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From the President

Our Vision

Our Commitment

The Philadelphia
     Tradition

The Philadelphia
     Student

Lay Education

ABOUT THE SEMINARY

THE PHILADELPHIA TRADITION

Philadelphia Lutheran Seminary was founded in 1864. Its roots go back to the colonial church and the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, the first Lutheran Synod founded by missionary Henry Melchior Muhlenberg (pictured left) in 1747.

Its academic tradition and Lutheran roots are exemplified by the fact that the "Book of Concord," the basic collection of writings from the time of the Reformation, has been officially translated three times - all three editors (Jacobs, Tappert and Wengert) came from the Philadelphia Seminary faculty. Basic textbooks in liturgy, preaching and Christian education produced by members of this faculty are used in seminaries all over the United States.

Its record for church leadership is well known. Lutheran leaders like the notable Franklin Clark Fry, and the immediate past ELCA Bishop, H. George Anderson, are part of the Philadelphia tradition. This seminary has nurtured numerous bishops. Four Lutheran seminary presidents, including the first woman and the first African American president, have been members of this faculty, as has the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Rev. Frank Griswald. Ms. Addie Butler, Vice President of the ELCA, is a Philadelphian and a member of the seminary Board of Trustees.

LTSP is known for being innovative and cutting edge. The first Lutheran graduate school was begun here in 1913. In 1938 "Mt. Airy" seminary, as it was then dubbed, was one of the first three Lutheran schools accredited by the American Association of Theological Schools (ATS). The first full-capacity television studio was inaugurated in 1965.

In the early 1980’s the Urban Theological Institute (UTI) was begun as a fully-accredited evening and Saturday program for African American church leaders. The Academy of Preachers, an ecumenical program designed to nurture persons who wish to excel in preaching, has expanded with chapters as far away as Berkeley, California. The "Preaching with Power" series brings the best preachers in the African American tradition to Philadelphia during the spring term. The urban track, recently inaugurated in the seminary curriculum, is the only full-blown training program for metropolitan ministry on the Master of Divinity level in a Lutheran seminary.

The Seminary continues to build its distance learning capabilities, increasing opportunities for learning at the campus and making available to other areas learning opportunities from the seminary. Within the next five years, a new Learning Center will be completed. Distance learning will eventually expand to include extension centers and off-campus instruction in suburban and rural areas. In partnership with the Eastern Cluster of Seminaries, opportunities for theological education will be made available to areas up and down the East Coast.

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