150th Anniversary

• 150th Planning Committee
• Anniversary Events
• A 150th Anniversary History Publication
• A New Hymn for the Church
• Stories that Brought Us to the Present
• Historical Review in Images

We have much to celebrate and this party includes you!

In 1853, twenty-three students and three professors gathered at Danville, Ky., to begin the community that has become Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. The school was established by the Northern Presbyterians as “a seminary of the first class” located in the West. Southern Presbyterians founded a rival seminary in Louisville, in 1893. Under the leadership of Dr. Charles Hemphill, the seminaries in Danville and Louisville were united in spite of strong feelings of antipathy between the two denominations, spawned by the War Between the States.

The present Seminary represents an unprecedented result of cooperation among Presbyterians in the face of regional tensions and competition. Since 1901, these branches of the Presbyterian Church combined to support Louisville Seminary, the longest and best example of a unified Presbyterian witness to the American people and a symbol of their cooperative and united effort.

Beginning in September 2002, Louisville Seminary will commence a year-long celebration of 150 years of service to the church and community with a number of special events. Planned with the community in mind, each event is offered in gratitude for the historical relationships that have sustained Louisville Seminary since its Danville, Ky., beginnings.

We hope you will join us during the anniversary year at many of these special events. Collectively they are a witness to the purpose of Louisville Seminary – a testimony to its mission of building up the body of Christ.