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A More Perfect Union

The New Georgia Encyclopedia is supported by funding from A More Perfect Union, a special initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Luther Rice University

Luther Rice University

Williams Hall, on the campus of Luther Rice University in Lithonia, houses administrative and faculty offices, as well as classroom space. Founded in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1962 as Luther Rice Seminary, the university moved to its current campus in 1988 and offers both an undergraduate Bible college and a graduate-level seminary.

Photograph by Russ Sorrow

Interdenominational Theological Center

Interdenominational Theological Center

A consortium of six institutions, the Interdenominational Theological Center has provided theological training and graduate study to African Americans since 1958.

Candler School of Theology

Candler School of Theology

Rudolph Courtyard, surrounded by Bishops Hall (left), Cannon Chapel (center), and the Pitts Theology Library (right), forms the center of campus for the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta. Founded in 1914, the school is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

Courtesy of Candler School of Theology, Emory University

Warren Akin Candler

Warren Akin Candler

Warren Akin Candler, a bishop in the Methodist Church and the brother of Coca-Cola founder Asa Candler, was appointed the first chancellor of the Candler School of Theology in 1914. The new school was founded to replace the denomination's loss of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Courtesy of Archives, Pitts Theology Library, Emory University

Candler Theology Students

Candler Theology Students

Students of the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta gather on campus. While more than half of the school's approximately 540 students are members of the United Methodist church, more than thirty other denominations are represented as well within the student body.

Courtesy of Candler School of Theology, Emory University

Southern Institute for Business and Professional Ethics

Southern Institute for Business and Professional Ethics

Former Atlanta mayor Sam Massell introduces students at Atlanta Girls' School to CarTown U.S.A., a program of the Southern Institute for Business and Professional Ethics at Columbia Theological Seminary. The classroom exercise was developed by the institute to promote the ideals of honesty and integrity in business transactions.

Peter Marshall

Peter Marshall

Peter Marshall, an alumnus of Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, preaches in 1942 during a sunrise service in Washington, D.C. Marshall began his illustrious career, which included a tenure as chaplain of the U.S. Senate, in Georgia, first at the Covington Presbyterian Church, and then at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Atlanta.

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection, #LC-USF34-011480-D.

James Henley Thornwell

James Henley Thornwell

In 1856 James Henley Thornwell, a native of South Carolina, joined the faculty of Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur and became one of its most influential members. He published a number of sermons during his career, as well as articles defending slavery and secession in the Southern Presbyterian Review.

From The Life and Letters of James Henley Thornwell, by B. M. Palmer