An Introductory Message from
President Mark R. Teasdale
Dear Friends and Supporters of United,
Grace and peace to you in the name of our Matchless Savior, Jesus Christ!
I have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to share this day with you as I officially step into the presidency at United and join you in our common mission to prepare faithful and fruitful Christian leaders to make disciples of Jesus Christ as we seek to live into our vision of forming Spirit-led leaders, a Christ-like Church, and a transformed world.
As I begin, I want to offer my gratitude to President Kent Millard. His steady hand over the past decade has helped set the school in a much stronger position than when he arrived, laying the foundation we now have to move forward in mission with creativity and boldness.
I also want to thank all of you. Over the past decade, United has faced some difficult times, yet you have remained steadfast in your prayers, volunteering, and financial support. You did this because you believed in the mission of the seminary. That kind of commitment is remarkable, and I am certain God saw and honored it by multiplying the gifts you provided. The seminary is in such a strong position today because all of you chose to give of yourselves to make it so, and I am deeply grateful for that.
I am writing this after spending the week at the Association of Theological School’s biennial meeting, where we looked at the most recent data about all the theological schools in the United States and Canada. I am proud to report that United has the second-largest enrollment of UM-related schools and has one of the top 25 enrollments out of all 280 in the Association. It also has a larger endowment than over 50% of the other schools.
I hope this gives you some encouragement. Your commitment has made a real difference, both helping propel United toward institutional strength and now making it capable of having an impact across theological education. Drawing on this, I am claiming Psalm 84:7 as the guiding verse for United’s next season:
“They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.”
United is already strong thanks to God’s favor bestowed on Dr. Millard and your commitment and faithful effort. I believe this is just the beginning of what God will provide for us as we move forward in Christ’s mission to make faithful and fruitful disciples.
We will need that strength. As you know, the church is in flux today, both in the United States and around the world. There is growing distrust of all organizations, including the church, and there are fewer people who think it is necessary to believe in God in order to lead a morally good life. People are content to create meaning for themselves, treating God either as irrelevant or as a mascot for their favored causes. Coupled with this are the moral and intellectual uncertainties surrounding how AI will transform the ways people relate to God and one another.
Theological education must provide resources for the church as it faces this new reality. This includes continuing to offer excellent education as we grant degrees to our church’s leaders, but it also includes finding ways to support congregations in real time. New approaches to being a seminary need to be developed, tested, and deployed with the goal of having a measurable impact on the world through the congregations we equip.
I invite you to step forward with me as United moves into this work. As we do this, we will keep the gospel of Jesus Christ at the forefront even as we pray, discern, and innovate how we can strengthen the church in all its expressions—across denominations, ethnicities, languages, and geographical boundaries—to articulate the goodness of Jesus Christ, recognize the gifts of the Spirit, and listen for the ways God is sending the church to meet the needs of the world around them.
I invite you to continue to support a seminary that is united with the church in Christ’s mission!
Mark R. Teasdale
President
Professor of Missional Leadership
United Theological Seminary