United Lutheran Seminary

Last updated

United Lutheran Seminary
Logo for United Lutheran Seminary of the ELCA.png
Type Private seminary
Established2017
Religious affiliation
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
President Guy Erwin
Academic staff
17 [1]
Students331 total, 132 FTE [1]
Location, ,
United States
Website unitedlutheranseminary.edu

United Lutheran Seminary is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Gettysburg and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is one of the seven seminaries of the church. [3] It was created in 2017 when the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia consolidated.

Contents

History

Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg

The Church of the Abiding Presence, the chapel of the United Lutheran Seminary-Gettysburg. The Church of the Abiding Presence, United Lutheran Seminary Gettysburg, March 2021.jpg
The Church of the Abiding Presence, the chapel of the United Lutheran Seminary-Gettysburg.

On September 5, 1826, what is now the oldest Lutheran seminary in the Americas held its first classes with eight students in the small borough of Gettysburg. In 1832, the seminary relocated to Seminary Ridge overlooking Gettysburg, becoming the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. [4]

In July 1863, the seminary's premises and environs became the stage for the Battle of Gettysburg. Schmucker Hall. the original seminary building, is today a museum dedicated to the battle that took place there, the role of faith in freedom in nineteenth century America, and also Civil War medical practices. Schmucker Hall was the largest fixed field hospital at Gettysburg. [5]

Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia

Founded by the Ministerium of Pennsylvania in 1864 to preserve both Lutheran identity and the study of and instruction in the German language, the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia was first located in the Center City District. It relocated to Mount Airy in 1889, a historic site where the first shots of the American Revolution's Battle of Germantown had been fired a century before. [6]

Consolidation

The current school was founded on July 1, 2017, as a consolidation of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. [7] United Lutheran Seminary continues under the charter of Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. [8] [9] [10]

The first president of the seminary, Theresa F. Latini, a Presbyterian, was announced on April 20, 2017. [11] Latini's previous experience working for OneByOne, an organization that performed "gay conversion", caused significant controversy [12] and she was fired on March 14, 2018. [13] Her departure then revealed a deep history of racism in the institution [14] [15] [16] On May 16, 2018, the seminary board announced the selection of Richard Green as interim president, beginning June 1. [17] After Green left the institution in late November 2019, Angela Zimmann, who was then the seminary's Vice President of Advancement, served as acting president until the arrival of President Erwin in August 2020. [18]

On June 9, 2020, the seminary board announced the election of R. Guy Erwin as president. Erwin was previously bishop of the Southwest California Synod of the ELCA. He is the first Native American bishop and the first openly gay bishop of that church body. [19]

Campuses

The Gettysburg campus is mostly in the Gettysburg borough limits, [20] though it has portions in Cumberland Township. [21]

Accreditation

United Lutheran Seminary is accredited by the Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools [22] in the United States and Canada and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. [23]

The following degree programs are approved:

Notable faculty

Notable affiliations

In 1835, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg welcomed one of the first African Americans to study theology in America, Daniel Alexander Payne, who later became a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the first president of Wilberforce University under AME auspices. [24]

A century after its early integration, Gettysburg was also the first among American Lutheran seminaries to grant tenure to a female professor, Bertha Paulssen. Graduating in 1965 was Elizabeth Platz, the first woman to be ordained (in 1970) by a U.S. Lutheran body. [25]

Following his graduation from the Philadelphia seminary, Franklin Clark Fry was elected to the presidency of the United Lutheran Church, the Lutheran World Federation, and the World Council of Churches. On April 7, 1958, Fry was featured on the cover of TIME. [26]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gettysburg, Pennsylvania</span> Borough in Pennsylvania, USA

Gettysburg is a borough in Pennsylvania and the county seat of Adams County, Pennsylvania, the United States. As of the 2020 census, the borough had a population of 7,106 people.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. As of December 31, 2023, it has approximately 2.79 million baptized members in 8,498 congregations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seminex</span> Lutheran seminary, 1974–1987

Seminex is the widely used abbreviation for Concordia Seminary in Exile, which existed from 1974 to 1987 after a schism in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). The seminary in exile was formed due to the ongoing Fundamentalist–Modernist Controversy that was dividing Protestant churches in the United States. At issue were foundational disagreements on the authority of Scripture and the role of Christianity. During the 1960s, many clergy and members of the LCMS grew concerned about the direction of education at their flagship seminary, Concordia Seminary, in St. Louis, Missouri. Professors at Concordia Seminary had, in the 1950s and 1960s, begun to utilize the historical-critical method to analyze the Bible rather than the traditional historical-grammatical method that considered scripture to be the inerrant Word of God.

The Lutheran Church in America (LCA) was an American and Canadian Lutheran church body that existed from 1962 to 1987. It was headquartered in New York City and its publishing house was Fortress Press.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luther Seminary</span> Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S.

