Neha Patil (Editor)

Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
- elevation
  
568.1 ft (173.2 m)

Total enrollment
  
228 (2010)

Founded
  
1826

Undergraduate tuition and fees
  
13,050 USD (2011)

Phone
  
+1 717-334-6286

Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg

Address
  
61 Seminary Ridge, Gettysburg, PA 17325, USA

Similar
  
Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg College, Lutheran School of Theology, Lutheran Theological Southern, Luther Seminary

Profiles

The lutheran theological seminary at gettysburg pa


The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, also known as the Gettysburg Seminary, is located in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and is one of the eight seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It is one of the three seminaries in the Eastern Cluster of Lutheran Seminaries, and a member institution of the Washington Theological Consortium. Founded in 1826, it is the oldest continuing Lutheran seminary in the United States. the Gettysburg Seminary has served the church as a pioneer in theological education creating among Lutheran seminaries the first faculty position in Christian Education (1926), the first teacher in sociology and psychology (1942), and the first in stewardship (1989). Gettysburg continued to add to its trail breaking in the American scene by granting tenure to a female professor (Bertha Paulssen, 1945) and graduating (Elizabeth Platz in 1965) the first woman to be ordained by an American Lutheran church body (ordained in 1970). Gettysburg Seminary was the first Lutheran seminary to admit an African American seminarian, Daniel Alexander Payne, in 1835.

Contents

During the battle of Gettysburg, the seminary, on a ridge west of the town, became a focal point of action on the first day of battle, 1 July 1863. The seminary gave its name to 'Seminary Ridge,' where the line of battle of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was formed on 2 and 3 July 1863.

Gettysburg tour the shriver house confederate sharpshooters nest part 2


History

At the 1820 formation of the General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States, its newly adopted constitution specified that the Synod form plans for a seminary or seminaries. Samuel Simon Schmucker, ordained in 1820, actively lobbied for the establishment of a seminary and began theological training for students in New Market, Virginia, at his parsonage. After hearing Schmucker speak in 1824 about his efforts, the Maryland-Virginia Synod recommended to the General Synod in 1825 that a seminary be established.

The board of directors first met on March 2, 1826, in Hagerstown, Maryland, the first order of business being to select a site for the seminary. They rejected proposals from Carlisle, Pennsylvania (at Dickinson College) and Hagerstown and the "Gettysburg Theological Seminary" was established on August 1, 1826. Schmucker was elected the first professor and the seminary opened with 11 students on September 5, 1826, at the 1810 Gettysburg Academy building. In 1832 the seminary moved to its first building on the ridge west of the borough between Chambersburg Pike/Cashtown Road (now U.S. Route 30) to the north and Nichols Gap Road (now Fairfield Road/PA 116) to the south.

Role in the Battle of Gettysburg

The Seminary building served as a lookout on 1 July 1863, the first day of battle. From the cupola, Brig. Gen. John Buford, commanding First Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac, both observed the opening of the battle to the west of Seminary Ridge and witnessed the arrival of the I Corps under Maj. Gen. John Reynolds marching to his relief from the south. By the late afternoon, the Union lines on McPherson’s Ridge, west of the seminary, were forced back to Seminary Ridge by Confederate troops of Heth's and Pender's Divisions. Before the troops could dig in on Seminary Ridge, a further attack by Pender’s Division broke the line. The I Corps streamed across Seminary Hill and through the town of Gettysburg, covered by a delaying action on the grounds by the famed Iron Brigade. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia occupied the seminary grounds and held them until the Army's retreat on 4 July 1863.

There was no further infantry combat on the seminary grounds, but it continued to play a prominent role in the battle. The seminary building had begun to be used as a field hospital for soldiers of both armies during the first day, and this continued throughout the engagement and after the battle was over. Artillery was posted on the hill and participated in action against Union artillery on Culp's and Cemetery Hills on 2 and 3 July. Confederate soldiers ransacked the house of seminary President Schmucker, an outspoken abolitionist. Confederate troops also used the seminary building cupola as a lookout, although there is no hard evidence that General Robert E. Lee, whose headquarters were just across the Cashtown Road to the north of the seminary, ever entered the cupola.

Subsequent history

In 1868 seminary land was purchased for the Gettysburg Springs Railroad (now Springs Avenue) and the faculty expanded to a 4th professor (James W. Richard) in 1889. In 1895 during the battlefield commemorative era, the Gettysburg Park Commission telfordized the seminary's north-south avenue (resurfaced in 1927). In 1896, the seminary had 2 academic buildings, 4 professor dwellings, a hospital, and ~38 acres (15 ha). After preceding faculty chairmen beginning with Schmucker, the 1st seminary president was designated in 1906; and the park commission had placed 2 Confederate 3" rifles, 2 other Confederate guns, and 2 Union 12 pounders ("False Napoleon") along the avenue by 1912.

The cornerstone of the Church of the Abiding Presence was laid in 1940 (completed 1942). During the World War II labor shortage, the seminary assisted with the county's 1942 apple harvest before German POWs became available, and a seminary auxiliary was organized in 1953. Circa 1960 the seminary purchased the nearby Elsie Singmaster Lewars home and in 1961, the Adams County Historical Society moved from the courthouse basement to Old Dorm (added to the NRHP in 1974). The 2011 "Crossroads Campaign" planned $1.8 million of fundraising for chapel renovations.

References

Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg Wikipedia