Meadville Lombard Theological School

Meadville Lombard Theological School

Former names	Meadville Theological School Lombard College
Motto	"Changing Lives to Change the World"
Type	Private, Unitarian Universalist
Established	1930 1844 - Meadville Theological School 1853 - Lombard College
Endowment	Undisclosed but estimated to be around $20-25 million
President	Lee Barker
Provost	Sharon Welch
Dean	Darrick Jackson
Academic staff	7
Administrative staff	11
Students	71
Postgraduates	68
Doctoral students	3
Location	Chicago , Illinois , USA
Campus	Urban
Affiliations	Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS), International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF)
Website	meadville.edu

The Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago is a Unitarian Universalist seminary in the United States.

Mission

Meadville Lombard Theological School is one of two Unitarian Universalist seminaries and offers the following graduate degree programs: Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Religion, and the Master of Arts in Leadership Studies (with the option to add a concentration in Lay Community Ministry). The school's mission is "to educate students in the Unitarian Universalist tradition to embody liberal religious ministry in Unitarian Universalist congregations and wherever else they are called to serve."

Campus

The seminary's historic 16,000 sq. ft. Collegiate Gothic style building was erected in 1933 on 5701 S. Woodlawn Avenue, across from First Unitarian Church of Chicago and near the campus of the University of Chicago in Hyde Park. In 2011 the University of Chicago purchased the building and hired Kliment Halsband Architects to turn it into a home for the Neubauer Family Collegium for Culture and Society.

Meadville Lombard is now located in the South Loop neighborhood of Chicago, sharing space with the Spertus Institute of Jewish Learning and Leadership.

History

Meadville Lombard is a result of a merger in the 1930s between two institutions, a Unitarian seminary and a Universalist seminary.

Meadville Theological School was founded in 1844 in Meadville, Pennsylvania. Most of the original funding came from Harm Jan Huidekoper, a recent convert to Christian Unitarianism and a wealthy businessman, and from the Independent Congregational Church.

Meadville Theological School moved to Chicago and became affiliated with the University of Chicago in 1926. It began construction on its permanent building in 1929, located across the street from First Unitarian Church of Chicago and designed by the same architect.

Lombard College building, from an 1876 catalog

Lombard College was a Universalist institution in Galesburg, Illinois, founded in 1853. When the college and its Ryder Divinity School closed in 1930, the Lombard charter was transferred to Meadville Theological School in Chicago. bringing with it Lombard's privilege of a tax exemption, "one of only three in Illinois granting full tax-exempt status in perpetuity for all college-owned property." The combined institution became Meadville Lombard Theological School.

After 2000

In the decade of the 2000s, the school implemented cost-cutting measures as its endowment declined in value from $18 million to $12 million, and funding from the Unitarian Universalist Association was reduced.

In 2005 Meadville Lombard made public their decision to hold merger talks with the other Unitarian Universalist seminary in the United States, Starr King School for the Ministry, but in July 2006 it was decided that a merger would not be in the best interest of the seminaries.

Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership

In June 2010, Meadville Lombard and Andover Newton Theological School in Newton, Massachusetts, affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ, announced plans to create a "new university-style institution" based at Andover Newton's campus with an interfaith model for theological education. Meadville Lombard would have become the Unitarian Universalist college in the new theological university. The two schools, Meadville Lombard and Andover Newton, announced they were seeking additional partners for the proposed institution. They announced their intention to form the new university as a legal entity by June 15, 2011, but the two institutions withdrew from the plan in April 2011, citing issues related to governance and finances.

In 2011, the seminary's Hyde Park buildings were sold and the school relocated to the Spertus Institute building in Chicago's downtown Loop.

Leadership

As of 2014, the seminary's president is the Rev. Lee Barker, who has held the position since 2003.

Notable alumni

• The Rev. Jenkin Lloyd Jones, peace advocate, founder of All Souls Unitarian Church in Chicago; played a prominent role in the growth of the Western Unitarian Convention
• The Rev. William F. Schulz, human rights activist, former President of the Unitarian Universalist Association, former Executive Director of Amnesty International USA

Notable academics

• The Rev. James Luther Adams (d. 1994), former Professor of Ethics and Theology
• The Rev. William F. Schulz, affiliated faculty

External links

• Meadville Lombard Theological School
• Blog of Meadville Lombard Development and Alumni/ae Affairs Office