Mutyala Theophilus

M. Theophilus (May 7, 1895 - December 10, 1946) was a Baptist Patriarch and Spiritual Formator of the Protestant Convention of Baptist Churches of Northern Circars, a major congregation along the Bay of Bengal in Andhra Pradesh, India that extends from Srikakulam District in the northern tip through Guntur District in the middle. Theophilus taught at the Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada during the period 1926-1946 and was also Senator of India's first University, the Senate of Serampore College (University) during 1942-1946 taking forward not only the theological concerns of the University but also the concerns of Serampore College, which as a dual University affiliated entity, had the arts, science and commerce faculties affiliated to the University of Calcutta. In matters of Church union, Theophilus actively cooperated with the National Council of Churches in India that not only incorporated the Protestant and the Orthodox Churches but also reached out to the Catholics.

The timeline of Theophilus (1895-1946), though short lived, can almost be put in the same line of Juhanon Mar Thoma (1893-1976), the Mar Thoma Patriarch who happened to study at the seminary in Bangalore around the period when Theophilus was undergoing spiritual studies at Serampore between 1919-1924.