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Type | Private seminary |
---|---|
Established | 1866 |
Religious affiliation | Reformed Church in America |
President | Felix Theonugraha |
Location | , , United States |
Website | www.westernsem.edu |
Designated | March 9, 1966 |
Western Theological Seminary (WTS) is a private seminary located in Holland, Michigan. Established in 1866, it is affiliated with the Reformed Church in America, a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States.
The seminary offers professional and graduate degree programs for candidates for ministry, and to those pursuing careers in academia or non-theological fields. It was established to fill a need for theological education on the (then) western frontier of the Reformed Church in America. In its theological identity, Western Theological Seminary is evangelical, ecumenical and Reformed. Western Theological Seminary prepares students for ministry often involving ordination as well as for further graduate study, chaplaincy, missions, youth ministry, social service ministry, etc.
Albertus van Raalte founded Hope College in Holland Michigan; believing that parents had a primary responsibility to educate their children and not the state. [1] In 1866, seven students graduating from Hope College felt called to full-time Christian ministry following graduation. They wanted to pursue their theological training in West Michigan, so they made a petition to the General Synod of the Reformed Church to allow for theological training through the Hope College Religion Department. Permission was granted and Western Theological Seminary was established. [2] Initially, the theological department within Hope College was used for theological education; but in 1884 following the synods approval the department was separated from Hope College and Western Theological Seminary was established as its own institution. [3] In 2022, the seminary became independent, though retains a relation to the Reformed Church in America, the denomination that gave it life and sustenance for over 150 years.
The seminary is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS). It offers the Master of Divinity (M.Div.), Master of Theology (Th.M.), and Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degrees; it also offers graduate certificates.
Among its student awards, Western Theological Seminary awards annual prizes for Excellence in Writing and Excellence in Preaching, named after the theologian and writer Frederick Buechner. Additionally, former seminary President and Henry Bast Professor of Preaching, Timothy Brown, has also delivered guest lectures on the topic of Buechner, including at the Buechner Institute at King University in 2013.
Holland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River. Holland is a thriving city with a diverse economy that includes manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, and higher education. It is home to a number of prominent companies, including Herman Miller, Haworth, and Adient, formerly known as Johnson Controls. The city also attracts thousands of visitors each year for its annual Tulip Time Festival, which celebrates the area's Dutch heritage and vibrant tulip fields.
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Hope College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Holland, Michigan. It was originally opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after the community was first settled. The first freshman college class matriculated in 1862, and Hope received its state charter in 1866. Hope College is affiliated with the Reformed Church in America and retains a Christian atmosphere. Its 120 acres (0.19 sq mi) campus is adjacent to the downtown commercial district and has been shared with Western Theological Seminary since 1884. The Hope College campus is located near the eastern shores of Lake Michigan and is 2.5 hours away from two major cities, Chicago and Detroit.
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Albertus Christiaan van Raalte was a 19th-century Dutch Reformed clergyman.
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