Bangor Seminary Plans Move

Bangor Theological Seminary

The board of trustees of Bangor Theological Seminary have voted unanimously to move the institution's Bangor, Maine, campus to nearby Husson College. The move will not affect the seminary's location in the state's largest city, at State Street Congregational Church in Portland.

Bangor Seminary plans to hold its classes in a former dormitory at Husson until a separate seminary building is constructed on the eastern edge of the business college's campus. Husson's campus is also home to another independent institution, the New England School of Communications.

Bangor Seminary, affiliated with the United Church of Christ, was founded in 1814, and more than 85 percent of its 130 students commute to one of its two campuses. Only 25 students attend full time. The seminary has not yet announced what it will do with its historic property, which includes a chapel, library, offices, and apartment buildings.

Wiccans raise funds on eBay for new theological school 

Wiccans of the Correllian Nativist Church are forming a new theological school in Albany, New York. Correllian College will provide trained educators and clergy for wiccans and pagans. Organizers have turned to eBay, the auction Web site, to sell books and raise funds for the new school.

"We have a highly educated membership, and we are focusing on the fact that most traditional education systems are becoming increasingly hostile to pagan ideals," said Davron Michaels, director of the Correllian College Project. "We need our own college."

Denver Seminary moves to new campus 

Beginning in July, Denver Seminary will move to a new home in Littleton, Colorado, leaving a site in nearby Englewood that it has occupied for more than 35 years. The new 20-acre campus includes an administration building, classroom buildings, a chapel, a library, a student center, and a bookstore. Four other structures will provide 92 student apartments.

The new site promises a pastoral setting along the South Platte River adjacent to a botanical garden, with which it will share an entrance and parking lot. Administrators hope that the new campus will allow the seminary to continue growing beyond its current 925 students.

Denver Seminary is not denominationally affiliated but considers itself "broadly evangelical." Its students represent 50 denominations. 

Don McCullough

Eastern Seminary renamed for former president 

Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, is being renamed in honor of the school's longest-serving former president, the Rev. Gordon Palmer. The school will be called Palmer Theological Seminary.

Eastern Seminary was formed in 1925 as a conservative response to theological modernism. Two years ago it reunited with Eastern University, which had been created as its college division in 1932. In 1940, under the leadership of Dr. Palmer, the institution moved from central Philadelphia to its western suburbs. The college division became a separate school, then known as Eastern Baptist College, in 1952.

"Thanks to the vision of Dr. Palmer, who moved the seminary from Center City to Wynnewood, we find ourselves in the wonderful position of being a link between the city and its suburbs," said the seminary's president, Dr. Wallace Charles Smith. He reaffirmed a commitment to the seminary's African American students, who comprise half the student body. Eastern University and Palmer Theological Seminary remain affiliated with the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A.

Fuller announces $148 million capital campaign 

Fuller Theological Seminary has announced the public phase of a $148 million capital campaign to raise funds for scholarships, faculty positions, and a new library and chapel. More than $100 million has already been raised in the quiet phase of the campaign, which began in 2001.

Fuller is the largest U.S. seminary, with more than 4,300 students on eight campuses, including the main campus in Pasadena, California. The non-denominational evangelical institution includes schools of intercultural studies and psychology as well as theology, and it draws students from more than 50 countries and a wide spectrum of denominations.

Gettysburg trustees oppose casino 

The board of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg has decided to register its opposition to a slot-machine casino that has been proposed for the town in south-central Pennsylvania, site of an infamous Civil War battle waged in the vicinity of the seminary's campus.

"Gettysburg Seminary has a longstanding commitment to be a good citizen, concerned for the well-being of this community that is our home," the seminary's president, the Rev. Michael Cooper-White, said in a press release. "Our board went on record opposing activities that in our best judgment will detract from the well-being of local residents and our millions of guests."

The Rev. Donald J. McCoid, bishop of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the seminary board's chairman-elect, said that the most important factors for the seminary's opposition were the impact upon the "health of the community and the historic witness of the church" against expansion of gambling. Bishop McCoid stated that this action is consistent with resolutions taken by his synod.

Midwestern Seminary sells land for shopping center 

Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, has agreed to sell 30 to 40 acres of its 200-acre campus to a real estate development partnership. The currently vacant property, at the corner of two busy highways, will likely be developed as a shopping center by Hunt Midwest and R.H. Johnson Co.

The 800-student seminary, owned by the Southern Baptist Convention, moved to the location in 1959. Proceeds of the sale will contribute to the building of a new chapel, expansion of the library, and new classrooms and faculty offices.

New Guam seminary sees first ordination 

Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Yona, Guam, has seen its first ordination of a graduate to the Catholic priesthood. Jose Alberto Rodriguez-Salamanca was ordained in May in the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Agana, Guam. A native of the Canary Islands, Father Rodriguez-Salamanca has been studying at the new seminary for six years.

The new Guam seminary is one of more than 45 Redemptoris Mater seminaries that have been established worldwide since 1987. Each one prepares priests for its local Catholic diocese but has an international student body of students who have participated in a vocational discernment process called the Neocatechumenal Way. Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Guam was established in 1998 and currently enrolls about 30 students from 12 countries.

No certification preparation for students of pastoral counseling 

Students studying pastoral counseling at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, will no longer be prepared for licensing or certification by professional associations or state agencies. Dr. Russell Moore, the dean of the seminary's school of theology, said that he expects graduates to work in churches or other ministry positions rather than in private practice or secular settings, and the seminary is trying to avoid having its curriculum influenced by the demands of outside agencies. Students seeking licensing or certification will be encouraged to pursue further studies elsewhere.

