the name of school was changed to Korean Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Los Angeles, and the president, Dr. & Rev. Jae Sun Lee, and the dean, Rev. Sung Ho Yoon, took office. In 1999, it was approved by the California State Board of Education as a theological school that can award a bachelor's degree (B.A.), master's degrees (M.A., M.Div.), and a doctoral degree (Ph.D.).
From 2000, the seminaries in each region (LA, New York, Chicago, Dallas) under the A/G Korean District were integrated into the 'Assemblies of God Evangel Theological Seminary', and Dr. & Rev. Ki Hong Kim was inaugurated as president and Rev. Nam Soo Kim was inaugurated as chairman of board. In June of that year, the first integrated graduation ceremony was held at New York Evangel Theological Seminary. Since 2011, the seminaries that had been integrated were changed to separate operations for each region (LA, New York, Chicago, Hawaii), and Dr. & Rev. Young Gil Kim took office as president of the LA Evangel Theological Seminary.
In 2013, the school name was changed to “California Theological Seminary (CTS)”, and in 2017, chairman of board Rev. Geon Sam Kim, president Dr. & Rev. Yong Ung Ji, and dean Dr. & Rev. Chang Su Eim took office. In the same year, the scope of degree awards was reduced to B.A., M. Div., and M.A. in accordance with changes in the state government's regulations. In July 2018, CTS received approval from the federal government to issue I-20 to foreign students wishing to enroll in master's programs, but stopped recruiting international students after the Coronavirus Pandemic.
In May 2019, Rev. Sang Eun Shim was inaugurated as the new president, and in July, Elder Kenneth K Park was elected as chairman of board. Currently, our school is striving to train faithful ministers with the goal of 'building ministers equipped with spirituality and character.'
