Final Step Realized in Establishing Innovative Theological Campus in Hyde Park

CATHOLIC Theological Union announced today that it has signed a lease with McCormick Theological Seminary to move into CTU’s campus at 5416 South Cornell Avenue in Hyde Park. McCormick is scheduled to complete their move in the coming month, with three schools functioning under the same roof beginning with the fall 2023 semester.

The agreement completes the plan announced by CTU in May 2023 for McCormick to join together with Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) as long-time neighbors and ecumenical partners to relocate to CTU’s campus. LSTC has completed its move earlier this summer and is in process of constructing new facilities in available space in CTU’s 17-year old building. While each school remains independent, with its own identity, mission and governance, the model of ecumenical collaboration and sound stewardship of resources will set a standard for cooperation and elevate the campus as an even more vibrant locus for theological education in Hyde Park. The leased space arrangement allows the three schools to deepen their joint efforts in many areas, particularly mission and intercultural studies.

“We look forward to welcoming McCormick Theological Seminary to join the Lutheran School of Theology Chicago as neighbors on our campus,” said Sr. Barbara Reid, OP, President of CTU. “Collaborating in this vital initiative will bring exciting opportunities for our students, faculty and constituents. Together we will deepen our care for our common home as expressed by Pope Francis in Laudato Si’.”

“For over two decades, we have been blessed to be next-door neighbors with McCormick Theological Seminary in our former location on 55th Street. For far longer, we have been blessed to be educational and missional partners with both CTU and McCormick in our commitment to global mission, biblical and Theological studies, and shaping the church for the years ahead,“ said James Nieman, president of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. “I am deeply thankful to presidents Reid and Crawford for their vision for how our three schools could work together in the same location. This is a promising and distinctive moment, not just for theological education in North America, but across the world.” said Jim Nieman, President of Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

“We are delighted to be a part of this exciting collaborative campus with our good friends at CTU and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago,” said David H. Crawford, President of McCormick Theological Seminary. “Our faculty, staff, students, trustees, and alums are very excited about getting settled in our new home. We are looking forward to the future and are grateful to everyone at each of our schools who have helped make it all possible.”

The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Its mission is to form visionary leaders to bear witness to the good news of Jesus Christ. Aligned with its Lutheran heritage and built on a foundation of intellectual rigor, LSTC’s innovative, nationally recognized curriculum gives students skills for inspiring Christian leadership in the public sphere.

McCormick Theological Seminary is a graduate institution of higher learning within the rich intellectual and theological tradition of the Presbyterian Church (USA). For almost 200 years, McCormick has established itself as a highly diverse learning community that is cross-cultural, urban, Reformed, and ecumenical.