The United Methodist Church’s accrediting body has decided that Asbury Theological Seminary will no longer be an approved school to prepare United Methodist clergy.
The University Senate’s decision comes after the Wesleyan-rooted, multidenominational seminary said it objected to the UMC’s revision of its social principles in 2024 that eliminated church teachings against the “the practice of homosexuality” and same-sex marriage.
The University Senate, at its June 17-18 closed-door meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, also decided to remove Northeastern Seminary, a Free Methodist-affiliated school, in Rochester, New York, from its approved list.
However, the removal of Asbury in Wilmore, Kentucky, marks a stunning reversal in the United Methodist relationship with the independent, evangelical school that has educated generations of the denomination’s clergy including multiple bishops.
In a statement, Roland Fernandes, the top executive of the United Methodist Board for Higher Education and Ministry, said the decision to delist the two institutions followed a quadrennial review of their curricula and direct dialog with institutional leadership.
“The University Senate’s decision,” Fernandes added, “is intended to ensure that United Methodist candidates for ministry are formed in settings clearly aligned with United Methodist teachings, theology, leadership and values.”
United Methodist students who are currently enrolled in either seminary or plan to attend in fall 2026 can still complete their programs and pursue ordination in the denomination. However, after fall 2026, clergy candidates beginning their theological coursework should attend one of the United Methodist seminaries or the other 25 University Senate-approved schools.
The University Senate is an elected body that determines which US schools, colleges, universities, and theological institutions meet the criteria for United Methodist affiliation and United Methodist clergy education. The 27 voting members, who work for Methodist-related US academic institutions, meet twice a year to evaluate church-related institutions in areas such as church-relatedness, program quality, financial integrity, stewardship, and governance.
The University Senate recently delisted both Palmer Theological Seminary and Luther Seminary, which declined to participate in the quadrennial reviews and requested removal from the approved list.
Asbury, founded in 1923, has never been one of the official United Methodist seminaries. But, in 1946, the Methodist Church approved its education for Methodist clergy. And since 1981—until now—the seminary had received the UMC’s approval to educate candidates for ordained United Methodist ministry. Its past five presidents, and one interim, all began their careers in the United Methodist fold.
In 2017, the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry found that of the 418 deacons and elders ordained, 44 were Asbury graduates. That total was second only to Duke Divinity School, which had 57 graduates who were ordained that year.
Over the years, prominent Asbury leaders and alumni have played a key role in establishing groups that advocated for the UMC to take a more theologically conservative direction, especially in regard to LGBTQ people. That included advocating for greater enforcement of bans on “self-avowed practicing” gay clergy and same-sex marriage while also calling for the denomination to split in the face of defiance of those bans.
Former Presidents Maxie D. Dunnam and Timothy C. Tennent and current President David F. Watson also helped develop what became the Global Methodist Church, a theologically conservative denomination that broke away from the UMC in 2022. Today, Asbury is one of the theological institutions that the Global Methodist Church has approved for training its clergy.
Nevertheless, Watson—who is now ordained in the Global Methodist Church—stressed that the delisting of Asbury was not a mutual decision, but solely determined by the University Senate.
“We engaged fully and faithfully in the process and honored every request from the Senate in a timely manner,” he said. “We were forthcoming with the requested documents and information. Throughout the process, we were honest and clear about our doctrinal and ethical standards, even when those differed from the recently amended Social Principles of The UMC. Their final decision to delist us was unilateral. While we had hoped for a different outcome, our focus remains steadfast on our unchanging calling.”
Today, Watson said, more than 4,000 living Asbury Theological Seminary alumni are affiliated with the UMC. In addition to its Kentucky main campus, Asbury now has extension sites in Memphis, Tennessee; Orlando and Tampa, Florida; and Tulsa, Oklahoma. The seminary also offers online degree programs.
Even now, about 9 percent of the current student population at Asbury Theological Seminary identifies as United Methodist, according to the seminary’s communications office. Those students, as the University Senate determined, are grandfathered in and could still become United Methodist pastors.
“We pray for God’s continued blessing on them as they minister faithfully across denominational lines,” Watson said.
Northeastern Seminary’s marketing department directed media inquiries to the seminary dean, who will not be available until next week.
Bishop David Graves, who leads the Kentucky Conference where Asbury is located, acknowledged in a pastoral letter that many in the conference would be disappointed that Asbury is no longer an approved school
“I share those feelings,” wrote Graves, who also leads the Tennessee-Western Kentucky and Central Appalachian Missionary conferences. “For many clergy and laity across Kentucky, Asbury is more than an institution. It is a place where faith was deepened, callings were clarified, friendships were formed, and lives were changed.”
At the same time, he wrote: “Our confidence has never rested in a single institution. Our confidence rests in the God who continues to call women and men into ministry and in the Holy Spirit who equips them for service.” —UM News
