ETSC was founded by Presbyterians in 1863 on the houseboat Ibis, which was used as a floating seminary for theological studies and practical training. This houseboat used to sail upriver from Aswan in the South to Cairo in the North, where students received lessons from their teachers in the morning and were then trained to do practical ministry in various villages in the evening.

In 1926, the current campus was established with the purchase of land in Al-Abbasiya in central Cairo. The seminary has grown to 400 students who are engaged in both theological study and practical ministry. With COVID-19 still very present the number of students studying online has increased dramatically and this has created an increased need for technological support.