Eden Theological Seminary Explained

Eden Theological Seminary
President:Deborah Krause
Head Label:Academic Dean
Type:Seminary
Country:United States
Students:56
Head:Christopher Grundy
Faculty:8

Eden Theological Seminary is a Christian seminary based in Webster Groves, Missouri. It is one of the six official seminaries of the United Church of Christ.

History

The seminary was established in 1850 by German pastors in Marthasville, Missouri. At the time, the goal was to equip pastors to lead and minister to frontier churches. The pastors soon formed the German Evangelical Synod of North America. This, after subsequent mergers, became a part of the UCC.In 1883, the seminary moved to what would become Wellston, Missouri and built a campus there. The campus was purchased by Normandy High School in 1923. In 1924, the seminary moved to its current campus in Webster Groves. The school was augmented in 1934 by a merger with the Central Theological Seminary, an institution of the Reformed Church in the United States in Dayton, Ohio, and the Oakwood Institute of Cincinnati, Ohio. This coincided with the merger of the two denominations into the Evangelical and Reformed Church. Conversations at Eden Theological Seminary, beginning in 1937, led to the 1957 merger of the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches to form the United Church of Christ.

Presidents

Term Name Notes
1902–1919William Becker
1919–1941Samuel D. PressNamesake for Press Hall. Press was known as the "Teacher of the Niebuhrs" and oversaw the seminary's move to Webster Groves.[1] Prior to his presidency, he was a member of Eden's faculty from 1908 and was the first full-time professor to teach exclusively in English.
1941–1962 Frederich Schroeder
1962–1981 Robert Fauth
1981–1986 Malcolm Warford After Eden, Warford served as president of Bangor Theological Seminary from 1987 to 1995.
1986–1993 Eugene S. Wehrli Namesake for Wehrli Chapel. Was Professor of New Testament from 1960 to 1986.
1993–1996 Charles R. Kniker Prior to Eden, Kniker was professor of education at Iowa State University for 24 years and at one point was assistant dean of the College of Education.
1997–2020 David Greenhaw Prior to Eden, Greenhaw was Dean of Lancaster Theological Seminary.
2020 – Present Deborah Krause First woman president of Eden Seminary and 1988 M.Div. graduate. Prior to her presidency, she was Professor of New Testament since 1992 and academic dean from 2005–2018.[2]

Academics

Eden Theological Seminary offers five degree programs: Master of Divinity (M.Div.), Master of Community Leadership (M.C.L.), Master of Arts in Professional Studies (M.A.P.S), Master in Theological Studies (M.T.S.), and Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.). Eden's campus offers on-campus housing and dormitories to its student body. All classes and programming are offered in blended format with students participating fully on campus and online. [3]

The Webster-Eden Library System

In 1968, Eden Theological Seminary built the Luhr Library to house its collections. The next year, it was approached by Webster University. The two schools agreed to put their collections together, and the Luhr building became the library building for both the seminary and Webster University.In 2003, the book collections outgrew the capacities of the Luhr building and the books were moved to the newly-constructed Emerson Library at Webster University, where the library remains to this day. The Emerson Library is open to both Eden Seminary and Webster University students, and is a member of the MOBIUS library consortium. Eden Seminary maintains its historically-significant books and religious/theology reference collections in the Luhr Reading Room in the Samuel Press Hall. In 2010, the Luhr building was sold to Webster University, which uses it for its institutional technology department and the chess team.

Notable faculty and alumni

Pastors and denominational leaders

Political and organizational leaders

Theologians and scholars

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Chrystal . William G. . 1984 . Samuel D. Press: Teacher of the Niebuhrs . Church History . 53 . 4 . 504–521 . 10.2307/3166120 . 0009-6407.
  2. Web site: Deborah Krause – Eden Theological Seminary . 2024-05-09 . en-US.
  3. Web site: Locate College on Eden Theological Seminary . 2013-04-14 . 2013-04-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130417104141/http://www.locatecolleges.com/mo/webster-grove/eden-theological-seminary . dead .
  4. Web site: undefined . 2024-08-09 . Kansas Interfaith Action . en.
  5. Web site: LottCarey . Rev. Dr. Jesse Williams Installed as President of Lott Carey Lott Carey . 2024-08-16 . en-US.
  6. Web site: Re-Elect Jack Patrick Lewis . 2024-08-09 . Re-Elect Jack Patrick Lewis . en-US.
  7. Web site: Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson . 2024-06-06 . Children's Defense Fund . en-US.
  8. Web site: Meet the Team at Forward Through Ferguson . 2024-08-09 . Forward Through Ferguson . en-US.