Meadville Lombard Theological School

Last updated
Meadville Lombard Theological School
Meadville Lombard Logo.png
Former names
Meadville Theological School
Lombard College
Motto"Changing Lives to Change the World"
Type Private, Unitarian Universalist
Established1844 – Meadville Theological School
1853 – Lombard College
1930
Endowment $27.4 million (2020) [1]
President Elias Ortega-Aponte
Academic staff
19
Administrative staff
16
Students123
Postgraduates 123
Location
Chicago
,
Illinois
,
United States of America

41°52′26″N87°37′29″W / 41.8740°N 87.6247°W / 41.8740; -87.6247
CampusUrban
AffiliationsAssociation of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS), International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF)
Website www.meadville.edu

The Meadville Lombard Theological School is a Unitarian Universalist seminary in Chicago, Illinois.

Contents

History

Meadville Lombard is a result of a merger in the 1930s between two institutions, a Unitarian seminary and a Universalist seminary.

Meadville Theological School was founded in 1844 in Meadville, Pennsylvania. Most of the original funding came from Harm Jan Huidekoper, a recent convert to Christian Unitarianism and a wealthy businessman, and from the Independent Congregational Church. [2] [3]

Meadville Theological School moved to Chicago and became affiliated with the University of Chicago in 1926. It began construction on its permanent building in 1929, located across the street from First Unitarian Church of Chicago and designed by the same architect.

Lombard College building, from an 1876 catalog Lombard University building cph.3a01862.jpg
Lombard College building, from an 1876 catalog

Lombard College was a Universalist institution in Galesburg, Illinois, founded in 1853. From the 1880s to 1913 it was the seat of the Ryder School of Divinity. When the college closed in 1930, the Lombard charter was transferred to Meadville Theological School in Chicago. bringing with it Lombard's privilege of a tax exemption, "one of only three in Illinois granting full tax-exempt status in perpetuity for all college-owned property." [4] The combined institution became Meadville Lombard Theological School.

21st century

In the first decade of the 2000s, the school implemented cost-cutting measures as its endowment declined in value from $18 million to $12 million, [5] and funding from the Unitarian Universalist Association was reduced. [6]

In 2005 Meadville Lombard held merger talks with the other Unitarian Universalist seminary in the United States, Starr King School for the Ministry, but the schools announced in July 2006 that a merger was not in the best interest of either institution. [7] [8]

Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership Spertus1.jpg
Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership

In June 2010, Meadville Lombard and Andover Newton Theological School in Newton, Massachusetts, affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ, announced plans to create a "new university-style institution" based at Andover Newton's campus with an interfaith model for theological education. [9] [10] Meadville Lombard would have become the Unitarian Universalist college in the new theological university. The two schools, Meadville Lombard and Andover Newton, announced they were seeking additional partners for the proposed institution. [11] The intention was to form the new university as a legal entity by June 15, 2011, but the two institutions withdrew from the plan in April 2011, citing issues related to governance and finances. [12]

In 2011, the seminary's Hyde Park buildings were sold and the school relocated, to the Spertus Institute building on Michigan Avenue in Chicago's South Loop neighborhood. [13]

Over the last decade, changes were made to the school's curriculum to reflect the smaller campus footprint and the increase in online learning options. [14]

Academics

Meadville Lombard Theological School is one of two Unitarian Universalist seminaries (the other being Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, California) and offers the following graduate degree programs: Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Religion, Master of Arts in Leadership Studies (with the option to add a concentration in Lay Community Ministry), and the Doctor of Ministry. [15]

Campus

The seminary's historic 16,000 sq. ft. Collegiate Gothic style building was erected in 1933 on 5701 S. Woodlawn Avenue, across from First Unitarian Church of Chicago and near the campus of the University of Chicago in Hyde Park.

In 2011 the University of Chicago purchased the building and hired Kliment Halsband Architects to turn it into a home for the Neubauer Family Collegium for Culture and Society. [16] [17]

From 2011 to 2021, Meadville Lombard was located in the South Loop neighborhood of Chicago, sharing space with the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership. The school's current location is more centrally situated in the Loop at 180 North Wabash. [18]

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

Related Research Articles

Meadville may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andover Theological Seminary</span> Theological seminary in Newton, Massachusetts, United States

Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lombard College</span> Universalist college in Galesburg, Illinois (1853–1930)

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Jacob Frank Schulman (1927–2006) was a U.S. Unitarian Universalist minister, theologian, and author of several books. He held numerous degrees, including a B.A. from the University of Oklahoma, an S.T.B. from Harvard Divinity School, a D.Phil., M.A., and Minister Emeritus Scholar from Oxford University, and an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Meadville Lombard Theological School.

