| Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1969 |
| Type | Private |
| Religious affiliation | Evangelical |
| President | Dennis Hollinger |
| Students | 1,900 |
| Location | Main campus, South Hamilton, Massachusetts, USA |
| Campus | Multiple campus locations |
| Former names | Gordon College of Theology and Mission, Gordon Divinity School, Conwell School of Theology |
| Affiliations | BTI |
| Website | www.gcts.edu |
Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary (GCTS) is an evangelical theological seminary whose main campus is based in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, with three other campuses in Boston, Charlotte, North Carolina and Jacksonville. The current president of Gordon-Conwell is Dennis Hollinger.[1] According to the Association of Theological Schools, Gordon-Conwell ranks 5th in terms of total number of students for seminaries in North America.[2]
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The history of Gordon-Conwell goes back to the late 1800s.[3] In its current form, Gordon-Conwell arose from the re-refounding of two separate schools in 1969. This re-founding is the product of a merger between Gordon Divinity School, formerly of Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts, and the Conwell School of Theology, formerly of Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Both schools were founded in the Baptist theological heritage. Both Adoniram Judson Gordon and Russell Conwell were Baptist ministers; Gordon's divinity school was first established as Gordon Bible Institute in 1889,[4] while Conwell's theological school was originally chartered as Temple College in 1888.
In 1969, both Gordon Divinity School and Conwell School of Theology experienced a downturn. The reorganization of both schools into Gordon-Conwell was the result of the financial backing of J. Howard Pew and the unifying influence of evangelist Billy Graham. Boston pastor and theologian Harold Ockenga was selected as its first president.[5]
Ockenga had wanted a strong evangelical voice in New England to contend with more liberal schools like Harvard and Boston University. Other former presidents include Robert Cooley (1981–1997), Walter Kaiser, Jr. (1997–2006), and James Emery White (2006–2007), and Haddon Robinson (2007–2008).[6] Currently the Board of Trustees for Gordon-Conwell includes influential evangelicals such as Charles Colson and Billy Graham.[7]
The main 118-acre (0.48 km2) residential campus is in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. There are secondary campuses in Boston, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and in Jacksonville, Florida. The campus in Boston is known as the Center for Urban Ministerial Education (CUME), and it is a program offered exclusively through part-time night and weekend classes. The CUME campus also focuses primarily on urban and cross-cultural ministry in an urban setting.[8] The Charlotte program was founded in 1992, and it offers courses on weekends, evenings and through week-long intensive courses, and generally attracts an older student body.[9] The Jacksonville campus opened in February 2006 and was originally an extension of the Charlotte campus, though it now is the fourth campus for Gordon-Conwell.[10] The Jacksonville campus is located in downtown Jacksonville, Florida.[11]
Gordon Divinity School and Conwell Theological Seminary were both from the Baptist heritage. When Gordon-Conwell was refounded in 1969, however, the seminary was purposefully founded with no specific Christian denominational affiliation. Today, Gordon-Conwell has students from 90 different denominations, as well as students from around the world. Theologically, the Statement of Faith[12] and the Mission and Purpose[13] of the seminary are based on Protestant and evangelical doctrines, such as biblical inerrancy and penal substitution.
Gordon-Conwell is part of the Boston Theological Institute (BTI), a consortium of nine theological schools in the Greater Boston area.
Gordon-Conwell is overseen by the main administration at the Hamilton campus. Each of the other three campuses is overseen by a campus dean, who reports directly to the Provost and main campus administration.
There were 1,900 students enrolled at Gordon-Conwell in 2011.[14] The seminary offers over 19 degrees including the Master of Divinity (M.Div.), Master of Theology (Th.M.), Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.), and a wide range of specialized master's degrees.
Gordon-Conwell has been accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada since 1964[15] and by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges since 1985.[16] It is also certified by the United States Government for the training of veterans and the education of chaplains for military service.[17]