Earlham School of Religion (ESR), a graduate division of Earlham College

Earlham College

Earlham College is a liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana. It was founded in 1847 by Quakers and has approximately 1,200 students.The president is John David Dawson...

, located in Richmond, Indiana

Richmond, Indiana

Richmond is a city largely within Wayne Township, Wayne County, in east central Indiana, United States, which borders Ohio. The city also includes the Richmond Municipal Airport, which is in Boston Township and separated from the rest of the city...

, is the oldest graduate seminary associated with the Religious Society of Friends

Religious Society of Friends

The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...

 (Quakers). ESR was founded in 1960 by Wilmer Cooper, D. Elton Trueblood

D. Elton Trueblood

David Elton Trueblood , who was usually known as "Elton Trueblood" or "D. Elton Trueblood", was a noted 20th century American Quaker author and theologian, former chaplain both to Harvard and Stanford universities....

 and others for the training of Quaker ministers. Today Earlham School of Religion grants both the Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Religious Studies degrees with five areas of emphasis: Pastoral Ministry, Christian Spirituality, Peace and Justice Studies, Ministry Among Unprogrammed Friends, Ministry of Writing, and Pastoral Care and Counseling. Earlham School of Religion is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada

Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada

The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada is an organization of seminaries and other graduate schools of theology. ATS has its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has more than 250 member institutions...

.

In addition to its regular on-campus program, ESR also operates an ATS accredited, degree granting distance education program called ESR ACCESS.

The institution hosts a number of annual conferences and events including the "Spirituality Day," "Pastor's Conference," and a "Ministry of Writing Colloquium."

In 1994, Bethany Theological Seminary

Bethany Theological Seminary

Bethany Theological Seminary is the graduate school and academy for theological education for the Church of the Brethren. Bethany, located in Richmond, Indiana, is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada and the Higher Learning Commission of the North...

, affiliated with the Church of the Brethren

Church of the Brethren

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination originating from the Schwarzenau Brethren organized in 1708 by eight persons led by Alexander Mack, in Schwarzenau, Bad Berleburg, Germany. The Brethren movement began as a melding of Radical Pietist and Anabaptist ideas during the...

, relocated to Richmond, Indiana, from Oak Brook, Illinois

Oak Brook, Illinois

Oak Brook is a village in DuPage and Cook Counties, in Illinois. The population was 8,702 at the 2000 census. A suburb of Chicago, it is the headquarters of McDonald's and Lions Clubs International.-History:...

, and entered into a partnership with Earlham School of Religion. The schools remain independent but coordinate curriculum through a jointly operated Academic Services office, and they operate a combined computer network through Seminary Computing Services.

Deans

The Earlham School of Religion has had five deans.

• Wilmer Cooper
• Thomas Mullen
• Alan Kolp
• Andy Grannell
• Jay Wade Marshall