Amory Dwight Mayo was a Christian clergyman and educator.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Luther Adams</span> American theologian and minister

James Luther Adams (1901–1994), an American professor at Harvard Divinity School, Andover Newton Theological School, and Meadville Lombard Theological School, and a Unitarian parish minister, was the most influential theologian among American Unitarian Universalists in the 20th century.

John A. Buehrens is an American Unitarian Universalist minister and author.

Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) was a graduate school and seminary in Newton, Massachusetts, affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ. It was the product of a merger between Andover Theological Seminary and Newton Theological Institution. In recent years, it was an official open and affirming seminary, meaning that it was open to students of same-sex attraction or transgender orientation and generally advocated for tolerance of it in church and society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debra Haffner</span>

Debra W. Haffner is co-founder and president emerita of the Religious Institute, Inc. A sexologist and ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, she was the endorsed community minister with the Unitarian Church in Westport, Connecticut. Haffner retired from the Religious Institute on April 30, 2016. She has been the settled minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Reston, Virginia since August 2016.

Ralph Wendell Burhoe was an important twentieth-century pioneer interpreter of the importance of religion for a scientific and technological world. He was awarded the Templeton Prize in 1980.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenkin Lloyd Jones</span>

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Spencer Lavan was an American scholar of comparative religion and a Unitarian Universalist minister. Since his ordination in 1962, Spencer Lavan served as a Unitarian Universalist minister mostly by teaching in higher education. He taught "Religions of Islam and India" and was a dean to undergraduates at Tufts University (1969–79). He organized and chaired the Department of Medical Humanities at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Maine (1982–88). Finally, he served as the Dean and Chief Executive of the Meadville Lombard Theological School at the University of Chicago (1988–96). From 1984-88 he was editor of the Journal of Medical Humanities and Bio-Ethics. He served as a co-editor for the Dictionary of Unitarian Universalist Biography. Lavan was the author of several books on religious subjects, served as the president of the Unitarian Universalist Historical Society, and founded the Collegium: Liberal Religious Studies.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harm Jan Huidekoper</span> American businessman, and theologian (1776–1854)

Harm Jan Huidekoper was a businessman, philanthropist, essayist and lay theologian, a vice president of the American Unitarian Association, and a founder of the Meadville Theological School.

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References

  1. ↑ As of June 30, 2020. U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2020 Endowment Market Value and Change in Endowment Market Value from FY19 to FY20 (Report). National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. February 19, 2021. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  2. ↑ "National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania" (Searchable database). CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System.Note: This includes Mrs. Anne Stewart and William K. Watson (August 1977). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Independent Congregational Church" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2012-08-18.
  3. ↑ "Harm Jan Huidekoper". Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography.
  4. ↑ "Lombard College, alive and well in Chicago". The Zephyr. October 20, 1999.
  5. ↑ Michelle Bates Deakin (July 13, 2009). "UU seminaries feel economic pinch". uuworld.org. Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  6. ↑ Michelle Bates Deakin (September 22, 2008). "Meadville Lombard introduces sweeping curricular changes". uuworld.org. Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. Archived from the original on April 16, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  7. ↑ Rev. Dr. Dave Sammons (October 2006). "Message from the Acting President". Starr King School for the Ministry.
  8. ↑ Michelle Bates Deakin (2008-09-22). "Meadville Lombard introduces sweeping curricular changes". UUWorld.
  9. ↑ Lisa Wangsness (2010-06-24). "Theological schools' partnership could reshape training". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
  10. ↑ Lisa Wangsness (2011-04-25). "Meadville Lombard, Andover Newton end plans for 'theological university'". UUWorld.
  11. ↑ Manya A. Brachaer (2010-07-12). "Chicago seminary hopes to join other faiths: So far, Unitarian Universalist theological school in Hyde Park has one partner, a United Church of Christ seminary in the Boston area". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-09-08.
  12. ↑ "Mass. theology school for religions not to open". Associated Press (via Boston Globe). April 21, 2011.
  13. ↑ Michelle Bates Deakin (January 31, 2011). "Meadville Lombard sells main building". uuworld.org. Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Meadville Lombard introduces sweeping curricular changes | UU World Magazine". 22 September 2008.
  15. ↑ "Doctor of Ministry". Meadville Lombard Theological School. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  16. ↑ "University of Chicago Selects Kliment Halsband Architects to Design Home for Neubauer Collegium | University Business Magazine". Archived from the original on 2014-04-21.
  17. ↑ "Meadville Lombard sells main building". 31 January 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  18. ↑ "Meadville Lombard Theological School". Meadville Lombard Theological School.
  19. ↑ "James Worth". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
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