wfn.org | Hughes Resigns as President of Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia

[NEWS <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 25, 1999

HUGHES RESIGNS AS PRESIDENT OF LUTHERAN SEMINARY AT PHILADELPHIA
99-11-067-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Robert G. Hughes, 62, will return to
the classroom after a decade as president of the Lutheran Theological
Seminary at Philadelphia (LTSP).  LTSP is a seminary of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
     Hughes announced his decision March 23 to the executive committee
of the seminary's board of trustees and in a letter to the seminary
community.
     "It has been a busy and productive decade," said Hughes.  "I now
wish to turn my attention and skills to three specific efforts that have
interested me for some time.  These include a renewed focus on doctrinal
preaching, leadership training for both laity and clergy, and
revitalizing congregations."
     Leaving the president's office on Dec. 31, 1999, Hughes will take
a sabbatical during the spring semester of 2000.  He will teach again at
LTSP in fall 2000.
     Hughes "has led the seminary in new and deeper ways of service to
the church and community," said the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding
bishop of the ELCA.  "He will be remembered for his leadership in LTSP's
outreach to and with African American clergy and Episcopal deacons."
     During Hughes' tenure as president, LTSP began working with Wagner
College, an ELCA college in Staten Island, N.Y., to prepare African
American leaders for Lutheran ministry.  The Episcopal School of the
Diaconate of the Diocese of Pennsylvania moved to the LTSP campus.
     Hughes joined the LTSP faculty in 1972 after serving as pastor of
several Pennsylvania congregations: St. Matthew Lutheran Church,
Springfield; Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Ashland; and Christ's United
Lutheran Church, a merger of five Ashland-area congregations.
     "It is no surprise that supporting congregational life has been a
hallmark of his service to the seminary and our whole church," said
Anderson.
     "Hughes has been a vital part of Philadelphia Seminary since he
began teaching here," said Dr. Robert Blanck, chair of the seminary's
board of trustees.  "His leadership is directly responsible for the
monumental accomplishments which have occurred during this decade."
     In the 1990s, LTSP's student body doubled in size.  The seminary
embraced a new vision and developed a new curriculum designed to prepare
leaders for the church of the future.  It entered into a new
relationship with Moravian Theological Seminary, Bethlehem, Pa., and it
was certified to train Methodist students.
     Hughes chaired the ELCA's conference of seminary presidents for
two years during the church's study of theological education.  As a
result of that study LTSP, with the Lutheran Theological Seminary at
Gettysburg, Pa., and Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia,
S.C., formed an Eastern Cluster of ELCA seminaries.
     A graduate of Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa., Hughes earned
master's degrees from LTSP and Princeton Theological Seminary,
Princeton, N.J., and a doctorate from Princeton.
     At LTSP Hughes taught practical theology, worship and preaching. 
He established the Academy of Preachers in 1982 and directed the academy
until 1996.  He succeeded the Rev. John W. Vannorsdall who retired as
the seminary's president in July 1990.
     Hughes and his wife, Dona-Lee, are the parents of three sons.

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