Conservative, Yet Progressive

Palmer Theological Seminary was founded on March 19, 1925 as Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. The founders were motivated by the desire to provide another option for graduate-level theological training in the Baptist context. Along with other conservative seminaries of that time, the Seminary held to a high view of Scripture. But the founders maintained that the agendas of conservative institutions were too narrow, particularly with regards to the prohibition of women in ministry and the absence of concern for social justice. Thus, in its early days the seminary was widely described as being “conservative, yet progressive,” a designation that still applies today.

For the first 15 years of its existence, the seminary was located on Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia. In 1940, it relocated to Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, on the edge of the city. From the beginning the Seminary was committed to providing remedial educational programs for people who felt called to Christian ministry but who lacked the educational credentials required to qualify for graduate-level training. This commitment planted the seeds for Eastern University, which was founded as Eastern Baptist College in 1952, changed its name to Eastern College in 1972, and became Eastern University in 2001. The two institutions reunited in 2003, and in 2005 Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary was renamed Palmer Theological Seminary, the Seminary of Eastern University. In 2012, the Seminary moved from its Wynnewood campus to an interim location at the American Baptist Missions Center in nearby King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. In June 2016, the Seminary returned to the main campus of Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania.

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