“We were ahead of the curve in theological education in our understanding of the economic impact of real estate for religious-affiliated institutions by selling our property, eliminating debt, and combining with longtime facility partners — the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and the Catholic Theological Union,” said Crawford. Among his other accomplishments, Crawford fostered and expanded a diverse, cross-cultural organization that has long been a historic priority for the institution, and firmly established McCormick’s presence and created goodwill in the community through the Theological Certificate program at Chicago’s Cook County Jail, the Center for Reparatory Justice, Transformation, and Remediation, and his leadership on the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago.
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| Now the two seminaries, LSTC and McCormick, had to sell their property to pay off loans and waddle off to a Catholic center to rent space there. How the mighty are fallen! |
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| LSTC was being built and staffed while Christina and I were completing Augustana College in Rock Island, which sent the Augustana Seminary faculty to join the LSTC merger. The dominoes have been falling ever since. Absorbing six Lutheran seminaries and joining McCormick (Presbyterian Church-USA) ended with the dud-duo selling off their buildings to rent from the Catholics. Wiping tears of joy from my gimlet eyes, I wonder if my sainted intern supervisor would say, "What's NEXT!" |
Old Testament scholar and Princeton Professor Jacqueline Lapsley. In 2023, Lapsley became the first female president of Union Presbyterian Seminary of Richmond, Va. | Screengrab: YouTube/Union Presbyterian Seminary
Historic Presbyterian seminary elects first female president
A seminary in Virginia affiliated with the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States has elected the first female president in its 200-plus year history.
The Board of Trustees of Union Presbyterian Seminary of Richmond, a Presbyterian Church (USA) seminary that traces its origins back to 1812, voted last month to elect Princeton Theological Seminary Professor Jacqueline Lapsley as its new president. She will take office on July 1.
In an interview with The Christian Post, Lapsley said that while it "feels wonderful to be called" as the first female president of Union, she does not "spend a lot of time pondering those 'firsts.'"
