The seminary offers professional and graduate degree programs for candidates for ministry, and to those pursuing careers in academia or non-theological fields. It was established to fill a need for theological education on the (then) western frontier of the Reformed Church in America. In its theological identity, Western Theological Seminary is evangelical, ecumenical and Reformed. Western Theological Seminary prepares students for ministry often involving ordination as well as for further graduate study, chaplaincy, missions, youth ministry, social service ministry, etc.
History
Albertus van Raalte founded Hope College in Holland Michigan; believing that parents had a primary responsibility to educate their children and not the state. [1] In 1866, seven students graduating from Hope College felt called to full-time Christian ministry following graduation. They wanted to pursue their theological training in West Michigan, so they made a petition to the General Synod of the Reformed Church to allow for theological training through the Hope College Religion Department. Permission was granted and Western Theological Seminary was established.[2] Initially, the theological department within Hope College was used for theological education; but in 1884 following the synods approval the department was separated from Hope College and Western Theological Seminary was established as its own institution.[3] In 2022, the seminary became independent, though retains a relation to the Reformed Church in America, the denomination that gave it life and sustenance for over 150 years.
Among its student awards, Western Theological Seminary awards annual prizes for Excellence in Writing and Excellence in Preaching, named after the theologian and writer Frederick Buechner. Additionally, former seminary President and Henry Bast Professor of Preaching, Timothy Brown, has also delivered guest lectures on the topic of Buechner, including at the Buechner Institute at King University in 2013.
