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The Urban Theological Institute at Lutheran Seminary
celebrated 25 years with festive celebration

The Rev. Dr. Andrew Willis, Founder-Director of the Urban Theological Institute, left, and Randolph Jones, Jr., officially open the Urban Theological Institute classroom. The late Rev. Dr. Randolph Jones, Sr. was a Founder-Director of the Urban Theological Institute 25 years ago. [more photos]

PHILADELPHIA, PA (October 31, 2005) -- The Urban Theological Institute (UTI) of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP), a program designed to train leaders for the church in African American traditions, celebrated its 25th anniversary with a two-day festive event.

Thursday, October 20, 2005 opened the celebration with an informal open house of the new Brossman Center and the dedication of the UTI classroom in the Brossman Center. After a few reflective words from the Rev. Janet Peterman and the Rev. Jacqueline Capers in the Buescher Atrium of the Brossman Center, they led the gathered in a procession singing "We've Come This Far by Faith" from the Atrium to the UTI classroom. During the opening ceremony, formal portraits of the late Rev. Dr. Randolph Jones and the Rev. Dr. Andrew Willis were unveiled in the UTI classroom. Drs. Jones and Willis were Founder-Directors of the UTI 25 years ago. Officially opening the classroom were Dr. Andrew Willis, Randolph Jones, Jr., and Amaris Jones. Randolph, Jr., and Amaris are the children of the late Dr. Jones.

Thursday evening ended with a community worship service at Grace Baptist Church of Germantown. The Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr., in his sermon "Believers beware?" reminded the congregation before he started preaching, "Tonight's message is not addressed to everyone." Preaching from John 12, he reminded the parishioners, "Believers need to be serving the right God --God is a God of faith, love, hope, justice, strength!" and then asked, "Which God are you serving tonight?" You can hear his sermon online from the LTSP website. (click here)

Friday, October 21, 2005 started with prayer and devotions. The Rev. Dr. Philip D. W. Krey, seminary president; the Rev. Dr. J. Paul Rajashekar, seminary dean; and the Rev. Dr. Stephen Ray, UTI program director, expanded on the direction of the UTI and the vision of the seminary and the UTI in the morning plenary session. The lunch plenary session discussed issues within the church through the perspective of the three current pastors in churches in the Philadelphia area. The afternoon seminary focused on professional ethics, communicating the vision, legal issues for the church and the state of Black theology. The culminating event was the gala banquet, which featured the Dean of Black Preaching, the Rev. Dr. Gardner C. Taylor, as the keynote speaker.

The UTI was founded at LTSP with the shared vision and dedication to provide theological education to African American church leaders. The UTI has more than 100 graduates serving as pastors, educators and outreach coordinators in the African American community.

A free-will offering was collected throughout the event, with proceeds going to fund the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Sr. Chair for African American Studies at LTSP.