Kay Ward Commissioned to Publish Seminary's 20th Century History 

On October 2nd 2007, Moravian Theological Seminary began its 200th anniversary celebration with a Service of Recomissioning that honored the students, faculty and staff of the Seminary’s first two hundred years and affirmed its mission into the future. The celebration continued on October 5th and 6th with a banquet and a walking tour of Nazareth and Bethlehem and concluded with a Lovefeast in Bahnson Center’s Saal.

The celebration was grand — a time for fellowship in recognition of the significance that MTS has had in the lives of its students, faculty and staff over two centuries. It was also a time to consider the changes that have occurred in the recent decades. It is out of that reflection that a dream was born.

The first century of the Seminary is well documented in Bishop Schwarze’s Moravian College Centennial Souvenir 1907. John R. Weinlick’s Moravian College and Theological Seminary presents some of the history of the Seminary in the early part of the 20th century, but we do not have a permanent record of the evolution and expansion of the Seminary as it now begins its third century.

Our dream of publishing such a work began within weeks of the 200th celebration as Jane Burcaw, Frank Crouch and I sat down to develop a tentative schedule for the required research and identified some of the key players over the last five or six decades. With some exceptions, the Seminary that had been established in 1807 as a theological school for young men preparing for Moravian parish ministry did not change significantly until the middle of the 20th century. These changes will certainly be the focus of our book, with a brief summary of the earlier material presented in Weinlick’s books and other resources.

Moravians are known for being intentional about their history. We have journals and diaries of the renewed Moravian Church that tell its story in rich and personal ways. The last half of the 20th century was not known as a period for compiling the lived experience of the Seminary, at least as far as we can tell from our initial research. Therefore, we will be spending time with the official documents that we do have and the stories culled from the memories of past deans, presidents and faculty members to write a history of Moravian Theological Seminary, 1907-2007.

Already in our interviews and research, we have identified some points of transition, such as the late 1960s, that seem to be turning points in the life of the Seminary. We look forward to many conversations with our alums as the work progresses.

I take it as a personal privilege to have been asked to undertake this project. At this point we do not have a target publication date, but we do want this to be a readable book with pictures from the last 100 years, enough data to record the past accurately, and lots of stories to make this a living historical document that people will want to read.

Stay tuned for progress reports here in Accents.

— Kay Ward ‘80