Message from the President
United: Amazing Past, Bold Future!
One hundred and twenty-one years ago, this theological school graduated from its student body Miss Ella Niswonger. Two years later, in 1889, Niswonger became the first woman ordained as an elder in The Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Not until sixty-seven years of costly controversy later did The Methodist Church grant ordination and full clergy rights for the first time to a woman!
What made the United Brethren so progressive? In the tradition of John Wesley, they heard and respected the extraordinary call of God that sets apart women as well as men for leadership in ministry. They believed that sometimes it is important to do things that are unpopular, if right in God’s sight, and that new times often require new forms of Christian ministry!
United Theological Seminary is steeped in the legacy of its United Brethren founders that held much in common with John Wesley’s early Methodism, a reform movement that took the Gospel to the streets, fields and frontiers of its time. This heritage consists of a learned, deep-seated orthodox, evangelical faith, a prophetic Wesleyan holiness theology and firm dedication to the transforming mission and ministry of Jesus Christ. United’s commitment is not to left wing or right wing theology, politics or social views. Rather, it is to the extreme love of God and neighbor—to faith in Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to change lives for the better and to convert communities and even nations to God’s purposes!
At a time when many congregations and denominations are experiencing a marked decline in spiritual vitality, worship attendance and membership, United has set its sights and programming on the renewal, growth and life-giving mission of the Church and to serving the underserved. United offers a Master of Divinity degree with a concentration in church renewal and the most influential Doctor of Ministry degree in the nation designed by and for African American church leaders that has since expanded to serve a widely diverse constituency. United is taking a leading role in urban, rural, international and lay education, as well as in multimedia communications, digital ministry and distance learning in order to make the Gospel more readily accessible. United prepares leaders for the Church who can offer and demonstrate the good news of Jesus Christ in a wide range of settings, including our own post-modern, post-Christian context!
With God’s blessing in its 137th year, United is honored to fulfill the seminary mandate from The United Methodist Church to prepare men and women for faithful leadership in the Church of Jesus Christ, to lead in reflection on the Wesleyan theological tradition, and to assist the church in making disciples of all nations.
Standing upon an amazing past, United is moving boldly into God’s future with faithful leadership in theological education in southwest Ohio, the upper Midwest, and the world. We invite your prayers, partnership and participation in this awesome work!
Wendy J. Deichmann Edwards, Ph.D.
President, United Theological Seminary
February 2008
Spirit Led, Renewing the Church!