St. Paul-based seminary receives $1 million toward new social justice center

Frederick Melo, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
·1 min read

Dec. 3—A progressive theological school based in St. Paul has received $1 million from the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment to establish a social justice center.

The United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities will establish a Leadership Center for Social Justice, with the goal of preparing religious leaders to guide their congregations into community action.

The seminary, located on Eustis Street within walking distance of University Avenue and the Green Line corridor, plans to create a continuing education curriculum to help pastors focus on racial reconciliation, ecological practices, gender inclusion and economic disparities.

The goal, in part, is "to help churches be deemed relevant in a rapidly secularizing culture," according to a statement from the seminary.

"Clergy have been clamoring for ways to bring their skills up to date to respond to the particular challenges of the times we live in and for support in their ministries," the Rev. Justin Sabia-Tanis, assistant professor and program director for Social Transformation, said in the statement.

Sabia-Tanis and the Rev. Gary Green II will play key roles in building the program. The 60-year-old theological institution relocated from New Brighton to the capital city in early 2019.

The $1 million grant is funded by the second phase of the Lilly Endowment's "Pathways for Tomorrow" initiative, which launched in January and is distributing $82 million to 84 theological schools. The endowment, which funds education, community development and Christian causes, was founded in 1937 by Lilly family heirs to Eli Lilly and Company, a pharmaceutical firm established in 1876.