Winds of Change for United Seminary

Several years ago, United Seminary in Dayton, Ohio fell under the influence of evangelical United Methodist leadership. Earlier, the school had been financially floundering. Revisionist professors abandoned the sinking ship, leaving orthodox theologians—usually a minority—at the helm. Soon, they righted the school, making it perhaps one of only a couple official United Methodist seminaries not dominated by theological liberalism. It has been called one of America’s fastest growing seminaries, no doubt due in part to its financial recovery.

As a result of these developments, United has become known as a hotbed for discussion on church renewal. The new school year starts in a few days.  Last year’s Fall semester began with a convocational address by Academic Dean David F. Watson. His noticeably kinder treatment of evangelical sentiments (a rare phenomenon in United Methodist seminaries) represents a significant academic shift for United. Although Watson remained quite critical of evangelicalism—indeed, Protestantism at large—his intellectual charity and theological focus speaks volumes. Citing Methodism’s “tenuous position” with discipleship and evangelism, he asserted, “‘Mainline’ Protestantism could more accurately be called ‘Thin Line’ Protestantism.” “I will accept that our current trajectory is a negative one, but I do not accept that we are powerless in this regard,” he confessed, “In fact, we have at our fingertips the greatest power that has ever been, the only one true power in the universe, the power of the Holy Spirit.”