Missio Seminary is an

interdenominational Interdenominationalism is an evangelical Protestant movement of cooperation among various Christian denominations. History The movement has its origins in the founding of the London Missionary Society, a missionary society, in 1795 by various ...

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

Christian

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

. The seminary was previously known as Biblical Theological Seminary but changed to its current name in 2018. It is located on the site of Franklin Music Hall, formerly the Electric Factory.

History

Missio Seminary was founded in 1971 as the Biblical School of Theology by Jack W. Murray, president of Bible Evangelism, Inc., and founder of the now-closed Clearwater Christian College, and Allan A. MacRae, a former president of Faith Theological Seminary, who served as the seminary's first president. The former E.B. Laudenslager public school in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, was renovated to house the new school. In 1978 the name was changed to Biblical Theological Seminary. Frank A. James III was inaugurated as Biblical's fourth president in 2013. James previously served as provost of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and president of

Reformed Theological Seminary Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS) is a theological seminary in the Reformed theological tradition with campuses in multiple locations in the United States. Founded by conservatives in the Southern Presbyterian Church, the Presbyterian Church in ...

Academics

The seminary received regional

accreditation Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

from the

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Middle States Association or MSA) was a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association that performed peer evaluation and regional accreditation of public and private schools in the Mid-Atl ...

in 1990 and from the

Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) is an organization of seminaries and other graduate schools of theology. ATS has its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. History It was founded in 1918. The assoc ...

in 1996. The seminary offers the

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(MA),

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and di ...

(M.Div.),

Master of Theology Master of Theology ( la, Theologiae Magister, abbreviated MTh, ThM, or MTheol) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a PhD program or as a sta ...

(Th.M.), and

Doctor of Ministry The Doctor of Ministry (abbreviated DMin or D.Min.) is a professional doctorate, often including a research component, that may be earned by a minister of religion while concurrently engaged in some form of ministry. It is categorized as an advance ...

(D.Min.) degrees. Certificate programs are also offered, as well as online courses. In addition to the school's regular full-time and part-time faculty, various prominent scholars have served as visiting professors or adjunct faculty, including

Scot McKnight Scot McKnight (born November 9, 1953) is an American New Testament scholar, historian of early Christianity, theologian, and author who has written widely on the historical Jesus, early Christianity and Christian living. He is currently Profes ...

, D. A. Carson, Timothy Keller, and

Peter Enns Peter Eric Enns (born January 2, 1961) is an American Biblical scholar and theologian. He has written widely on hermeneutics, Christianity and science, historicity of the Bible, and Old Testament interpretation. Outside of his academic work En ...

Notable alumni

Paul C. H. Lim Paul Chang-Ha Lim (; born April 29, 1967) an American ecclesiastical historian __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed sinc ...

, Professor of

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

References

External links

* {{Coord, 40.2816, -75.3038, region:US-PA_type:edu, display=title Seminaries and theological colleges in Pennsylvania Educational institutions established in 1971 Interdenominational seminaries and theological colleges Missional Christianity Universities and colleges in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania