Eden Theological Seminary

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Eden Theological Seminary is a Christian seminary based in Webster Groves, Missouri. It is one of the six official seminaries of the United Church of Christ (UCC).

Eden Theological Seminary
TypeSeminary
Established1850; 174 years ago (1850)
AccreditationAssociation of Theological Schools (ATS) and Higher Learning Commission
Religious affiliation
United Church of Christ
PresidentDeborah Krause
Academic DeanChristopher Grundy
Academic staff
8
Students56
Location, ,
United States
Websitewww.eden.edu

History

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The seminary was established in 1850 by German pastors in Marthasville, Missouri as Das Deutsche Evangelische Predigerseminar or, more locally, as the German Evangelical Seminary. At the time, the goal was to equip pastors to lead and minister to frontier churches. The pastors soon formed the German Evangelical Synod of North America which, after subsequent mergers, became a part of the UCC.

 
The Eden Seminary campus at Wellston

In 1883, the seminary moved to what would become Wellston, Missouri and built a campus there. The campus was only a mile away from the Eden Station of the Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific Railroad.[1] Ministerial candidates, usually from Elmhurst College, an Evangelical Synod of North America college near Chicago, would arrive at the Seminary by getting off at the Eden Station and, eventually, the Seminary would be colloquially referred to as the "Eden Seminary." The campus was purchased by Normandy High School in 1923.

In 1924, the seminary moved to its current campus in Webster Groves. The school was augmented in 1934 by a merger with the Central Theological Seminary, an institution of the Reformed Church in the United States in Dayton, Ohio, and the Oakwood Institute of Cincinnati, Ohio. This coincided with the merger of the two denominations into the Evangelical and Reformed Church. Conversations at Eden Theological Seminary, beginning in 1937, led to the 1957 merger of the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches to form the United Church of Christ.

Presidents

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Term Name Notes
1902–1919 William Becker
1919–1941 Samuel D. Press Namesake for Press Hall. Press was known as the "Teacher of the Niebuhrs" and oversaw the seminary's move to Webster Groves.[2] Prior to his presidency, he was a member of Eden's faculty from 1908 and was the first full-time professor to teach exclusively in English.
1941–1962 Frederich Schroeder
1962–1981 Robert Fauth
1981–1986 Malcolm Warford After Eden, Warford served as president of Bangor Theological Seminary from 1987 to 1995.
1986–1993 Eugene S. Wehrli Namesake for Wehrli Chapel. Was Professor of New Testament from 1960 to 1986.
1993–1996 Charles R. Kniker Prior to Eden, Kniker was professor of education at Iowa State University for 24 years and at one point was assistant dean of the College of Education. He was an 1963 M.Div. graduate.
1997–2020 David Greenhaw Prior to Eden, Greenhaw was Dean of Lancaster Theological Seminary.
2020 – Present Deborah Krause First woman president of Eden Seminary and 1988 M.Div. graduate. Prior to her presidency, she was Professor of New Testament since 1992 and academic dean from 2005 to 2018.[3]

Academics

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Samuel D. Press Education Center

Eden Theological Seminary offers five degree programs:

All classes and programming are offered in blended format with students participating fully on campus and online.[4]

Campus

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The Samuel D. Press Education Center is the heart of the Eden Seminary campus. The tower was inspired by Oxford's Magdalen Tower. The Center contains faculty and staff offices, classrooms, institutional archives, the Luhr Reading Room, and the Wehrli Chapel.

Duhan and Schultz Halls were among the original buildings of the campus and, with the Press Center and Luhr Building, surround the Wiese Quadrangle. Duhan Hall provides on-campus housing for students and visiting faculty. Schultz Hall houses the offices of Peace United Church of Christ and the Missouri Mid-South Conference of the UCC.

Schroer Commons was the Seminary's refectory but continues to host events and dinners. The building was named after Rev. Dr. Hale Schroer was professor of preaching and worship, and Dean of Students and Dean of the Chapel at Eden Seminary.

A group of apartment buildings - Goetsch Hall, North Hall, and South Hall - provide on-campus housing for students. The Seminary also provides housing for faculty members, including the seminary's president, near the campus.

The Webster-Eden library system

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In 1968, Eden Theological Seminary built the Luhr Library to house its collections. The next year, it was approached by Webster University. The two schools agreed to put their collections together, and the Luhr building became the library building for both the seminary and Webster University.

 
Luhr Building

In 2003, the book collections outgrew the capacities of the Luhr building and the books were moved to the newly constructed Emerson Library at Webster University, where the library remains to this day. The Emerson Library is open to both Eden Seminary and Webster University students, and is a member of the MOBIUS library consortium. Eden Seminary maintains its historically significant books and religious/theology reference collections in the Luhr Reading Room in the Samuel Press Hall. In 2010, the Luhr building was sold to Webster University, which uses it for its institutional technology department and the chess team.

Notable faculty and alumni

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Pastors and denominational leaders

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Political and organizational leaders

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Theologians and scholars

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References

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  1. ^ "Eden Station, St. Charles Rock Road, Wellston, St Louis, MO". freepages.rootsweb.com. Retrieved 2024-08-24.
  2. ^ Chrystal, William G. (1984). "Samuel D. Press: Teacher of the Niebuhrs". Church History. 53 (4): 504–521. doi:10.2307/3166120. ISSN 0009-6407.
  3. ^ "Deborah Krause – Eden Theological Seminary". Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  4. ^ "Locate College on Eden Theological Seminary". Archived from the original on 2013-04-17. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
  5. ^ "undefined". Kansas Interfaith Action. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
  6. ^ LottCarey. "Rev. Dr. Jesse Williams Installed as President of Lott Carey | Lott Carey". Retrieved 2024-08-16.
  7. ^ "Re-Elect Jack Patrick Lewis". Re-Elect Jack Patrick Lewis. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
  8. ^ "Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson". Children's Defense Fund. Retrieved 2024-06-06.
  9. ^ "Meet the Team at Forward Through Ferguson". Forward Through Ferguson. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
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38°35′34″N 90°20′44″W / 38.5927°N 90.3455°W / 38.5927; -90.3455