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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 (UCC). HistoryThe seminary was established in 1850 by German pastors in Marthasville, Missouri as Das Deutsche Evangelische Predigerseminar or, more locally, as the German Evangelical Seminary. 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 which, 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 only a mile away from the Eden Station of the Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific Railroad.[1] Ministerial candidates, usually from Elmhurst College, an Evangelical Synod of North America college near Chicago, would arrive at the Seminary by getting off at the Eden Station and, eventually, the Seminary would be colloquially referred to as the "Eden Seminary." 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. Presidents
Academics Eden Theological Seminary offers five degree programs:
All classes and programming are offered in blended format with students participating fully on campus and online.[4] CampusThe Samuel D. Press Education Center is the heart of the Eden Seminary campus. The tower was inspired by Oxford's Magdalen Tower. The Center contains faculty and staff offices, classrooms, institutional archives, the Luhr Reading Room, and the Wehrli Chapel. Duhan and Schultz Halls were among the original buildings of the campus and, with the Press Center and Luhr Building, surround the Wiese Quadrangle. Duhan Hall provides on-campus housing for students and visiting faculty. Schultz Hall houses the offices of Peace United Church of Christ and the Missouri Mid-South Conference of the UCC. Schroer Commons was the Seminary's refectory but continues to host events and dinners. The building was named after Rev. Dr. Hale Schroer was professor of preaching and worship, and Dean of Students and Dean of the Chapel at Eden Seminary. A group of apartment buildings - Goetsch Hall, North Hall, and South Hall - provide on-campus housing for students. The Seminary also provides housing for faculty members, including the seminary's president, near the campus. The Webster-Eden library systemIn 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. Notable faculty and alumniPastors and denominational leaders
Political and organizational leaders
Theologians and scholars
References
External links38°35′34″N 90°20′44″W / 38.5927°N 90.3455°W
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