Presently, Columbia University lists UTS among its affiliate schools, along with the Columbia-degree conferringBarnard College andTeachers College. Beginning in 1928 and continuing until an indeterminate juncture, UTS "[had] the status of a [Columbia] University faculty in the educational system of the University through representation" on the now-defunct University Council.[6] In 1964, UTS also established an affiliation with the neighboringJewish Theological Seminary of America. Despite its affiliation with Columbia University, UTS has remained an independent institution with its own administration, degrees and Board of Trustees. UTS confers the following degrees: Master of Divinity (MDiv), Master of Divinity & Social Work dual degree (MDSW), Master of Arts in religion (MAR), Master of Arts in Social Justice (MASJ), Master of Sacred Theology (STM), Doctor of Ministry (DMin), and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).
UTS is the oldest independent seminary in the United States and has long been known as a bastion ofprogressive Christian scholarship, with a number of prominent thinkers among its faculty or alumni. It was founded in 1836 by members of thePresbyterian Church in the USA,[7] but was open to students of all denominations. In 1893, UTS rescinded the right of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church to veto faculty appointments, thus becoming fully independent. In the 20th century, Union became a center ofliberal Christianity. It served as the birthplace of theBlack theology,womanist theology, and other theological movements. It houses theBurke Library at Union Theological Seminary, one of the largest theological libraries in the Western Hemisphere.[8]
Union Theological Seminary was founded in 1836. During the late 19th century it became one of the leading centers of liberal Christianity in the United States. In 1891,Charles A. Briggs, who was being installed as the chair of biblical studies, delivered an inaugural address in which he questioned the verbal inspiration of Scripture.[10] When the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. vetoed Briggs' appointment and eventually deposed Briggs for heresy two years later, Union removed itself from denominational oversight.[11] In 1939,Auburn Theological Seminary moved to the campus. After 75 years Auburn departed in 2014.[12][13]
Side view atClaremont Avenue between W. 120th and W. 119th streets (1910)
In 1895, members of the Union Theological Seminary Alumni Club foundedUnion Settlement Association, one of the oldest settlement houses in New York City. After visitingToynbee Hall in London and inspired by the example ofHull House in Chicago, the alumni decided to create a settlement house in the area of Manhattan enclosed on the north and south by East 96th and 110th Streets and on the east and west by theEast River andCentral Park.
The neighborhood, known asEast Harlem, was filled with new tenements but devoid of any civic services. The ethos of the settlement house movement called for its workers to "settle" in such neighborhoods in order to learn first-hand the problems of the residents. "It seemed to us that, as early settlers, we had a chance to grow up with the community and affect its development," wrote William Adams Brown, Theology Professor, Union Theological Society (1892–1930) and President, Union Settlement Association (1915–1919).[14]
Union Settlement still exists, providing community-based services and programs to support the immigrant and low-income residents of East Harlem. One of East Harlem's largest social service agencies, Union Settlement reaches more than 13,000 people annually at 17 locations throughout East Harlem through a range of programs, including early childhood education, youth development, senior services, job training, the arts, adult education, nutrition, counseling, a farmers' market, community development, and neighborhood cultural events.
Reinhold Niebuhr andPaul Tillich made UTS the center of both liberal andneo-orthodox Protestantism in the inter-war period. Niebuhr joined UTS in 1929 and Tillich in 1933. Prominent public intellectualCornel West commenced a promising academic career at UTS in 1977. As liberalism lost ground to conservatism after the 1960s (while neo-orthodoxy dissipated) and thus declined in prestige, UTS ran into financial difficulties and shrank significantly because of a reduced student base.
Eventually, the school agreed to lease some of its buildings to Columbia University and to transfer ownership of and responsibility for the Burke Library to Columbia. These agreements helped stabilize the school's finances, which had been hobbled by increasing library costs and the need for substantial campus repairs.
On July 1, 2008, feminist theologianSerene Jones became UTS's first female president in its 172-year history, succeedingJoseph C. Hough Jr.[15]
On June 10, 2014, Jones announced that UTS would be joining the movement to divest from the fossil fuels industry in protest at the damage the industry is causing to the environment. UTS's $108 million endowment will no longer include any fossil fuel investments.[16] On May 9, 2024, UTS's Board of Trustees voted to endorse divestment from "companies profiting from the war in Palestine" and announced that they will be joining theInterfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility.[17]
Classroom and faculty space was added to UTS in the early 2020s as part of the construction of Claremont Hall, a 41-story residential condominium at 100 Claremont Avenue.[18] UTS owns 27 of the apartments in Claremont Hall.[19]
Although administratively independent from Columbia, UTS is affiliated through representation by one voting faculty member and one non-voting student observer in the ColumbiaUniversity Senate.[20]
^abcdFrom 1842 to 1873, Union chose no person to serve as president of the seminary.[25][22] However, the longest serving professor was sometimes recognized as the unofficial head of the faculty as "senior professor."[26][27]
The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, one of the largest theological libraries in North America, contains over 700,000 items. Burke's holdings include extensive special collections, including Greek census records from 20 CE, a rare 12th-century manuscript of the Life of St. Boniface, and one of the first African-American hymnals, published in Philadelphia in 1818.