The move stems from a resolution passed in 2002 by the Southern Baptist Convention, which affirmed that Christian counselors should rely more completely on the Bible and less on human theories and medication. Seminary leaders also disagree with parts of the ethical codes of some professional associations -- especially those that forbid discrimination based on religion or sexual orientation.

Church buys seminary campus 

United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, has sold its 30-acre campus to Omega Baptist Church for $1.5 million. The 5,000-member congregation plans to keep at least five of the six buildings on the seminary campus but will build a new worship space, according to David Abney, chairman of the church board. Omega's pastor, the Rev. Daryl Ward, is a former president of the seminary.

This fall United Seminary plans to hold classes at its new campus in the adjacent community of Trotwood, three miles north of the former site. Formerly owned by the Jewish Federation of Dayton, the new campus consists of 80 acres and a 78,000-square-foot building, which is being renovated this summer for the seminary's use.

The move helps the seminary fulfill some of the goals of its comprehensive plan, which calls for providing new facilities and resources for students and faculty while retiring some of the school's debt. The school is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

Changes at the top 

Richard Bliese, the new president of Luther Seminary.

■ The Rev. Richard Bliese has been named president of Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, replacing the retiring president, the Rev. David Tiede. Dr. Bliese previously served as academic dean of the school, which has more than 800 students and is the largest seminary affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Dr. Bliese has served Lutheran parishes in Germany, Zaire, and Illinois. Before moving to St. Paul in 2003, he was director of graduate studies and associate professor of global mission and evangelism at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC). He is a graduate of Wright State University, Christ Seminary-Seminex in St. Louis, Missouri, and LSTC.

■ The Rev. Charles B. Bugg has been named the new dean of the M. Christopher White School of Divinity at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. He will also serve as professor of church ministry and leadership. He replaces the former dean, the Rev. R. Wayne Stacy, who in 2003 became pastor of Southside Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida.

Dr. Bugg holds degrees from Stetson University and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and he has served Baptist churches in North Carolina, Florida, and Georgia. Before being called to Gardner-Webb University, he was professor of preaching at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. The M. Christopher White School of Divinity was established at Gardner-Webb University in 1993 and maintains close ties to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

■ Dr. Ergun Caner has been appointed dean of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in Lynchburg, Virginia, filling the post vacated by Dr. Danny Lovett, newly appointed president of Tennessee Temple University. The seminary is affiliated with Liberty University.

Formerly Liberty Seminary's professor of theology and church history, 39-year-old Caner is a well-liked teacher who will lead "a revolution in seminary education on this campus," according to the Rev. Jerry Falwell, president of Liberty University.

The new seminary dean was born into a Muslim family but became a Christian as a teenager. He received degrees from Cumberland College, Criswell College, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the University of South Africa.

Dr. Caner's younger brother, Dr. Emir Caner, has just been appointed dean of the new undergraduate college at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. 

R. Scott Colglazier

■ The Rev. R. Scott Colglazier has been appointed sixth president of United Seminary of the Twin Cities. He moves to the school from Fort Worth, Texas, where he has been senior minister of University Christian Church for eight years.

A graduate of David Lipscomb University and Christian Theological Seminary, Dr. Colglazier is a member of the Board of Trustees of Texas Christian University and Brite Divinity School and is a regular columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Following his appointment by the board, he said, "We are in a period of rampant secularism and growing fundamentalism. United Theological Seminary has an opportunity to shape graduates who know how to provide vital alternatives to both."

United Seminary of the Twin Cities, located in New Brighton, Minnesota, is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.

■ The Rev. Peter A. Lillback has been appointed fourth president of Westminster Theological Seminary in Glenside, Pennsylvania. Outgoing president Samuel T. Logan Jr. will become chancellor, continuing to serve full time at the school, which is a non-denominational institution in the Reformed tradition.

Dr. Lillback is a graduate of Cedarville College, Dallas Theological Seminary, and Westminster. He is senior pastor of Proclamation Presbyterian Church in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, where he will continue to preach. He is also executive director of the Providence Forum, a nonprofit educational organization.

■ The Rev. Edsel D. Pate Jr. has been named director of the Southern California campus of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. The Southern California campus, located in the Orange County community of Brea, is a satellite campus of the Mill Valley, California, school, which is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

A graduate of California Baptist College and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Pate was associate professor of missions at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary from 2004 to 2005. Before then, he worked with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board and served churches in California and Texas.

■ Dr. Richard Rosengarten has been appointed to a second five-year term as dean of the University of Chicago Divinity School. During his first term, the divinity school appointed eight new faculty members and created the Chicago Forum on Pedagogy and the Study of Religion, which reinforced Chicago's role as a leader in educating religion professors.

Dr. Rosengarten is a graduate of Kenyon College, the University of Chicago humanities division, and the divinity school. Before returning to Chicago, he taught at St. Xavier College.

■ The Rev. Jean Stairs has been reappointed as principal of Queen's Theological College in Kingston, Ontario, for a second five-year term beginning July 1, 2006. During the first four years of her term, Dr. Stairs oversaw the expansion of the school's restorative justice program, the reconfiguring of continuing education, and an update of the college's charter. The theological college's partnership with Queens University has also been strengthened during Dr. Stairs's term; she has served as vice-chair of the university senate and chair of the Senate Operations Review Committee. Queens Theological College was established in 1912 and is affiliated with the United Church of Canada.

■ Father Peter Uglietto, academic dean of Blessed John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts, has been appointed rector of the school. He fills the post vacated by Msgr. Francis Kelly, newly appointed superior of the Casa Santa Maria, the residence for U.S. priests pursuing graduate studies in Rome.

Blessed John XXIII Seminary serves older priesthood candidates from throughout the United States. Its new rector is a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston and holds a doctorate in moral theology from the John Paul II Institute in Washington, D.C.