Nazarene Theological Seminary
Encyclopedia
Nazarene Theological Seminary (NTS) is a Christian
seminary
affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene
. It is located in Kansas City
, Missouri
, which was formerly also the location of the headquarters of the Church of the Nazarene. (Now the Church of the Nazarene Global Ministry Center is in Lenexa, Kansas.) The seminary was established by the Eleventh General Assembly in June 1944 and started its first school year in 1945 with 61 students. The first president was Dr. Hugh C. Benner. It moved to its current location in 1950.
The current president of Nazarene Theological Seminary is Dr. David Busic. The seminary offers Master's degree
s in Divinity
, Christian Education
, Intercultural Studies, and Theological Studies
as well as a Doctor
of Ministry degree
and various other non-degree programs.
, founded in 1908, has since its beginning stressed the importance of education. It started and developed a number of denominational colleges to meet the demand of its constituents for college training, and for some time it relied on the religion departments of its colleges as the principal means for training students preparing for ministry. However, during the quadrennium of 1940-44, sentiment favoring the establishment of a central theological school grew rapidly and finally crystallized in an action of the Annual Conference of the District Superintendents held in Kansas City, January 5–6, 1944. The conference recommended that the Board of General Superintendents appoint a Seminary Commission to study the need for such an institution. On January 10, 1944, the Board of General Superintendents appointed the commission: Russell V. DeLong, chairman, M. Lunn, secretary; E.O. Chalfant; M. Kimber Moulton, and Harlan Heinmiller.
The commission reported its findings to the Eleventh General Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene held in Minneapolis in June 1944. This assembly authorized the establishment of the Seminary as a graduation institution of the Church of the Nazarene. The first Seminary Board of Trustees was then elected and the name Nazarene Theological Seminary was chosen. The Board of Trustees unanimously selected Kansas City as the Seminary's location.
At a special meeting in Kansas City, September 1944, the Board of Trustees unanimously elected Hugh C. Benner
as the Seminary's first president.
Meeting in January 1945, the Board of Trustees elected the following full-time faculty: Russell V. DeLong, district superintendent of the Northwest Indiana District, as Dean and Professor of Philosophy of Religion; Ralph Earl, Eastern Nazarene College professor, as Professor of Greek and Bible; L. A. Reed, pastor of Chicago First Church of the Nazarene, as Professor of Preaching and Pastoral Ministry; Mendell Taylor, Bethany Nazarene College professor, as Registrar and Professor of Church History; and Stephen S. White, Olivet Nazarene College professor, as Professor of Theology.
The Seminary started its first school year in September 1945 in temporary quarters with 61 enrolled. The Nazarene Publishing House
generously provided space for administrative offices and a classroom on the first floor of the General Editorial Building, 2901 Troost; and the management of the denominational headquarters building extended a similar courtesy in providing the Seminary with its main classroom and chapel. The library was house in the renovated coach house of the Headquarters property.
In January 1950, a 10+1/2 acre site was purchased at 1700 East Meyer Boulevard, Kansas City. An administration and classroom building was erected on this campus in 1954. A library building was added in 1966.
A history of the first fifty years of the Seminary is contained in the book More Preachers Better Preachers by Dr. Harold E. Raser in 1995.
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene
Church of the Nazarene
The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of 2010, the Church of the...
. It is located in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, which was formerly also the location of the headquarters of the Church of the Nazarene. (Now the Church of the Nazarene Global Ministry Center is in Lenexa, Kansas.) The seminary was established by the Eleventh General Assembly in June 1944 and started its first school year in 1945 with 61 students. The first president was Dr. Hugh C. Benner. It moved to its current location in 1950.
The current president of Nazarene Theological Seminary is Dr. David Busic. The seminary offers Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
s in Divinity
Divinity
Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems — and even by different individuals within a given faith — to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power or deity, or its attributes or manifestations in...
, Christian Education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, Intercultural Studies, and Theological Studies
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
as well as a Doctor
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
of Ministry degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
and various other non-degree programs.
History
The Church of the NazareneChurch of the Nazarene
The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of 2010, the Church of the...