The Burke Library also maintains a number of world-renowned archival collections, including the Archives of Women in Theological Scholarship and the Missionary Research Library Archives.
In 2004, the Burke Library became fully integrated into theColumbia University Libraries system, which holds over 14 million volumes. The library is named in honor of Walter Burke, a generous benefactor to the library who served as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Seminary from 1976 to 1982.
Both Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich taught at the seminary. Niebuhr joined the faculty in 1929 and retired in 1952. Tillich was recruited by Niebuhr to UTS following his dismissal from the University of Frankfurt. Nazi officials terminated Tillich from the University of Frankfurt and placed him on their list of "undesirables". Tillich subsequently narrowly escaped arrest by the Gestapo in October 1933 and made his way out of Germany joining UTS in December 1933.[59]
In 1930,Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Postgraduate Teaching Fellow at the seminary. He later returned in 1939 to be a member of the faculty and to escape Nazi harassment in Germany. Writing of his experience there in his bookBarcelona, Berlin, New York, Bonhoeffer was dismayed by the liberalism of the seminary and its students, noting, "The students are completely clueless with respect to what dogmatics is really about. They are not familiar with even the most basic questions. They become intoxicated with liberal and humanistic phrases, are amused at the fundamentalists, and yet basically are not even up to their level...."[60] Referring to Union Seminary, Bonhoeffer noted: "A seminary in which numerous students openly laugh during a public lecture because they find it amusing when a passage on sin and forgiveness ...is cited has obviously, despite its many advantages, forgotten what Christian theology in its very essence stands for" (pp. 309–10). He soon regretted his decision and decided that he had to return to Germany to resist the Nazis. He took the last ship from New York to Germany in late August 1939. Due to his secret involvement with the20 July plot on Hitler's life, he was executed at theFlossenbürg concentration camp on April 8, 1945, only 15 days before the United States Army liberated the camp.
American theologian,James Hal Cone, one of the founders ofliberation theology and influential in the development ofBlack theology, began teaching at Union Theological Seminary in New York City in 1970, holding the distinguished Charles A. Briggs Chair in systematic theology from 1977 until his death in 2018.
Serene Jones, the seminary's first female president, was inaugurated in November 2008. replacingJoseph Hough, UTS' immediate past president. Civil rights activist Cornel West joined the faculty in July 2012, and rejoined again in 2021.[61]
Euan Cameron – Henry Luce, III Professor of Reformation Church History
Alan Cooper – Appointed Professor of Bible in 1998, becoming the first person to hold a joint professorship at both Union and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. His dual appointment has been described as a major step in strengthening ties between the two seminaries.
Pamela Cooper-White – Christiane Brooks Johnson Professor of Psychology and Religion
Charles Augustus Briggs – Professor of Hebrew and Cognate Languages (1874–1891) and of Biblical Theology (1891–1904); an important early leader of theModernist movement
Henry Sloane Coffin – President of Union and a leading theological liberal. Coffin also obtained his Bachelor of Divinity from the Union Theological Seminary in 1900. He declined an offer to become president of Union Theological Seminary in 1916. In 1926, offered the presidency (a second time), he accepted and retained the post until 1945.
James Cone (1936–2018) – a founder of Black theology, he was Charles Augustus Briggs Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology until his death
W. D. Davies, (1911–2001), Welsh-born Edward Robinson Professor of Biblical Theology, noted New Testament scholar and Congregationalist Minister.
Harrison S. Elliot (1882–1951) – author and leader in theY.M.C.A., Religious Education Association, and Union Theological Seminary.
James A. Forbes, Joe R. Engle Professor of Preaching before becoming senior pastor of Riverside Church, after which he continued to serve as an adjunct professor.
Beverly Wildung Harrison - a Christian feminist ethicist, she taught for 34 years at Union and was the Caroline Williams Beaird Professor of Ethics. She was the first woman president of the North American Society of Christian Ethics.
Philip Schaff (1819–1893) – Theologian and ecclesiastical historian who served as chair of theological encyclopedia and Christian symbolism, then as chair of Hebrew and the cognate languages, followed by chair of sacred literature, and finally chair of church history until his death in 1893.
Paul Tillich (1886–1965) – German-American theologian and Christian existentialist philosopher
Phyllis Trible (b. 1932) – Ph.D. from Union 1963; Baldwin Professor of Sacred Literature, 1980–1998; served as a visiting professor of Old Testament after retirement; donated papers to Burke Library.
Harry F. Ward – chairman of the ACLU and Professor of Ethics
Delores S. Williams earned her PhD from Union Theological Seminary, and later became the Paul Tillich Professor of Feminist Theology at Union Theological Seminary Her title was later changed to the Paul Tillich Professor of Theology and Culture. Following retirement, she became professor emerita.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer – GermanLutheran theologian and Nazi resister, attended UTS in 1930 for postgraduate studies and a teaching fellowship under Reinhold Niebuhr
Anton Boisen – founder of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) movement
Malcolm Boyd – Episcopal priest and author. He was one of the most prominent of the gay clergy to come out of the closet when he did so in 1977. For two years in 1956 and 1957, Boyd engaged in post-graduate studies at Union Theological Seminary where he wrote his first book,Crisis in Communication. He participated in the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements in the 1960s.
