Unification Theological Seminary

HJ International Graduate School for Peace and Public Leadership formerly known as Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) from its founding in 1975 until July 2023^[1][2] is a private Unification Church-affiliated graduate seminary headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York. The seminary was granted an absolute charter from the State of New York in January 1984 and received accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education in November 1996.^[3][4][5]

HJ International Graduate School for Peace and Public Leadership

Former names	Unification Theological Seminary (1975-2023)
Type	Private seminary
Established	1975
Religious affiliation	Unification Church
President	Thomas G. Walsh
Location	New York City , New York , United States
Website	uts.edu

UTS also had a larger, 250-acre campus located in Dutchess County, New York from September 1975, until it was sold in January 2024 to nearby Bard College.^[6] Since then, all instruction is now conducted through the seminary’s New York City headquarters.

Students and alumni

While the majority of UTS students have been Unification Church members, there are also students from other faiths. Historically, the UTS faculty has included academics representing the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian faiths, as well as Unificationist faculty with degrees from Harvard University, Columbia University, Graduate Theological Union, The New School, Vanderbilt University, and Drew University, among others. The seminary has over 125 students enrolled in its three Master degrees and in its Doctor of Ministry (DMin) program. Most Unification Church leaders in the United States hold UTS degrees. UTS graduates have also played major leadership roles in many of the Unification Church-related organizations in the United States, as well as Unification-inspired civil society and corporate entities including the Universal Peace Federation, the Family Federation for World Peace, World Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP), the American Clergy Leadership Conference, World & I Magazine, Paragon Publishers, the Professors World Peace Academy, Unification Theological Seminary, and the Women’s Federation for World Peace. As of 2022, there are over 1,550 UTS graduates.

Research and publication

Since its inception, the Unification Theological Seminary has served as the principal venue to provide formal, academic religious and theological training for its Church leaders. It has offered courses in New Testament, Old Testament, the Pauline Epistles, Patristics, Hermeneutics, Church History, Apologetics as well as Islam, East Asian Religion, Religious Education, Peace Studies, as well as in the Unification Church’s own canon of Divine Principle, Unification Thought, the Teachings and Writings of Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han Moon and their applications, and other related sources.

The seminary has played an important role in Unification apologetics, academic research related to the movement’s historical development, and in the articulation of the Unificationist perspective. Young Oon Kim, the Unification Church’s first theologian and the first Korean missionary to the United States, taught at Unification Theological Seminary from its founding in 1975 until just prior to her death in 1989. Kim authored several seminal church academic texts including Unification Principle and its Applications (1980) and Unification Theology (1980), Unification Thought and Christian Theology (date), and Systematic Theology. David S.C. Kim, an early missionary, who served as President of the Unification Theological Seminary from 1975-1994 edited the authoritative three-volume Day of Hope in Review texts, comprehensive collections of the press coverage of the early years of Moon's speaking tours in the United States. Andrew Wilson, a Harvard-trained Old Testament Scholar, oversaw the selection of texts and the editing of World Scriptures (1991) and also served as co-author together with Joong Hyun Pak of True Family Values. Wilson is currently working with Hee Hun Standard in the translation, editing, preparation for publication of 원리 원본 (Wolli Wonbon), the original draft of Unification teachings personally drafted by Sun Myung Moon. Michael Mickler’s History of the Unification Church in America (1993) and his 40 Years in America: An Intimate History of the Unification Movement 1959-1999 (2000) are authoritative texts on the Unification Movement, documenting both its achievements and challenges. Over the past five decades, numerous volumes on Theology, Church History, Religious Education, Inter-Religious Dialogue, Peace Studies, Evolution, Threats to Ecosystems, and on the Philosophy of Science have been published by UTS faculty and alums, including Jonathan Wells, Thomas Walsh, Karen Smith, Keisuke Noda, Frank Kaufmann, Frederick Swarts, and Kathy Winings, who currently serves as National President of the Religious Education Association. The seminary also sponsors The Journal of Unification Studies, an academic journal.

Academics

The seminary offers four distinct degree programs:

Program	Duration of the Course	Notes
Master of Religious Education, MRE	2-year Program	Welcomed the first class of 56 students in 1975
Master of Divinity, M.Div.	3-year Program	Added in 1980
Master of Arts in Religious Studies, MA	2-year Program	Added in 2011
Doctor of Ministry, D.Min.	3-year Program beyond Master level	Inaugurated in 2006

Presidents

No.	Name	Years of Service
1	David S.C. Kim, (1915–2011)	1975–1994^[7]
2	Theodore Shimmyo	1994–2000
3	Tyler Hendricks, 1948–	2000–2010^[8]
4	Richard A. Panzer	2010–2015^[9]
5	Hugh Spurgin	2015–2019
6	Thomas J. Ward	2019–2022^[10]
7	Thomas G. Walsh	2022–present^[11]

Notable alumni

• Daniel Fefferman, executive director of the International Coalition for Religious Freedom.
• Michael Jenkins, president of U.S. Unification Church (2000–2009)^[12]
• Lee Shapiro, documentarian killed while filming in Afghanistan during the Soviet–Afghan War.
• Jonathan Wells (1978), biologist, author and proponent of Intelligent design.
• Andrew Wilson, academic dean of UTS; editor of World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts
• Mike Yakawich, member of the Montana House of Representatives^[13]

See also

• Unification Church of the United States

References

1. Webmaster (PandaSites), U. T. S. "Name change FAQ". HJ International. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
2. "HJ International Graduate School for Peace and Public Leadership". Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
3. "List of Accredited Institutions by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education" MSA CHE. accessed March 16, 2016
4. "College and University Campuses in New York State Directory:OHE:NYSED". eservices.nysed.gov. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
5. "History". Unification Theological Seminary. Archived from the original on 2022-12-08. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
6. Todd (2024-01-22). "Rev. Moon's Unification Seminary sells for $14 million". Mid Hudson News. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
7. Tribute to 1st UTS President, Dr. David S.C. Kim, 1915-2011 2012-02-08 at the Wayback Machine UTS Website. Accessed February 13, 2012.
8. Thank you Tyler Hendricks (UTS’78) UTS Alumni Association Website. Accessed February 14, 2012
9. Unification Church News Website. Accessed February 14, 2012
10. Mickler, Michael. "UTS Welcomes Dr. Thomas Ward". Unification Theological Seminary. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
11. Walsh, Thomas. "UTS Inaugurates New President Dr. Thomas Walsh". Unification Theological Seminary. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
12. Rev. Michael Jenkins, New HSA President, TParents Website. Accessed February 14, 2012
13. Yakawich (UTS ’87), Mike. "Loving your Enemy - A Reflection". Unification Theological Seminary. Retrieved 2022-05-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

External links

• Official website