Lancaster Theological Seminary, a
seminaryA seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
of the
United Church of ChristThe United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...
in
Lancaster, PennsylvaniaLancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
, was founded in 1825 by members of the German Reformed Church in the United States to provide theological education for prospective clergy and other church leaders. After a failed attempt to open the school in Frederick, MD and another in Harrisburg, PA, the school opened in
Carlisle, PennsylvaniaCarlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The name is traditionally pronounced with emphasis on the second syllable. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2010 census, the borough...
on the campus of
Dickinson CollegeDickinson College is a private, residential liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Originally established as a Grammar School in 1773, Dickinson was chartered September 9, 1783, five days after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, making it the first college to be founded in the newly...
on March 11, 1825 with a class of five students. Later lectures were held in the "old Reformed Church of Carlisle." At this time the seminary struggled financially and due to the fund raising campaign of James Ross Reily (1788-1884) the seminary was able to relocate to
YorkYork, known as the White Rose City , is a city located in York County, Pennsylvania, United States which is in the South Central region of the state. The population within the city limits was 43,718 at the 2010 census, which was a 7.0% increase from the 2000 count of 40,862...
in 1829. Here attendance averaged between 12-25 students.
In 1836/7 the seminary moved again to
Mercersburg, PennsylvaniaMercersburg is a borough in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, southwest of Harrisburg. Originally called Black Town, it was incorporated in 1831. In 1900, 956 people lived here, and in 1910, 1,410 people lived here...
under the charter of Marshall College. Here the work of such celebrated professors as
John Williamson NevinJohn Williamson Nevin , American theologian and educationalist, was born on Herron's Branch, near Shippensburg, Franklin county, Pennsylvania.-Biography:...
,
Friederich Augustus RauchFriedrich August Rauch was a professor of systematic theology at Marshall College in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania...
, and
Philip SchaffPhilip Schaff , was a Swiss-born, German-educated Protestant theologian and a historian of the Christian church, who, after his education, lived and taught in the United States.-Biography:...
gave rise to the "
Mercersburg TheologyMercersburg Theology was a German-American theological movement that began in the mid-19th century. It draws its name from Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, home of Marshall College from 1836 until its merger with Franklin College in 1853, and also home to the seminary of the Reformed Church in the...
," noted for its historic concerns for
worshipWorship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something, for example, Christian worship.Evelyn Underhill defines worship thus: "The absolute...
, sacraments, and
ChurchIn Christianity, a church service is a term used to describe a formalized period of communal worship, often but not exclusively occurring on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day Sabbatarianism. The church service is the gathering together of Christians to be...
in its ecumenical expressions.
In 1853 Marshall College moved to Lancaster, PA, consolidating with Franklin College to form Franklin and Marshall College. In 1871, the seminary moved to the campus of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster. While viewed as a temporary arrangement, the present site of the seminary was not purchased until 1893. The buildings were completed and occupied in 1894.
For most of its history (109 of its 168 years), LTS was the sole seminary of the Reformed Church in the United States (German Reformed Church). With the formation of the
Evangelical and Reformed ChurchThe Evangelical and Reformed Church was a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. It was formed in 1934 by the merger of the Reformed Church in the United States with the Evangelical Synod of North America . After the 1934 merger, a minority within the RCUS seceded in order to...
in 1934, the seminary became one of three seminaries serving that newly united denomination. LTS is currently one of seven seminaries holding full relationship with the UCC, a denomination formed in 1957 by the union of the E&R Church and most of the
Congregational Christian ChurchesThe Congregational Christian Churches were a Protestant Christian denomination that operated in the U.S. from 1931 through 1957. On the latter date, most of its churches joined the Evangelical and Reformed Church in a merger to become the United Church of Christ. Others created the National...
. Lancaster Theological Seminary is an official
Open and affirmingOpen and Affirming is an official designation of congregations and other settings within the United Church of Christ denomination affirming the full inclusion of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender persons in that setting's life and ministry.The Open and Affirming program is administered...
seminary.
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