Unification Theological Seminary
Encyclopedia
The Unification Theological Seminary (UTS), is the main seminary
of the international Unification Church
. It is located in Barrytown, New York
and with an Extension Center in midtown Manhattan
. Its purpose has been described as training leaders and theologians within the Unification Church. The seminary's first classes were offered in September 1975. It has had four presidents: David S.C. Kim (1975 to 1994), Theodore Shimmyo (1994 to 2000), Tyler Hendricks (2000 to 2010), and Richard Panzer (2010 to present) .
The seminary offers a three-year Master of Divinity
program, a two-year Master of Religious Education
program and a Doctor of Ministry
program. The Unification Theological Seminary is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education as a professional graduate school of religious education and ministry.
While most, if not all, of the UTS's students have been Unification Church members, the majority of the Seminary's professors have not, and have included a rabbi
, a Methodist minister, a Presbyterian, and a Roman Catholic priest. In 2003, the seminary had about 120 students from around the world; with most coming from South Korea
and Japan
, which have large numbers of Unification Church members. Most students follow the two-year curriculum which includes biblical studies, church history, philosophy, theology, and religious education. Many UTS graduates have been accepted into doctoral programs at institutions such as Harvard and Yale
.
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
of the international Unification Church
Unification Church
The Unification Church is a new religious movement founded by Korean religious leader Sun Myung Moon. In 1954, the Unification Church was formally and legally established in Seoul, South Korea, as The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity . In 1994, Moon gave the church...
. It is located in Barrytown, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and with an Extension Center in midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...
. Its purpose has been described as training leaders and theologians within the Unification Church. The seminary's first classes were offered in September 1975. It has had four presidents: David S.C. Kim (1975 to 1994), Theodore Shimmyo (1994 to 2000), Tyler Hendricks (2000 to 2010), and Richard Panzer (2010 to present) .
The seminary offers a three-year Master of Divinity
Master of Divinity
In the academic study of theology, the Master of Divinity is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America...
program, a two-year Master of Religious Education
Master of Religious Education
The Master of Religious Education is a terminal academic degree in preparation for professional teaching ministry, usually offered by Christian institutions. The curriculum includes two years of theological study and sometimes a thesis....
program and a Doctor of Ministry
Doctor of Ministry
The Doctor of Ministry degree is, according to The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada , a doctoral level degree oriented toward ministerial leadership often in an area of applied theology, such as missions, evangelism, church leadership, pastoral psychology or the...
program. The Unification Theological Seminary is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education as a professional graduate school of religious education and ministry.
While most, if not all, of the UTS's students have been Unification Church members, the majority of the Seminary's professors have not, and have included a rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
, a Methodist minister, a Presbyterian, and a Roman Catholic priest. In 2003, the seminary had about 120 students from around the world; with most coming from South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, which have large numbers of Unification Church members. Most students follow the two-year curriculum which includes biblical studies, church history, philosophy, theology, and religious education. Many UTS graduates have been accepted into doctoral programs at institutions such as Harvard and Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
.
Alumni
- Daniel Fefferman - Executive director of the International Coalition for Religious Freedom.
- Tyler Hendricks - President of U.S. Unification Church (1991-2000), president of Unification Theological Seminary (2000-2010).
- Michael Jenkins - President of U.S. Unification Church (2000-2009).
- Lee ShapiroLee ShapiroLee Shapiro was an American documentary filmmaker. His one feature-length film, Nicaragua Was Our Home, was released in 1986. It was filmed in Nicaragua among the Miskito Indians who were then fighting against Nicaraguan government forces...
- Documentary film maker, died in the Soviet war in AfghanistanSoviet war in AfghanistanThe Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
. - Jonathan Wells (1978) - Author and proponent of Intelligent designIntelligent designIntelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
. - Andrew WilsonAndrew Wilson (theologian)Andrew Wilson , full name Andrew Murray Wilson, is a Professor of Scriptural Studies and the Academic Dean of the Unification Theological Seminary , the main seminary of the international Unification Church....
- Academic dean of UTS; editor of World scripture: A comparative anthology of sacred texts.
See also
- Unification Church of the United StatesUnification Church of the United StatesThe Unification Church of the United States is a new religious movement in the United States of America. It began in the 1950s and 1960s when missionaries from Japan and South Korea were sent to the United States by the international Unification Church's founder and leader Sun Myung Moon...
- Union Theological SeminaryUnion Theological Seminary in the City of New YorkUnion Theological Seminary in the City of New York is a preeminent independent graduate school of theology, located in Manhattan between Claremont Avenue and Broadway, 120th to 122nd Streets. The seminary was founded in 1836 under the Presbyterian Church, and is affiliated with nearby Columbia...
, associated with Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, which shares the acronym "UTSUTS-Computing and Science:* Tensile strength, also known as Ultimate Tensile Strength, the stress at which a material breaks* Time-sharing, known as Unix Time-sharing System when abbreviated in the source code of many Unix-like operating systems...
".