United Lutheran Seminary in Pennsylvania names first president

Theresa F. Latini has been named the first president of United Lutheran Seminary, with campuses at Gettysburg and Philadelphia.

She begins her tenure July 1, the inauguration of United Lutheran Sem­inary, a consolidation of two seminaries, both affiliated with the 3.8-million-member Evangelical Lu­the­ran Church in America. ULS’s pre­decessor institutions date back to 1826, making it the ELCA’s oldest seminary.

Currently, Latini is an associate dean and professor of practical theology and pastoral care at Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan. She previously taught at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. She has worked in conflict mediation with churches throughout the United States.

“This bold and innovative union of two historic Lutheran institutions will enable us to educate and empower public Christian leaders for confessionally rooted, ecumenically connected, and interculturally competent ministry,” Latini said in a statement.

She is an ordained minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which is in full communion with the ELCA, sharing a commitment to interchange of clergy and an official recognition of agreement in essential doctrines and sacramental understanding.

The search for a seminary president was launched last fall following the retirement of Gettysburg Seminary president Michael Cooper-White and the conclusion of the term of David Lose, who was president of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. —United Lutheran Seminary