This past week, I traveled to Princeton, NJ for a meeting of the seminary’s alumni council. Arriving early Monday morning, the first thing I realized was that I wasn’t in Arizona anymore. The cool temperature of 60 degrees was darn-right freezing for me, it having been 118 degrees when I left Phoenix! Despite a few changes to the Newark airport, things seemed pretty familiar about this part of my journey: getting on the commuter train that runs between Trenton and Manhattan, waiting for the ticket engineer to punch my ticket, catching the little train from Princeton Junction into Princeton proper, and walking up the hill from the train station onto the seminary campus. The air had clearly turned toward fall, and the leaves at the uppermost reaches of the trees were beginning to tinge toward red and yellow.
With my first view of the seminary came back a flood of memories. It had been 31 years to the month that I had begun my seminary career, little knowing then that I would spend the next 13 years of my life associated with that campus both as a student and instructor. These were formative years for me, journeying through three degrees of theological education, spending a lot of time singing in the seminary choir, and making good friends.
It is certainly a privilege for me to be invited back to Princeton Seminary’s campus to serve on the alumni council. This group met for two and a half days to learn about current enrollment, changes to the makeup of the student body, and how we as alumni can serve the institution and its mission. There were only twelve of us, and at one point I looked around the room, and I realized that I was the oldest person on the council (at least in terms of when I started seminary)! We had a wonderful time getting to know our fellow members of the council and about some of the seminary’s new and innovative approaches to theological education, including the development of a “farminary” where students learn about the intersection of faith and ecology. The seminary is also working on online programming that serves an ever-widening group of people interested in some form of theological education.
Here’s some more things we learned about the seminary that reflect changes in our denomination and society:
There are currently only 313 students at the seminary. In my early days there, there were around 600 students.
Only 21% of the seminary’s student population is now Presbyterian (PCUSA). Thirty-one years ago, that number would have been closer to 55%.
The second largest group of students list themselves as “Non-Denomination” or “No-Affiliation.”
54% of the student population is female while only 44% is male.
49% is ethnically white, while 18% is African American.
17% are international students, with 17 students from South Korea, 7 from Nigeria, and 26 from 19 other countries.
Princeton Theological Seminary was founded 212 years ago. It has seen tremendous changes in those two centuries. The future of theological education is, I believe, in good hands at PTS. Its current leaders (with Dr. Jonathan Walton, who preached here at Pinnacle last December, at its head) are finding ways to ensure that theological education will continue in Princeton for generations to come.
I left my brief time at the seminary renewed in my appreciation for the education I received there and renewed in my confidence that the seminary still holds a vital place for Presbyterians and Christians around the world.
At the meeting I became reacquainted with a student who finished his degrees 18 years ago, at the same time I completed my career there. His name is Edward Buri (but he goes by Buri - pronounced Foori.) Buri came from Nairobi to PTS 21 years ago, to study and learn all he could to serve his church (The Presbyterian Church of East Africa) back in Kenya. This he has done. Buri is now married and has two young children, who were terrified for their father having to fly halfway around the world to come to a meeting in Princeton. At one point Buri and I found that we were both about to head out for a walk through Princeton town and the university. We joined up together and had the chance to share about our lives and ministry. I told him about Pinnacle, and he told me all about the church he serves.
At one point we passed Nassau Presbyterian Church, and Buri said, “I did an internship here when I was a student.” I let him know that our senior pastor did an internship with Nassau’s pastor. I said to Buri, “Let’s go inside and say hello.” He was a bit nervous, but we marched up to the door and through the intercom let them know who was at the door. My name got us nowhere (even though I had taught 6th-grade Sunday school there 25 years before). But when I said that I was Buri, the secretary came running to the door to let us in. “Buri,” she said, “It’s so wonderful to see you after all these years. My children are in college now, but they remember you so fondly.” Buri and I continued our walk about and headed back to the seminary. The whole time, I kept thinking to myself, “What an amazing thing that a place like Princeton Seminary made it possible for two people from opposite sides of the world to come together as brothers in Christ, and continue in our zeal for Christ’s church.
At Princeton Seminary, my life intersected with so many people! I think that nearly 700 “friends” of mine on Facebook are associated in some way with the seminary, let alone Pastor Leah and Pastor Erik and other former pastors here! I am grateful that I can serve the seminary in such a capacity as to increase awareness of its ongoing mission. Thanks be to God for the institution’s continuing commitment to carrying tradition forward and changing to meet the needs of our own time. I look forward to the next time Princeton Seminary folks will be coming to our Pinnacle campus (in January 2026).
