Eden Theological Seminary

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.

History
The seminary was established in 1850 by German pastors in Marthasville, Missouri. 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. This, after subsequent mergers, became a part of the UCC. In 1883, the Seminary moved to what would become Wellston, Missouri and built a campus there. 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.

Academics
Eden Theological Seminary offers four degree programs: Master of Divinity (M.Div.), Master of Arts in Professional Studies (M.A.P.S), Master of Theological Studies (M.T.S.), and Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.). Eden's campus offers on-campus housing and dormitories to its student body.

The Webster-Eden Library System
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. 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.

Pastors and denominational leaders

 * Seth Senyo Agidi (MTS and D.Min.): Moderator of the General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana.
 * John C. Dorhauer (M.Div. 1988): 9th General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ.

Theologians and scholars

 * Walter Brueggemann (B.D. 1958): Professor at Eden Theological Seminary from 1961–1986, and then the William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary from 1986–2003. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Eden in 1997.
 * Catherine Keller (M.Div. 1977): Professor of Constructive Theology at Drew University since 1986 and one of the leaders of Process theology.
 * Reinhold Niebuhr (1913): Professor at Union Theological Seminary, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964, and author of Moral Man and Immoral Society and The Nature and Destiny of Man.
 * H. Richard Niebuhr (1915): Professor at Eden Theological Seminary from 1919–1924 and 1927–1931, president of Elmhurst College from 1924–1927, and then professor of theology and ethics at Yale University from 1931–1962, and author of Christ and Culture.

Political and organizational leaders

 * Jeanette Mott Oxford (M.Div. 1989): The first openly lesbian member of the Missouri House of Representatives from 2004-2012.
 * Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson (M.Div.): President of the Children's Defense Fund.