Pittsburgh Seminary Appoints New President
The Rev. William J. Carl III will succeed the Rev. Carnegie Samel Calian, who will retire after serving 25 years as president of the 211-year-old institution.
The Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, oldest seminary in the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., named its new president yesterday.
The Rev. William J. Carl III, 56, will succeed the Rev. Carnegie Samuel Calian, who will retire next January after serving 25 years as seminary president, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
“I'm someone who sees and listens carefully to people on all different sides of issues, and wants to bring us all together to find common ground," said Carl yesterday, in hopes to unify the denomination divided over many issues.
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After a careful selection process, Carl, the pastor of the 1,700-member First Presbyterian Church in Dallas, emerged as a “perfect fit” among more than 100 candidates, according to Post-Gazette.
“I think he knows what theological education is today and where it should go for the future,” said the committee chairman Jack Isherwood, who urged Carl to apply upon meeting him at a conference.
Carl’s appointment as the new head of the two-century-old institution pleased many faculty members as well.
“We're really happy," said the Rev. Ronald Peters, director of the seminary's Metro-Urban Institute. "I'm particularly excited because of his social justice outreach."
Others viewed the new president reconciliator and unifier within the "contentious world of Presbyterian theological politics."
"He's perceived as somebody who is trying to hold the church together from the middle," said the Missions professor Scott Sunquist.
Carl received his doctorate in rhetoric and communication from the University of Pittsburgh in 1977 and taught at its Seminary in 1975-76.
Carl, the father of two grown sons, will become president-elect of the seminary Oct. 1 and assume full duties as president Feb. 1.
The Pittsburgh Seminary was established in 1794 as the first Presbyterian seminary in the United States to serve the frontier regions of western Pennsylvania and Ohio.
