A New Season at Union Presbyterian Seminary
SEPTEMBER 30 | UNION PRESBYTERIAN SEMINARY COMMUNICATIONS
Enrollment Growth Marks Start of Academic Year Across Two Campuses
Union Presbyterian Seminary is welcoming a growing student body this fall as students begin a new academic year across its Richmond and Charlotte campuses.
“We’ve seen a 45% increase in new students this fall compared with last fall — and this is really our first snapshot of the year,” said Rev. Lisa McLennan, dean of students for Union Presbyterian Seminary. “Now that Union welcomes new students throughout the academic year, we’re excited that this incoming class is only the beginning of the students we’ll welcome this year.”
The growth comes as Union begins a new chapter in delivering theological education. Students in Charlotte continue in the Seminary’s weekend hybrid model, gathering on campus one Saturday each month, while Richmond students are beginning a weekday hybrid model built around four-day, in-person residencies paired with live and self-paced online coursework. The Seminary also continues its residential Community Scholars program in Richmond, including students from five countries.
“This incoming class is helping us live into something new. In a sense, some are pioneers—choosing a new model of theological education in Richmond that makes Union accessible in ways it hasn’t been before,” said Lisa McLennan, dean of students. “They give me hope because they are finding ways to say yes to God’s call while continuing to serve the communities where they are already rooted.”
McLennan has worked closely with prospective and incoming students throughout the enrollment process and now welcomes many of them into the Seminary's academic and community life.
Students come to Union from thirteen states — including Florida, New Mexico, New York, and Texas — and five countries, bringing calls to ministry shaped by congregations and communities both near Union Presbyterian Seminary’s two campuses and far beyond. For some, the Seminary’s hybrid formats have made it possible to pursue theological education while remaining rooted in the places where they already live, work, and serve.
“I’m excited to welcome them into a beloved, Spirit-filled community that will nurture, support and care for them across the miles and in person,” said McLennan. ”They will carry from this place knowledge, experience and wisdom that will equip them to lead God’s people and help our communities love one another well.”
That call to formation and community was echoed as the academic year began on both campuses with a shared message about change, community, and calling.
The Charlotte community gathered for Convocation on September 12, 2026, with the Rev. Dr. Lakisha R. Lockhart, Associate Professor of Christian Education and Preaching. Lockhart preached the same sermon in Richmond during Convocation on September 23, 2026, as students gathered for their first four-day residency, September 22–25.
Her sermon did not shy away from the scale of the transition underway. Lockhart named the arrival of new faculty on both campuses, a new curriculum and unified academic calendar, and the shift to the Richmond hybrid model, acknowledging that community members may enter this season with different emotions.
Using the changing seasons as a metaphor, Lockhart invited the Seminary community to consider transition not simply as something to endure, but as a time for planting, growth, pruning, and rest. She described the uncertainty of change alongside its possibilities for experimentation, creativity, and growth.
“Once you do away with the idea of people, institutions, and churches as fixed, static entities, then you will see that people, institutions, and churches can change. And there is hope,” Lockhart said, paraphrasing bell hooks. “This institution is changing and there is hope.”
That new season became tangible in Richmond over the past week. During the September 22–25 residency, students moved between classrooms, worship, shared meals, and campus community life before returning to their communities and online coursework. They will gather again for residency times on campus throughout the academic year.
Charlotte students have lived into a different hybrid rhythm since 2020, gathering monthly for in-person Saturdays while completing coursework between those meetings. The campus rhythms differ, but the goal is shared: making theological education accessible to students in the places where they are called to live and serve while preserving meaningful in-person opportunities for learning and formation.
At the close of her Convocation sermon, Lockhart returned to the image of seasons and to the enduring call of the people moving through them.
“There will be a lot of learning, trying something new, deeply listening, faithfully failing, trying again, exploring new avenues, offering grace, celebrating, imagining something new and growing. And there might be some growing pains,” Lockhart said. ‘And yes, God is still ever present and each of us is still deeply, deeply called by God at this time and in this season.”
In Charlotte, Lockhart invited community members to place paper leaves representing their own seasons on a shared tree—a witness to growth and transition. Days later in Richmond, students gathered along the historic quad to put their hands in the soil around three newly planted trees. In different ways, both communities began the academic year with the same act: preparing to grow, together.
At the close of her Convocation sermon, Lockhart returned to the image of seasons and to the enduring call of the people moving through them.
“There will be a lot of learning, trying something new, deeply listening, faithfully failing, trying again, exploring new avenues, offering grace, celebrating, imagining something new and growing. And there might be some growing pains,” Lockhart said. ‘And yes, God is still ever present and each of us is still deeply, deeply called by God at this time and in this season.”
In Charlotte, Lockhart invited community members to place paper leaves representing their own seasons on a shared tree—a witness to growth and transition. Days later in Richmond, students gathered along the historic quad to put their hands in the soil around three newly planted trees. In different ways, both communities began the academic year with the same act: preparing to grow, together.
About Union Presbyterian Seminary
Union Presbyterian Seminary prepares people to be leaders of gospel-inspired transformative change in pursuit of a more just and compassionate world. With campuses in Richmond, Virginia, and Charlotte, North Carolina, the seminary has prepared leaders for ministry since 1812 through rigorous theological education that is scholarly, pastoral, and engaged with contemporary life. Offering a range of degree programs, Union is home to distinguished faculty, a historic campus with one of the nation’s finest theological libraries, and a vibrant community of worship, service, and fellowship. Graduates serve as pastors, educators, chaplains, mission workers, and scholars, carrying forward the seminary’s long tradition of equipping leaders for the church and the world. Learn more at upsem.edu.