Union Presbyterian Seminary

Since our founding in 1812, we have upheld our founders’ intention to provide scholarly, pastoral, and contemporary education for Christian ministry. Union-PSCE changed its name to Union Presbyterian Seminary in July 2010 to reflect a new vision for its future and to represent the new creation in which God is calling this historic seminary to participate.

Pastors of Christian congregations, Christian education directors, chaplains, international mission workers, social workers, camp directors, and professors of Bible, theology, or religious studies at colleges, universities, and seminaries are among our graduates.

Union Presbyterian Seminary, one of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.’s) ten theological schools, was founded in 1812 as a theological adjunct of Hampden-Sydney College in central Virginia. We have served the church by educating pastors and teachers, missionaries, and scholars for service to Christ and the world since our inception. The word “Union” in our name refers to the collaboration of the synods of Virginia and North Carolina in the field of theological education.

We have been in Richmond, Virginia since 1898. Union Theological Seminary merged with the Presbyterian School of Christian Education in 1997 to form Union-PSCE. The Presbyterian School of Christian Education was founded in 1914 as the Assembly’s Lay Workers Training School. In 1959, it was renamed the Presbyterian School of Christian Education. Union-PSCE was renamed Union Presbyterian Seminary in July 2010 to reflect a collective vision for the future and to represent the new creation that God is forming out of this historic seminary.

Union Presbyterian Seminary began classes at Queens University’s new seminary extension in 2002, at the invitation of four presbyteries in North Carolina and one in South Carolina. Classes were relocated to a state-of-the-art facility on the campus of Sharon Presbyterian Church in 2012. Our Charlotte campus offers students a one-of-a-kind learning experience that arose from the vision of faith communities in North and South Carolina. These Presbyterian leaders, both clergy and lay, saw the need for a local seminary to educate future pastors and educators in the church. Their vision was to allow non-traditional students who felt called to ministry to pursue theological education without having to relocate to a traditional residential seminary.

Our Charlotte program became a reality very quickly. The Genesis cohort of 22 students began classes in February 2002. In the fall of 2002, and each subsequent fall, an additional cohort was admitted. In 2005, full accreditation was obtained. In addition, a regional presence was established, with students representing 13 presbyteries and seven states.