Former names | Starr King School for Religious Leadership, Pacific Unitarian School for the Ministry |
|---|---|
| Type | Graduate theological seminary |
| Established | 1904 |
Religious affiliation | Unitarian Universalist Association |
| President | Rosemary Bray McNatt |
| Dean | Gabriella Lettini |
| Students | 85 |
| Location | , , United States 37°52′37″N122°15′43″W / 37.877015°N 122.261859°W |
| Website | www.sksm.edu |
Starr King School for the Ministry is a Unitarian Universalist seminary in Oakland, California. The seminary was formed in 1904 to educate leaders for the growing number of progressive religious communities in the western part of the US. The school emphasizes the practical skills of religious leadership. Today, it educates Unitarian Universalist ministers, religious educators, and spiritual activists, as well as progressive religious leaders from a variety of traditions, including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, earth-centered traditions, and others.
Starr King School for the Ministry opened in 1904 as the Pacific Unitarian School for the Ministry. With most Unitarian ministers being educated at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago, Illinois, the new seminary would meet the need to train religious leaders serving the progressive churches west of the Rocky Mountains. The school held its first classes at the First Unitarian Church of Oakland, moving just a few years later to the City of Berkeley to be closer to other "Holy Hill" seminaries and the University of California, Berkeley. The first president was Earl Morse Wilbur. In addition to his service to the school for 30 years, he is remembered for writing the first comprehensive histories of European Unitarianism.
In 1941, the school changed its name to honor the Rev. Thomas Starr King, minister of the First Unitarian Church of San Francisco. During the Civil War, the popular lecturer and activist spoke zealously in favor of the Union and was credited by Abraham Lincoln with preventing California from becoming a separate republic. In addition, he organized the Pacific Branch of the United States Sanitary Commission, which cared for wounded soldiers and was the predecessor to the American Red Cross. King's prominence also contributed greatly to the spread of Unitarianism on the West Coast.
In 1962, the "Holy Hill" seminaries officially formed the Graduate Theological Union (GTU). Starr King was a member of the GTU from 1964 until 2020. From the 1960s up through the mid-1980s the seminary was known as the Starr King School for Religious Leadership. [1] [2]
When Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker became President of the school in 1990, she was the first woman to serve as the permanent head of an accredited U.S. theological school. She is an ordained minister of the United Methodist Church with dual fellowship in the Unitarian Universalist Association. [3]
In 2019, the school began a process known as "New Beginnings" to ensure its future sustainability. These steps included selling its building in Berkeley and moving to a new facility in Oakland in 2022, leaving the GTU in 2020, and staff/faculty reductions. [4]
Starr King School for the Ministry educates people for Unitarian Universalist ministry and for progressive religious leadership in society. Its approach to the study of theology is inspired by Unitarian Universalism's liberal religious values. It is dedicated to providing student-centered, multi-religious, counter-oppressive graduate education that cultivates multi-religious life and learning, and creates just and sustainable communities.
The school offers two master's degrees: Master of Divinity (M.Div.) and Master of Arts in Social Change (M.A.S.C.). It also offers certificates in Chaplaincy Studies, Unitarian Universalist Studies and Multi-Religious Studies.
The school is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS).
Unitarianism is a nontrinitarian branch of Christianity. Unitarian Christians affirm the unitary nature of God as the singular and unique creator of the universe, believe that Jesus Christ was inspired by God in his moral teachings and that he is the savior of humankind, but he is not equal to God himself.
The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is a consortium of eight private independent American theological schools and eleven centers and affiliates. Seven of the theological schools are located in Berkeley, California. The GTU was founded in 1962 and their students can take courses at the University of California, Berkeley. Additionally, some of the GTU consortial schools are part of other California universities such as Santa Clara University and California Lutheran University. Most of the GTU consortial schools are located in the Berkeley area with the majority north of the campus in a neighborhood known as "Holy Hill" due to the cluster of GTU seminaries and centers located there.
Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, government, and service. It also caters to students from other Harvard schools that are interested in the former field. HDS is among a small group of university-based, non-denominational divinity schools in the United States.
The Pacific School of Religion (PSR) is a private Protestant seminary in Berkeley, California. It maintains covenantal relationships with the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, and the Disciples of Christ, ensuring the school provides the necessary requirements for candidates to seek ordination within these denominations. These three denominations account for approximately half of the student population of PSR. The school has also maintained close relationships with the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, as well as other denominations. Over the years PSR has provided training for clergy and leaders from a wide range of religious traditions including Buddhists, Jews, Pagans, Pentecostals, and Roman Catholics.
The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Universalist Association.
Candler School of Theology is one of seven graduate schools at Emory University, located in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. A university-based school of theology, Candler educates ministers, scholars of religion and other leaders. It is also one of 13 seminaries affiliated with the United Methodist Church.
The Meadville Lombard Theological School is a Unitarian Universalist seminary in Chicago, Illinois.
The Berkeley School of Theology (BST) is a Baptist theological institute in Berkeley, California, U.S.. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. It is part of the Graduate Theological Union, a consortium of theological schools and centers in the Berkeley area.
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.
The Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology (DSPT) is a Catholic graduate school in Berkeley, California. It is a member of the interfaith Graduate Theological Union (GTU) and an affiliate of the University of California Berkeley. DSPT is sponsored by the Dominican Order.
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.
Sophia Blanche Lyon Fahs was an editor, author, teacher, and religious activist who led a revolution in Unitarian religious education. Fahs' teaching and writing focused on a method of experiential learning that she hoped would enable children to develop their own ideas about religion and spirituality.
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.
The Crane Theological School was a Universalist seminary at Tufts University founded in 1869 as the Tufts College Divinity School and closed in 1968. It was one of three Universalist seminaries founded in America during the nineteenth century, along with the Theological School of St. Lawrence University and the Ryder Divinity School at Lombard College. During its history, it granted 281 Bachelor of Divinity degrees, 152 Bachelor of Sacred Theology degrees, and two Masters of Religious Education, for a total of 435 degrees.
Earl Morse Wilbur was an American Unitarian minister, educator, and historian of Unitarianism.
Mount Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church (MDUUC) is a church in Walnut Creek, California. In 2016, it claimed a membership of 494. The church buildings occupy a 14-acre tract at 55 Eckley Lane in Walnut Creek.
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley (UUCB) was founded as the First Unitarian Church of Berkeley in Berkeley, California in 1891 and moved to Kensington, California in 1961. It is one of the oldest and largest Unitarian Universalist churches on the West Coast and has had many distinguished members, including numerous professors at the University of California, Berkeley. It is highly regarded for its music program as well as its series of renowned ministers and its many avenues for spiritual growth, learning, and social action.
Rebecca Ann Parker is an American theologian, author, and former President of Starr King School for the Ministry, the first woman to serve as the permanent head of an accredited U.S. theological school.
Sofía Betancourt is an American minister and professor who is the tenth president of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). The UUA president is the CEO and religious leader of Unitarian Universalism. Betancourt is the first woman of color and openly queer person to be elected to the office.
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