Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, has sold its entire campus to adjacent Northwestern University for an undiscosed amount.
Last year the Episcopal theological school announced that it was ending its residential M.Div. program and rethinking its future. Subsequently, the seminary announced a new D.Min. program to be offered in conjunction with Church Divinity School of the Pacific, another Episcopal seminary, which is in Berkeley, California.
Much of Seabury's existing campus is leased from Northwestern University. The university will purchase the buildings on the leased land and will also purchase all property that the seminary owns outright. Some office space and classroom space will be leased back to Seabury for five years, after which the lease can be renewed, or the seminary may move.
The library has already been sold to Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, an adjacent United Methodist school. The long-term future of the chapel (photo below) has not been determined.
Read a press release on the property sale here.
Read the Seabury's Q&A on the property sale here (PDF).
The Summer 2008 issue of In Trust included an article by editor emeritus William R. MacKaye on the future of several Episcopal seminaries that were changing the way they do business. Titled “The Cost of Preserving the Mission: Episcopal Seminaries Grapple with New Realities,” the article included a section on Seabury-Western.
Boards and staff affiliated with In Trust's member schools can read the entire article here.