Frederick Buechner – writer, novelist, poet, essayist,theologian, and ordainedPresbyterian minister. Buechner described his time at Union at length in his 1982 autobiographical work,The Sacred Journey. In 2008 Union honored Buechner with the Unitas Distinguished Alumni/ae Awards, bestowed upon alumni/ae who exemplify the Seminary's academic breadth, diversity, and inclusiveness.[65]
Edwin Otway Burnham (Bachelor of Divinity, 1855) – a rifle shooting Congregational missionary in Sioux Indian territory who could bark a squirrel, swing an axe or dispense Gospel with equal fervor and efficiency.
Franklin I. Gamwell – Shailer Mathews Professor of Religious Ethics, the Philosophy of Religion, and Theology at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago
Mark Juergensmeyer – Professor of Sociology, Religious Studies, and Global Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara and Director of the Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies
Norman J. Kansfield – President New Brunswick Theological Seminary 1993–2005 and Senior Scholar in Residence, Theological School, Drew University
John Sung – aChineseChristianevangelist who played an instrumental role in the revival movement among the Chinese in mainland China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia during the 1920s and 1930s and also a staunch defender of traditional Christian values and outspoken opponent of liberal theology
^Hart, D. G.; Muether, John (2007).Seeking a Better Country: 300 Years of American Presbyterianism. Phillipsburg, N.J.: Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing. p. 183.ISBN9780875525747.OCLC122974080.
^abcHandy, Robert T. (1987).A History of Union Theological Seminary in New York. Columbia University Press. p. 20. RetrievedAugust 12, 2025.Early the following year [1840], when McAuley resigned as president of both board and faculty... Joel Parker was then elected president.... No president was then appointed for 31 years.
^"Honest Joel".The Times-Picayune. May 5, 1842. p. 2. RetrievedAugust 12, 2025.
^"Parker on Universalism".The Charleston Daily Courier. June 29, 1841. p. 1. RetrievedAugust 12, 2025.
^abHandy, Robert T. (1987).A History of Union Theological Seminary in New York. Columbia University Press. p. 51. RetrievedAugust 12, 2025.Though no president had been named for 31 years, the board now wished to fill that office, so in 1873 Adams became Union's third president....
^"The Reunion Affirmed".New-York Tribune. May 28, 1869. p. 5. RetrievedAugust 12, 2025.The Rev. Thomas H. Skinner, D. D., Senior Professor in Union Theological Seminary....
^"Died: Skinner".The New York Times. February 2, 1871. p. 5. RetrievedAugust 12, 2025.Rev. Thomas H. Skinner, D. D., senior professor in the Union Theological Seminary....
^Handy, Robert T. (1987).A History of Union Theological Seminary in New York. Columbia University Press. p. 19. RetrievedAugust 12, 2025....Henry White, the first full-time professor and also (until 1840) a member of the board.
^Handy, Robert T. (1987).A History of Union Theological Seminary in New York. Columbia University Press. p. 22. RetrievedAugust 12, 2025....death came to Union's first professor in late August of 1850 when Henry White was in his 50th year.
^Handy, Robert T. (1987).A History of Union Theological Seminary in New York. Columbia University Press. p. 11. RetrievedAugust 12, 2025....early in 1837, when the board was successful in attracting... Edward Robinson, as the professor of biblical literature.
^Handy, Robert T. (1987).A History of Union Theological Seminary in New York. Columbia University Press. p. 21. RetrievedAugust 12, 2025....a third regular faculty member [other than White and Robinson] was much needed, and... Thomas H. Skinner [came] to Union in 1848 as professor....
^Handy, Robert T. (1987).A History of Union Theological Seminary in New York. Columbia University Press. p. 21. RetrievedAugust 12, 2025.In 1850 the directors decided to increase the faculty to four by adding... Henry Boynton Smith....
^"Social News".The Springfield Daily Republican. May 29, 1917. p. 4. RetrievedAugust 12, 2025....Rev Arthur C. McGiffert, acting president of Union theological seminary.
^Stone, Ronald H. (2012).Politics and Faith: Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich at Union Seminary in New York. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press. pp. 55–56.ISBN978-0-88146-385-9.
^Bonhoeffer, Dietrich (2008).Barcelona, Berlin, New York: 1928-1931 (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Vol. 10) (1st English-language ed.). Minneapolis: Fortress Press. pp. 265–266.ISBN978-1-4514-7965-2.OCLC33206791.
^Beverly Roberts Gaventa,When in Romans: An Invitation to Linger with the Gospel According to Paul, Grand Rapids: Baker Press.Description. Forthcoming, November 15, 2016.
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