A. AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROTESTANT UNIVERSITY OF RWANDA (PUR)

1. Historical background

The Protestant University of Rwanda (PUR) is a non-governmental, accredited higher learning institution owned by various Protestant churches in Rwanda, operating as a faith-based organization. It continues the efforts initiated by the churches through the School of Theology, known as the “École de Théologie de Butare (ETB),” which was established in 1970 by two Protestant churches: The Presbyterian Church in Rwanda (EPR) and the Union of Baptist Churches in Rwanda (UEBR). The school was founded to address the shortage of trained pastors within Protestant churches. Over time, other Protestant churches joined the original two founders. Today, the Protestant University of Rwanda is owned by 16 churches. These are

ü  The Presbyterian Church in Rwanda

ü  The Union of Baptist Churches of Rwanda

ü  The Free Methodist Church of Rwanda

ü  The Anglican Church of Rwanda, Kigali Diocese

ü  The Anglican Church of Rwanda, Byumba Diocese

ü  The Anglican Church of Rwanda, Kibungo Diocese

ü  The Anglican Church of Rwanda, Gasabo Diocese

ü  The Anglican Church of Rwanda, Shyogwe Diocese

ü  The Anglican Church of Rwanda, Butare Diocese

ü  The Anglican Church of Rwanda, Kigeme Diocese

ü  The Anglican Church of Rwanda, Shyira Diocese

ü  The Anglican Church of Rwanda, Cyangugu Dioces

ü  The Anglican Church, Karongi Diocese

ü  The Pentecostal Church of Rwanda-ADEPR 

ü  Association of Baptist Churches of Rwanda

ü  Seira Community Church       

The ETB delivered a four-year program awarding a diploma in Theology. In 1990, it was upgraded to the university level and became the Faculty of Protestant Theology of Butare (Faculté de Théologie Protestante de Butare, FTPB) with a four-year program awarding a Bachelor of Theology with Honors. The faculty acquired official accreditation in 1993 by convention No 1552 of December 9, 1993 as a private higher learning institution. In the same year, the convention No 1554/09.2/01/02 acknowledged the degrees delivered by the institution.

During the 1994 genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda, the FTPB was seriously   affected and suffered the loss of its Dean and four students. In the aftermath of this tragedy, the founders of the institution in collaboration with their partners joined their forces to help FTPB resume its activities in such a way that specific needs of a recovering society could be met. In that perspective, a so-called Special Program was launched in 1995 and lasted till 2001: three successive cohorts of students were trained over two years each in contextual theology. The graduates of this program were awarded a two-year Diploma in Protestant Theology. As of 1999, the FTPB resumed the classical four-year program of Hon. Bachelor’s degree in Protestant Theology.      

In 2010, two new faculties were opened. These are the Faculty of Education (FED) and the Faculty of Development Studies (FDS). Together with the Faculty of Theology, they formed the new institution that were respectively accredited by the Ministerial Order no 09/11 of November 2009 as “Institut Protestant des Sciences Humaines de Butare (IPSHB)” and later as the Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences (PIASS) through the ministerial order n°29 of 19/07/2010. From its main campus in Huye district PIASS opened a second campus in 2014 in Karongi district. In 2016 the institution applied for a new name, Protestant University of Rwanda (PUR), which was granted by the Rwanda Governance Board on March 29, 2017, with certificate number 102/RGB/RBO/2017, as published in the Official Gazette No. 19 of 08/05/2017. At the moment, PUR counts four faculties: Theology and Religious Studies, Education, Development Studies; Architecture and Green Technologies. Different programs are run in these faculties. Like any other Higher Learning Institution, PUR intervenes in teaching and learning activities, research, consultancy, and community outreach.