Accreditation
Columbia Theological Seminary is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) and the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SAC) to award the following degrees: Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Theological Studies, Master of Theology, Doctor of Educational Ministry, Doctor of Ministry, and the Doctor of Theology in Pastoral Counseling.
Statement of Mission
Columbia Theological Seminary is an educational institution of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and a community of theological inquiry and formation for ministry in the service of the Church of Jesus Christ.
Mission Emphases
At Columbia, people of faith seek to witness to God's creative power, redemptive action, transforming justice, and reconciling love, in a pluralistic society and interdependent world. We understand Christian faith to include worship of God, faithfulness to Jesus Christ, cultivation of the mind, disciplines of the Christian life, ministries of proclamation, nurture, compassion, and justice, expression of faith through the arts, and participation in the life of the Church.
Our special mission in the service of the Church, and especially the Presbyterian Church (USA), is to educate women and men for leadership in ordained and lay ministries; to offer first degree, graduate degree, and continuing education programs; and to provide theological resources for the denomination,
for the ecumenical church, and for persons with a variety of theological concerns.
Because we are an education institution, our calling is to prepare persons to lead congregations in worship, witness, mission, and service; to pursue learning that joins mind and heart; to develop personal and professional skills for leadership in the church; to learn from the worldwide Church, from education, the arts, politics, economics, and science, and from those outside the centers of power and influence; to consider critically from the perspective of the Christian faith, ideological, technical, and scientific assumptions - including our own - about the human situation.
Because we are a confessional community of the Church, we live under the authority of Jesus Christ as witnessed to in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, in the Church throughout the ages, and in the Reformed tradition and its confessions; affirm the worship of God as a vital and central feature of our life together and celebrate the goodness of God in all creation; believe in Christ's lordship over the whole world; articulate an evangelical understanding of life rooted in the rule of God's justice and love; listen with openness to voices of hopelessness and hope around and within us; acknowledge our own brokenness and need for redemption; commit ourselves to diversity and inclusivity, to ecumenicity, and to discerning the ongoing manifestations of God's presence in human affairs; nurture a personal and corporate faith which takes responsibility for our choices amid the political realities, the social institutions, and the global context in which we live.
In carrying out our mission, we seek to be faithful to the gospel, and to become a living expression
of the Body of Christ in the world.
Institutional Goals
Columbia Theological Seminary seeks:
- To participate with the church in the formation of students for pastoral vocations in the church and the world by providing preeminent theological education within the Reformed tradition;
- To educate men and women for leadership in ordained and lay ministries through its M.Div. and M.A.T.S. degree programs;
- To enhance the ministries of men and women who are currently engaged in ordained and other forms of leadership by educating them in its Th.M., D.Min., D.Ed.Min., and Th.D. programs;
- To provide theological resources for the denomination of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the ecumenical church, and persons with a variety of theological concerns through its lifelong learning programs;
- To provide a learning environment in which theological education and formation for ministry flourish;
- To provide a physical environment that contributes to an atmosphere for effective learning;
- To be a good steward of its resources in order to provide quality education both in the present and the future; and
- To foster and sustain Columbia's connection to the Presbyterian Church (USA), the ecumenical church, the greater Atlanta community, and beyond.
A Brief History of the Seminary
From the time of its founding in Lexington, Georgia, in 1828, Columbia has been committed to training persons for leadership in the church of Jesus Christ. Throughout its history, Columbia has nurtured, and has been nurtured by, the Presbyterian Church in the South; this connection continues to be a cherished tradition. While Columbia now enjoys an outstanding national and international reputation, it also faithfully upholds its historic covenants with the Synods of Living Waters and South Atlantic.
In 1830, Columbia, South Carolina, became the first permanent location of the seminary. The school became popularly known as Columbia Theological Seminary, and the name was formally accepted in 1925.
The decade of the 1920's saw a shift in population throughout the Southeast. Atlanta was becoming a commercial and industrial center and growing rapidly in its cultural and educational opportunities. Between 1925 and 1930, President Richard T. Gillespie provided leadership that led to the development of the present facilities on a fifty-seven-acre tract in Decatur, Georgia.
Because the early years in Decatur were difficult, the future of the institution became uncertain. Columbia, however, experienced substantial growth under the leadership of Dr. J. McDowell Richards, who was elected president in 1932 and led the seminary for almost four decades. Following Dr. Richards' retirement in 1971, Dr. C. Benton Kline served five years as Columbia's president. In January 1976, Dr. J. Davison Philips assumed the presidency; he retired eleven years later. Dr. Douglas W. Oldenburg became the seminary's seventh president in January 1987. In August 2000, Dr. Laura S. Mendenhall began her service as Columbia's eighth president.