Description

Columbia Theological Seminary was founded in 1828 in Lexington, Georgia, by several Presbyterian ministers. In 1830, the seminary was moved to Columbia, South Carolina (taking its name at that location), and in the late 1920s, to its current location in suburban Atlanta.

Students : 475 in six degree programs (see below). Faculty: 32. Alumni/ae 3,500 living.

Basic Degree Programs

• Master of Divinity - prepares students for ordained ministry (M.Div.).
• Master of Arts in Theological Studies - academic training in theology (M.A.T.S.).

Advanced Degree Programs

• Master of Theology - prepares students for Doctorate studies (Th.M., like the S.T.M.).
• Doctor of Ministry - advanced degree for ordained ministers (D.Min.).
• Doctor of Educational Ministry - advanced Christian Education training (D.Ed.Min).
• Doctor of Theology - offered for Pastoral Care and Counseling (Th.D).

Columbia's Center for Lifelong Learning offers non-degree programs and events for lay persons and clergy.

Important figures associated with the seminary

• James Henley Thornwell, (1812-1862) professor of theology post-1855; president of South Carolina College, leader in organizing the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States.
• Benjamin Morgan Palmer, graduate (1841); Professor of Church History and Polity (1854-1856), first Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States.
• Erskine Clarke, current Professor of American Religious History and acclaimed writer, winner of the Bancroft Prize in 2006..
• Alan Bancroft, graduate, future moderator of the PCUSA.
• Charles Colcock Jones, Sr., professor (1835-38, 1847-50), patriarch of the family chronicled in Children of Pride (1972) and Erskine Clarke's Dwelling Place (2005)
• Joseph R. Wilson, father of Woodrow Wilson, faculty member following the Civil War.
• Peter Marshall, graduate.
• D. James Kennedy, graduate.
• Shirley Guthrie, Emeritus Professor of Theology, student of Karl Barth.
• Walter Brueggemann, Old Testament Professor Emeritus, theologian and writer.
• Ian Punnett, graduate, radio talk show host.
• Ben Mathes, graduate, Missionary, founder of Rivers of the World.
• Barbara Brown Taylor, Adjunct Professor of Christian spirituality, and well-known Episcopal priest and writer.
• John H. Leith, graduate.

External links

• Columbia Theological Seminary web site