ELCA seminary and college to merge
The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) approved July 11 a merger between Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary (PLTS), Berkeley, California, and California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, California.
The merger is the result of conversations among university and seminary representatives who agreed that the two schools can best serve the ELCA’s work of theological education by moving toward a merger with the seminary becoming part of the university.
“We believe that our integrity is well protected in the agreements that we’ve sent to you,” the Rev. Phyllis B. Anderson, president of PLTS, told the council via teleconference.
In recent years representatives of the ELCA’s eight seminaries have been working with one another and other partners to organize educational and administrative work in ways that advance a wide-reaching and sustainable theological education network that meets the leadership needs of a “church in mission.” In this work, the ELCA’s 26 colleges and universities have emerged as important partners.
A merger of an ELCA seminary and an ELCA university occurred for the first time in 2011 between Lenoir-Rhyne University, Hickory, North Carolina, and Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, South Carolina.
Tags: California Lutheran University, CLU, ELCA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lenoir-Rhyne University, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Phyllis B. Anderson, PLTS, Rev. Phyllis B. Anderson, seminary
