Known simply as Gettysburg Seminary, the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg lies in front of you. For nearly two centuries this place trained Lutheran clergy and thinkers as one of seven ELCA seminaries, one of three in the Eastern Cluster of Lutheran Seminaries, and as a member institution of the Washington Theological Consortium. It was founded in 1826 under the prominent but controversial theologian and professor Samuel Simon Schmucker (1799-1873) for the recently organized General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States.
For 189 years it was the oldest continuing Lutheran seminary in the United States until it merged on July 1, 2017 with the nearby and former rival Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia to form the United Lutheran Seminary; that new institution continues to use both campuses. Gettysburg Seminary was a pioneer in theological education here: it created the first faculty position in Christian Education in 1926, appointed the first teacher in sociology and psychology in 1942, and established the first faculty in stewardship in 1989. From Schmucker's 1826 founding to the 2017 merger, this campus led the way with the first faculty in Christian Education, sociology, and stewardship long before you arrived here today.