Luther Seminary is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is the largest seminary of the ELCA. It also accepts and educates students of 41 other denominations and traditions. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and the Association of Theological Schools. It also has theological accreditation through the ELCA as well as the United Methodist Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg</span> Historic Lutheran seminary, merged into United Lutheran Seminary in 2017

The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg was a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was one of seven ELCA seminaries, one of the three seminaries in the Eastern Cluster of Lutheran Seminaries, and a member institution of the Washington Theological Consortium. It was founded in 1826 under prominent but controversial theologian and professor Samuel Simon Schmucker (1799-1873) for the recently organized General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States. The seminary was the oldest continuing Lutheran seminary in the United States until it was merged on July 1, 2017, after 189 years of operation, with the nearby and former rival Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia to form the United Lutheran Seminary. The new institution continues to use both campuses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interdenominational Theological Center</span> Theological school in Atlanta, Georgia, US

The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) is a consortium of five predominantly African-American denominational Christian seminaries in Atlanta, Georgia, operating together as a professional graduate school of theology. It is the largest free-standing African-American theological school in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Simon Schmucker</span> German-American Lutheran pastor and theologian

Samuel Simon Schmucker was a German-American Lutheran pastor and theologian. He was integral to the founding of the Lutheran church body known as the General Synod, as well as the oldest continuously operating Lutheran seminary and college in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Payne</span> Methodist bishop and educator (1811–1893)

Daniel Alexander Payne was an American bishop, educator, college administrator and author. A major shaper of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), Payne stressed education and preparation of ministers and introduced more order in the church, becoming its sixth bishop and serving for more than four decades (1852–1893) as well as becoming one of the founders of Wilberforce University in Ohio in 1856. In 1863, the AME Church bought the college and chose Payne to lead it; he became the first African-American president of a college in the United States and served in that position until 1877.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Porterfield Krauth</span> American pastor and theologian (1823–1883)

Charles Porterfield Krauth was a pastor, theologian and educator in the Lutheran branch of Christianity. He is a leading figure in the revival of the Lutheran Confessions connected to Neo-Lutheranism in the United States.

Rev. Marie C. Jerge is a former bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia</span>

The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP) was one of eight theological seminaries associated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the largest Lutheran denomination in North America. It is located on Germantown Avenue in the Mount Airy neighborhood of northwestern Philadelphia. Founded in 1864, it has its roots in the Pennsylvania Ministerium established in 1748 in Philadelphia by Henry Melchior Muhlenberg.

Beale Melanchthon Schmucker was an American Lutheran leader, liturgical scholar and historian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennsylvania Ministerium</span> American Lutheran church body

The Pennsylvania Ministerium was the first Lutheran church body in North America. With the encouragement of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg (1711–1787), the Ministerium was founded at a Church Conference of Lutheran clergy on August 26, 1748. The group was known as the "German Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of North America" until 1792, when it adopted the name "German Evangelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania and Adjacent States".

The Evangelical Lutheran General Synod of the United States of America, commonly known as the General Synod, was a historical Lutheran denomination in the United States. Established in 1820, it was the first national Lutheran body to be formed in the U.S. and by 1918 had become the third largest Lutheran group in the nation. In 1918, the General Synod merged with other Lutheran denominations to create the United Lutheran Church in America. Both the General Synod and the United Lutheran Church are predecessor bodies to the contemporary Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Frederick Schaeffer</span> American theologian (1807–1879)

Charles Frederick Schaeffer was a Lutheran clergyman of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guy Erwin</span> American bishop

Robert Guy Erwin (Osage) is an American Lutheran bishop. He was elected in 2013 to a six-year term as bishop of the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Since August 2020, he has served as president of the United Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia.

April Ulring Larson is an American retired Lutheran bishop. In 1992, she became the first woman to be elected to serve as a bishop by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

References

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  2. "EDNA". www.edna.pa.gov. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
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  4. "History: United Lutheran Seminary".
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  7. Spangler, John (June 29, 2017). "Two historic Pennsylvania seminaries become United Lutheran Seminary July 1". religionnews.com. Religion Press Release Service. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
  8. Holmes, Kristin E. (March 10, 2017). "Seminaries feel the crunch of a changing faith". Philly.com. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  9. "Frequently Asked Questions about the Unified Seminary - August 2016" (PDF). United Lutheran Seminary. August 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 21, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
  10. MacDonald, G. Jeffrey (May 2, 2016). "Lutheran seminaries will merge instead of launching a new school". The Christian Century. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  11. "United Lutheran Seminary Names Theresa Latini As Its First President — Gettysburg Seminary". April 20, 2017. Archived from the original on August 24, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
  12. Scott Jaschik (March 14, 2018). "Seminary in Turmoil". Inside Higher Ed . Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  13. Scott Jaschik (March 15, 2018). "Lutheran Seminary Fires President". Inside Higher Ed . Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  14. "A Timeline of Racism at United Lutheran Seminary". Season And Story. October 10, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  15. "Trotter v. United Lutheran Seminary, Civil Action 20-570". casetext.com. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  16. "Statement on Race, Racism, and Black Lives Matter from The United Lutheran Seminary (ULS) Alumni Association (TULSAA) Board" . Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  17. "Seminary names interim president". GettysburgTimes.com. Gettysburg Times. May 18, 2018. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  18. "Seminary leadership in transition".
  19. "United Lutheran Seminary Names Rev. Dr. R. Guy Erwin As Next President" (Press release). United Lutheran Seminary. Retrieved September 26, 2021 via www.prnewswire.com.
  20. "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Gettysburg borough, PA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau . Retrieved October 19, 2024. Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg
  21. "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Cumberland township, PA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. p. 1 (PDF p. 2/3). Retrieved October 19, 2024.
  22. "Member School List". www.ats.edu. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  23. "Institutions Archive". Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  24. "History: United Lutheran Seminary".
  25. "History: United Lutheran Seminary".
  26. "Time Magazine Cover: Apr. 7, 1958".