, founded in 1908, has since its beginning stressed the importance of education. It started and developed a number of denominational colleges to meet the demand of its constituents for college training, and for some time it relied on the religion departments of its colleges as the principal means for training students preparing for ministry. However, during the quadrennium of 1940-44, sentiment favoring the establishment of a central theological school grew rapidly and finally crystallized in an action of the Annual Conference of the District Superintendents held in Kansas City, January 5–6, 1944. The conference recommended that the Board of General Superintendents appoint a Seminary Commission to study the need for such an institution. On January 10, 1944, the Board of General Superintendents appointed the commission: Russell V. DeLong, chairman, M. Lunn, secretary; E.O. Chalfant; M. Kimber Moulton, and Harlan Heinmiller.
The commission reported its findings to the Eleventh General Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene held in Minneapolis in June 1944. This assembly authorized the establishment of the Seminary as a graduation institution of the Church of the Nazarene. The first Seminary Board of Trustees was then elected and the name Nazarene Theological Seminary was chosen. The Board of Trustees unanimously selected Kansas City as the Seminary's location.
At a special meeting in Kansas City, September 1944, the Board of Trustees unanimously elected Hugh C. Benner
Hugh Benner
Hugh C. Benner was a minister and general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene. He started the history department at the Eastern Nazarene College in 1921, and Benner Hall and Benner Library on the campus of Olivet Nazarene University are named after him. Dr...
as the Seminary's first president.
Meeting in January 1945, the Board of Trustees elected the following full-time faculty: Russell V. DeLong, district superintendent of the Northwest Indiana District, as Dean and Professor of Philosophy of Religion; Ralph Earl, Eastern Nazarene College professor, as Professor of Greek and Bible; L. A. Reed, pastor of Chicago First Church of the Nazarene, as Professor of Preaching and Pastoral Ministry; Mendell Taylor, Bethany Nazarene College professor, as Registrar and Professor of Church History; and Stephen S. White, Olivet Nazarene College professor, as Professor of Theology.
The Seminary started its first school year in September 1945 in temporary quarters with 61 enrolled. The Nazarene Publishing House
Nazarene Publishing House
Nazarene Publishing House , the publishing arm of the Church of the Nazarene, is the largest publisher of Wesleyan-Holiness literature in the world. and has been located at 2923 Troost Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri since its foundation in 1912...
generously provided space for administrative offices and a classroom on the first floor of the General Editorial Building, 2901 Troost; and the management of the denominational headquarters building extended a similar courtesy in providing the Seminary with its main classroom and chapel. The library was house in the renovated coach house of the Headquarters property.
In January 1950, a 10+1/2 acre site was purchased at 1700 East Meyer Boulevard, Kansas City. An administration and classroom building was erected on this campus in 1954. A library building was added in 1966.
A history of the first fifty years of the Seminary is contained in the book More Preachers Better Preachers by Dr. Harold E. Raser in 1995.
Presidents (1945-present)
- Hugh C. BennerHugh BennerHugh C. Benner was a minister and general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene. He started the history department at the Eastern Nazarene College in 1921, and Benner Hall and Benner Library on the campus of Olivet Nazarene University are named after him. Dr...
, 1945–1952 - L.T. Corlett, 1952–1966
- Eugene StoweEugene StoweEugene L. Stowe is a minister and emeritus general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene.Stowe wrote The Ministry of Shepherding: A Study of Pastoral Practice which was published in 1976.-References:...
, 1966–1968 - William M. GreathouseWilliam GreathouseWilliam Marvin Greathouse was a minister and emeritus general superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene. He was born in Van Buren, Arkansas....
, 1968–1976 - Stephen W. NeaseStephen W. NeaseStephen Wesley Nease was an educator and president of four different institutions of higher education. He was the father of two daughters, Linda Scott and Melissa Wallace; four sons, Floyd Nease , Stephen Nease, Jr., David Hardy Nease , and David Wayne...
, 1976–1980 - Terrell C. Sanders, Jr., 1981–1992
- A. Gordon Wetmore, 1992–2000
- Ron Benefiel, 2000–2011
- David Busic, 2011–present
See also
- Nazarene International Education AssociationNazarene International Education AssociationThe Nazarene International Education Association is a part of the Church of the Nazarene. The Church of the Nazarene owns and operates 11 liberal arts institutions in Africa, Canada, Korea, and the United States, as well as 3 graduate seminaries, 37 undergraduate Bible/theological colleges, 3...
- List of Church of the Nazarene schools