The Centre for Global Leadership Development was born in 1951 with the founding of a small institute (Southern Asia Bible Institute – SABI) for the purpose of providing the church in Southern Asia with a facility for Christian ministerial training with English as the medium of instruction. The Graduate in Theology course was introduced in 1958, and the Bachelor of Theology course was started in 19
70. Also, in 1968, a new constitution was adopted with an enlarged Board of Directors, and Southern Asia Bible Institute now became Southern Asia Bible College (SABC). The college introduced the Master of Divinity (formerly B.D.) Today, Southern Asia Bible College (SABC) serves as the premier theological institution of the Assemblies of God in Southern Asia. SABC has endeavoured to maintain a high academic standard, combined with a vital spiritual emphasis and practical ministerial experience. As of now, more than three thousand alumni of SABC serve God in various ministries throughout Southern Asia and elsewhere. In the year 2006, the Board of Directors of SABC decided to change the name of the institution to the Centre for Global Leadership Development (CGLD) in order to expand the influence of the institution to more disciplines of leadership development. Today, SABC continues to serve as one of the premier institutions of the Assemblies of God for theological training. SABC enrols about 300 undergraduate and graduate st7udents, representing more than 30 Indian states and a few other nations. In 2011, the Distance Learning department of SABC was given its own identity as the Global School of Open Learning (GSOL) of CGLD. GSOL offers Master of Divinity and Bachelor of Theology programmes by distance learning through its various regional centres. Today GSOL serves more than 1000 students who are at various levels of their programmes. CGLD also launched the Global School of Counselling (GSC) in 2011 to train caregivers and counsellors to serve the needs of individuals, couple families, educational and other institutions. GSC has begun to offer M.Sc. Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling Psychology. GSC is now the practice school of Martin Luther University and accredited by Association of Christian Counsellors of South Asia (ACC).
