A Historical Perspective

In the early 1990s a group of ministers, lay people and religious studies scholars identified a need related to the church and its ministries. The traditional stream of seminary recruits, those who had just completed college, was dwindling. Parallel to this development, it was noted that adults in mid-life were hearing a call to ministry. However, there was no school of theology in the Northwest USA that focused on meeting the needs of mainline Protestant churches.

Many of these seminary recruits and adults had jobs, families, and community ties that made leaving the region for several years to attend a distant seminary difficult, if not impossible. The need to educate these geographically-bound seekers argued urgently for a school of theology accessible to people living in the Pacific Northwest. The school would be focused primarily on delivering high quality theological education to prospective ministers who could not travel for long periods outside of the region for their full course of theological education.

The Northwest House of Theological Studies (NHTS or the House) was founded in 1997 as an innovative solution to meet this identified need. It offered services that at that time were not replicated by any other institution in the Pacific Northwest. NHTS provided a way for students to affordably complete part of the coursework toward a Master of Divinity degree in a high quality, Northwest-focused educational environment. By being able complete a portion of their education locally, students could minimize the impact on their home, community and church commitments.

NHTS was initially approved as a level two extension site by the ATS Board of Commissioners, and financed by a generous grant from the Collins Foundation. Under the oversight of a Board of Directors consisting of representatives of the two United Methodist annual conferences in the Northwest and the two United Methodist seminaries, NHTS admitted its first class in the fall of 1998. The extension site was overseen and sponsored by the Methodist Theological School in Ohio (MTSO) and Claremont School of Theology (CST). In 2001, CST withdrew from this partnership and NHTS operated as an extension site for MTSO alone. Although the Northwest House of Theological Studies took root first among United Methodists as an extension program of Methodist Theological School in Ohio, the student body was ecumenical from the beginning. In light of this reality, NHTS gradually transitioned into an ecumenical operation with articles of alliance and partnership between six judicatories (Oregon-Idaho and Pacific Northwest Annual Conferences of the United Methodist Church, American Baptist Churches of Oregon, The Diocese of Oregon of the Episcopal Church, the Oregon Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Central Pacific Conference of the United Church of Christ) and six divinity schools (American Baptist Seminary of the West, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Luther Seminary, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Pacific School of Religion, and MTSO). In this alliance, Luther and PLTS administer their partners as a single unit under ELCA agreements for the Western Mission Cluster. As a result, the ecumenical nature of NHTS was enhanced. Students from many denominations are now enrolled in our programs.

A nonprofit educational institution, NHTS enjoys an informal and warm relationship with Willamette University, a near neighbor in Salem, Oregon. NHTS classes take place in state-of-the-art classrooms on the Willamette University campus. Cone Chapel at Willamette is the site for worship of the Northwest House of Theological Studies. In addition, several of the Willamette faculty in the Religious Studies Department and the Classical Languages program teach courses offered by NHTS.

In March 2005 representatives of nine schools met with staff members and the Chair of the Board of Directors of NHTS to continue conversations on the next stage in the development of the House. The Northwest Consortium was formed as a result of these discussions. The Consortium was formed for the purpose of providing an extension program of theological study within the region of the Northwest USA. An Academic Council, consisting of representatives of each of the member institutions, oversees the academic program (approving all course syllabi and instructors). In January 2007, this Oregon-based extension program was approved by the Accrediting Commission of the Association of Theological Schools as an extension of the Northwest Consortium, which currently consists of five institutions: NHTS, with American Baptist Seminary of the West, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, and Pacific School of Religion.

A parallel development was the transition of the Board of Directors to an ecumenical body, with directors from each of the partner traditions.