* I offer this review for any sincere spiritual seekers who are thinking of attending this institution, for all institutions will always try to sell themselves in the best possible light to you. Yet, how trustworthy is any institution's own advertising and self-promotion really? That said, I would advise you not to just wholeheartedly buy into my review either. It is always best to test the waters deeply for yourself. Review The unofficial nickname for this seminary by some of its students is "the cemetery" because it is where spirituality goes to die. However, even though those students label it with that realistic nickname, they still continue to attend in order to attain that institutionalized piece of paper (degree) that they feel makes them worthy in the eyes of the socially conditioned world and their various made-up denominations. However, Jesus was a de-centralized spiritual teacher with no institutional credentials who lived and moved according to "the call of the Spirit" in the margins of society; he did not conform to the world (Romans 12:2) nor did he play by the centralist rules of engagement. The way Jesus lived was a protest against many of the prescribed norms of the intellectual and religious elites of his time and place. Didn't Jesus proclaim, "Woe to you experts in the law! For you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering" (Luke 11:52). Aren't the seminary professors with PHD's the new "experts"? On the other hand, Jesus walked the dusty countryside and the dirty city streets without any barriers between him and the people; his wisdom came from lived experience and Divine Source, not the shelter of formal lecture halls with their academic norms and sophisticated rules of engagement. But this institution is not interested in being like Jesus. That's why they have spent over a hundred million dollars beautifying their small campus with lavish techno-savvy buildings for about only 150 privileged students and faculty members while within one square mile of their bling buildings scores of people lay homeless, hungry, and destitute in the streets. Nor is this self-spending going to stop soon, as this institution will soon spend roughly 10 million dollars to renovate another one of its buildings (that they let fall into decline). Yet, "The Way" cannot be paid for, granted by a degree, or learned from the intellectual bourgeois (who love to place all of their elite titles after their names---like Reverend Doctor) in comfortable, tech-savvy, air conditioned classrooms. A true seeker must leave those societal ego badges behind them. During my time at this seminary, students and professors would over-rationalize and debate the theological merits and historical accuracy of the Good Samaritan story while there were scores of homeless people within a square mile of the seminary that they could attend, accompany, and love. Also, the seminary held a Community Lunch on Wednesdays for ITS STUDENTS, FACULTY, and STAFF while the marginalized peoples out on the streets were never invited to the SEMINARY'S RESTRICTED TABLES. I stopped attending their COMMUNITY LUNCH and spent my time attending and accompanying my destitute brothers and sisters out on the streets beyond the comforts of "the cemetery". For WHO is GOD'S COMMUNITY? How can a seminary teach its students to be "the church in the world" (as Union Presbyterian Seminary claims as its slogan) when its pedagogic professors write from within the safety of their academic status, conduct research from lavish state-of-the-art libraries, and conform themselves to the time-honored ivory tower codes of professorial hierarchies, privileged tenure, pandering for grant money, and the "publish or perish" mentality? This obvious separation from the "street level" is why scholarly works on theology seem isolated and dispassionate to spirited seekers and why the public has little interest in them. We must also ask why only over-educated people with PHD's and advanced degrees from elitist institutions are the only ones who get to teach at mainline Protestant seminaries---though Jesus of Nazareth was a carpenter's son from a disrespected backwater town who recruited mostly uneducated blue-collar laborers to be his disciples and had marginalized women as supporters and followers. How can an academic degree like the Master of Divinity (is there a more egotistical title?) taught by academics within an institutional milieu prepare a seminary student to be a spiritual shepherd for a congregation seeking God? We should also question how a seminary student can earn a Master of Public Theology degree (Union Presbyterian Seminary offers this) by completing a series of modules by sitting in front of a computer screen within the comfort and safety of their own home? Thomas Merton wrote, "The Pharisees were actually the slaves of their own system but they didn't know it." Yup! read more

I am but the second reviewer for Union, and over the course of my degree programs, spent four years of study and engagement within and without the seminary as a student, and am now an alum. In the course of that study, I received not one but two degrees from this institution, and I would invite you to consider the thoughts of someone who successfully completed their course of study at this institution while discerning a path to seminary- including and especially this one. It is true that seminary is not for everyone, and that seminaries as a category of higher educational institution do suffer from some of the same boundaries and challenges as all other academic institutions: the word academic is right there in the name. Yet where Union TRULY excels is not in its ability to attract brilliant and accomplished faculty from diverse background, nationalities, and specialties (which it has!), nor in its ability to prepare students for the various challenges and joys of pastoral ministry or Christian education (which it does, not shying away from the parts which are not so pretty as the white vestments of Easter Sunday). Union boasts a strong financial aid program, ecumenical focus with a growing contingent of non-Presbyterian students, world-renowned scholars on faculty and brought to campus for special events. The seminary's various mentorship and spirituality programs encourage students to form community and engage deeply beyond the classroom with things which concern them and their faith. Classes are built not just around theory, but on the ways that theology becomes real and impacts the day to day life of believers. Supports exist for students beyond academic needs, aiming to make sure that outside of the classroom, mental and physical health is being supported. Where Union truly excels is in the way it directs student involvement and development beyond the bounds of the curriculum, including student-led initiatives to address diversity, equity, and inclusion on both the Richmond and Charlotte campuses; internships which allow students to embrace their creativity and calling outside of the campuses; and connections within the community to organizations doing work to support the cities where the seminary is planted. Most importantly, to discern a way to seminary is to follow God. For some that does in fact lead to the seminary itself, to learning the theology that supports the practice and the biblical witness that then leads beyond. Every community is different, and this one seeks to support the well-being and the needs of students and support them in their study, their work, and their calling- wherever that call leads. read more