Where We Have Been: ROOTED IN RICH TRADITION

Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, one of ten seminaries in the Presbyterian Church (USA), is distinguished by its nationally recognized field education and marriage and family therapy programs, the scholarship and church service among its faculty, and a commitment to training women and men to participate in the continuing ministry of Jesus Christ.

Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary has been building up the Body of Christ for more than 160 years in a tradition rooted in Scripture and the Reformed tradition, while developing innovative ways to respond to contemporary society’s needs.

The present Louisville Seminary represents an unprecedented result of cooperation among Presbyterians in the face of regional tensions and competition. Its heritage stems from two seminaries founded by two branches of the Presbyterian Church. In 1853, Danville Theological Seminary welcomed its first students in Danville,

Kentucky. Forty years later, in 1893, Southern Presbyterians in the Synods of Kentucky and Missouri founded a rival seminary in Louisville.

In 1901, under the leadership of Dr. Charles Hemphill, the seminaries in Danville and Louisville were united in spite of strong feelings of antipathy between the two spawned by the American Civil War. The cooperation in founding and then supporting Louisville Seminary was an outstanding example of a unified Presbyterian witness to the American people.

For 60 years, Louisville Seminary ministered to the Louisville community from its downtown home at First and Broadway. During the 1937 flood after most of the city was evacuated, some seminary faculty and administrators stayed behind to shelter refugees trapped by the flood waters. The institution housed nearly 500 servicemen during World War II, and seminary enrollment surged with veterans retiring from the military after the war.

Location

In April of 1963, spring hailed the rebirth of Louisville Seminary in a new location on Alta Vista Road adjacent to historic Cherokee Park.

Rebirth came for the Presbyterian Church as well when the northern and southern streams reunited in 1983 after 122 years of separation.

In the summer of 1987, the General Assembly voted to relocate the headquarters of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to Louisville. This gave Louisville Seminary students and faculty the opportunity to form closer relationships with denominational leaders, as well as with leaders of other communions.

Louisville, KY is a welcoming city focused on fostering compassion and unity among its citizens. It boasts a low cost of living, a thriving arts and music scene, world-class restaurants, minimal traffic, and beautiful parks. Louisville is a place where Midwest meets South, with big city opportunities but a small-town feel—where locals and transplants alike are committed to supporting small local businesses, keeping Louisville vibrant, and taking pride in being Loo-uh-vill-ians.

Visit liveinlou.com and keeplouisvilleweird.com for more information about the greater Louisville community.