United Lutheran Seminary (ULS) is celebrating its bicentennial, or 200th anniversary, in 2026 with a series of celebratory events. The seminary serves as a school to prepare pastors, deacons, and other church workers for public ministry.

Both of the seminary’s campuses — in Mt. Airy and Gettysburg — are hosting activities throughout the year. However, the main events are concentrated around ULS’s convocations in May and September.

In May, most of the events occurred in Gettysburg, including a symposium on the history of the school, a major worship service, and an alumni gathering. This September, there will be similar celebrations in Mt. Airy.

History of ULS

ULS was officially formed in 2017, merging two historic Lutheran institutions into one: Gettysburg (founded in 1826) and Philadelphia (founded in 1864). According to Conor Brooks, chief of staff and vice president of institutional advancement at ULS, the seminary acknowledges that both campuses share a common history as locations of key battles in American history — the Battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War and the Battle of Germantown in the Revolutionary War.

“Both of our campuses have this remarkable history of struggle and war and violence, but also reconciliation and peace in theological education,” Brooks said. “It’s a cool background that informs a lot of the things that we do.”

As the oldest Lutheran seminary in the United States, ULS has a storied history. In 1835, students in Gettysburg sponsored Daniel Alexander Payne as the first African American to be enrolled in a Lutheran seminary. And in 1945, Bertha Paulssen came to Gettysburg as the first woman professor at a Lutheran seminary, introducing social sciences to the curriculum.

‘Reforming and Renewing’

The theme for ULS’s bicentennial year is “Reforming and Renewing.” For Brooks, this theme is about “recognizing all that’s come before us and using that to prepare us for what’s ahead.”

“We’re celebrating 200 years, but it’s not a story about our buildings or our campuses,” Brooks said. “It’s a story about preparing leaders for ministry and service for two centuries. We’re taking this as an opportunity to pause and reflect on what it means to have this tremendous history of rigorous scholarship and deep service and passion for the church, and how we turn that focus forward and prepare leaders for what the church will look like not just today and tomorrow, but 200 more years from now.”

Following the bicentennial celebrations on the Gettysburg campus in May, ULS has a slew of events planned in Mt. Airy for September. The majority of these events will take place on Sept. 15 to 17, including lectures, class reunions, convocations, and a celebratory gala.

According to Brooks, while many of the May events concerned the history of the two campuses and theological study, the focus in September will be more centered on the future. There will be presentations on topics such as the morality of AI and social media use.

Looking ahead

For the Rev. Dr. R. Guy Erwin, president of ULS, the bicentennial marks a unique moment to reflect on the changes that theological education is undergoing. One such change is the demographics of the classes. Whereas there used to be a lot of young people coming to the seminary straight from college, now it’s more common for people to join after having had a career in a different field. The average age of last fall’s entering class was 47.

Erwin also noted that the COVID-19 pandemic led to drastic changes. Classes at the seminary are now almost entirely online, and many fewer students live on campus. Erwin said there is nostalgia among alumni for the sense of community they had while living on campus, but this change is unlikely to reverse.

“The big challenge for the future is to figure out what kind of institution we need to be and how to use our resources in the best way possible to train the people who need to be trained for this work in the church,” Erwin said. “That means having to really think hard about our brick-and-mortar presence. What do we need to have on the ground in order to support all these people in the virtual community?”

Moving forward, Erwin said ULS is looking at alternative uses for some of the buildings on the Mt. Airy campus, since the seminary has “more buildings than we need.” One of the buildings is already used as office space by East Mt. Airy Neighbors (EMAN). This connection speaks to ULS’s relationship with the community.

“We rejoice in having a good relationship with the neighborhood as a whole, and we’ve been a part of it for a long time,” Erwin said.

Brooks agrees that Mt. Airy means a lot to the seminary, and he is hopeful that more neighbors look into ULS’s offerings.

“We are not an institution that happens to be placed in Mt. Airy — we’re a place that is synonymous with it in so many ways,” Brooks said. “In a lot of ways, we’ve been a best kept secret. We have lectures, we have music performances, we have all sorts of — not just Lutheran — worship and praise opportunities. … Oftentimes we find that once somebody has visited once because they happen to see a poster, or an article, or one of our ads on social media, suddenly they’re hooked and they come back again and again. We’re moving into this next century saying we don’t want to be the best kept secret anymore.”

To see a full schedule of bicentennial events at ULS, visit unitedlutheranseminary.edu.

Maggie Dougherty can be reached at Margaret@chestnuthilllocal.com.