Turner Theological Seminary
 |
|
| Type | Private, historically black, theological |
|---|---|
| Established | 1958 |
| Affiliation | multiple |
| President | Dr. Edward L. Wheeler |
|
Academic staff
|
16 |
| Students | 265 |
| Location |
Atlanta, Georgia, United States |
| Website | www.itc.edu |
The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC) is a consortium of five predominantly African-American denominational Christian seminaries located in Atlanta, Georgia, operating together as a professional graduate school of theology. It is the largest free-standing African American theological school in the United States and has been described as "one of the more successful ventures in black ecumenism" and "a major center of progressive, African American theological thought."
Its constituent seminaries are the Morehouse School of Religion (associated with a number of Baptist groups, including American Baptist Churches USA, National Baptist Convention, USA, and Progressive National Baptist Convention); Gammon Theological Seminary (United Methodist Church); Turner Theological Seminary (African Methodist Episcopal Church); Phillips School of Theology (Christian Methodist Episcopal Church); and Charles H. Mason Theological Seminary (Church of God in Christ). All have the mission to educate Christian leaders for ministry and service. Students who are not affiliated with one of the five denominations represented by these seminaries are enrolled in the ITC's Harry V. and Selma T. Richardson Ecumenical Fellowship program.
The idea of a single collaborative institution for the training and development of African American Christian ministers began to form in the early 1940s, after Benjamin Mays became president of Morehouse College and when Gammon Theological Seminary and Morehouse College began a cooperative exchange program. Morehouse College was interested in phasing out its Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.) degree program, while increasing its liberal arts focus. Mays expected that the individual theological schools for African Americans would be unable to obtain the resources to develop and maintain first-rate facilities and programs, but could be successful by working together. Discussions about cooperation between Gammon, Morehouse, and Morris Brown College (representing Turner Theological Seminary) began in the early 1940s. In the 1950s, the concept of a new collaborative seminary in Atlanta gained support from foundations and the American Association of Theological Schools (AATS). The Phillips School of Theology, then located at Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, later joined the discussions.
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