Combining Our Seminaries

As two historic seminaries (Lancaster Theological Seminary (LTS), 1824, and Moravian Theological Seminary (MTS), 1807) come together under the umbrella of Moravian University, students from the Moravian tradition of MTS, the Reformed/United Church of Christ tradition of LTS, and the ecumenical and interreligious traditions that each seminary has embraced now have access to the rich resources of both seminaries and the university.  

The seminaries will begin the 2024-2025 academic year with joint curricula and a shared faculty. As we grieve the loss of some retiring faculty at each school, we also eagerly anticipate the opportunity to fill those vacancies with new colleagues who will continue to offer internationally renowned scholarship in the traditional disciplines, even as they bring us new perspectives and creative applications. 

The seminaries also look forward to taking advantage of the university’s other graduate programs to build new certificate programs that enhance our commitment to lifelong learning for our alumni, opportunities for lay education, and special skills tracks to enhance the experience of our degree candidates. 

While the Master of Divinity degree remains the heartbeat of seminary education, and satellite master’s programs (including the Master of Arts in Theological Studies, Master of Ministry, Master of Arts in Chaplaincy) continue as essential components of theological education, LTS’s Doctor of Ministry program and MTS’s Spiritual Direction Certificate are now available to students from both campuses. 

With these new programs; the combined faculty; and on-site, remote, and hy-flex delivery, all of us at the seminaries look forward to seeing what new and exciting life awaits us on the other side of the transitions of the last years. 

—The Very Rev. Dr. Katherine H. Ragsdale
Interim Vice President and Dean, Moravian Theological Seminary and Lancaster Theological Seminary