Unification Theological Seminary
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The Unification Theological Seminary, located in Barrytown, New York and with an Extension Center in midtown Manhattan, serves the Unification Church through graduate education in theology and related subjects, as well as by sponsoring ecumenical conferences. UTS was founded as an ecumenical seminary in that the faculty members have belonged to a broad range of religious denominations. Rather than concentrating solely on Unification theology, students learn philosophy, psychology, world religions, and homiletics, as well as the histories, theologies, and scriptures of Judaism, Christianity, and other world religions.
The Unification Theological Seminary is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, the main such body for institutions of higher learning in the region, and offers a three-year Master of Divinity program and a two-year Master of Religious Education program. Its first classes were offered in September 1975. The seminary has had three presidents: David S.C. Kim (1975-94), Dr. Theodore Shimmyo (1994-2000) and Dr. Tyler Hendricks (2000 to date).
Harvey Cox, Richard Rubenstein, Herbert Richardson, M. Darroll Bryant, Ninian Smart, Frederick Sontag, and other well-known theologians and philosophers have taught courses there or have spoken at its seminars and inter-religious forums.
In "Turning Points: Ten Defining Moments in the History of the Unification Tradition in America," Dr. Michael Mickler writes:
The core mission of the Unification Church, as the name HSA-UWC indicated, was the "the Unification of World Christianity." However, the ability of the church to relate ecumenically to Christian churches was quite limited prior to the creation of UTS. ...[T]he establishment of UTS marked a turning point in the UC's ability to relate constructively to the wider religious community. ...UTS represented a commitment to self-reflection, research and scholarship, and the beginnings of an intellectual tradition. The church, in general, had limited opportunities to think through issues deeply or to develop ideas about how its teachings related to other faiths. ... The establishment of UTS indicated that the tradition was willing to tackle contemporary intellectual challenges rather than separate intellectual endeavor from faith or retreat into a ghetto of religious fundamentalism.[1]
The Unification Theological Seminary is not to be confused with Union Theological Seminary (a college of theology in New York City associated with Columbia University), despite their sharing the same acronym, UTS.
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[edit] Alumni
- Dan Fefferman - executive director of International Coalition for Religious Freedom.
- Dr. Tyler Hendricks - president of US Unification Church (1991-2000), now president of Unification Theological Seminary (UTS)
- Michael Jenkins - President of U.S. Unification Church, 2000 to present
- Tom McDevitt - President of the Washington Times
- Dr. Michael Mickler - vice president of UTS; author of A History of the Unification Church in America, 1959-1974.
- Lee Shapiro - Documentary film maker, killed in Afghanistan in 1987
- Dr. Jonathan Wells (1978) - Author and proponent of Intelligent design
- Dr. Andrew Wilson - academic dean of UTS; editor of World scripture: A comparative anthology of sacred texts.
[edit] References
- ^ Mickler, Michael, (1999-2000), "Turning Points: Ten Defining Moments in the History of the Unification Tradition in America," Journal of Unification Studies, Vol. 3, pp. 5-26.
