Molly T. Marshall, a retired Baptist theologian, will become the interim president of United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, the seminary announced today.
Established in 1962 and located in St. Paul, Minnesota, the school is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.
The seminary describes itself as a “welcoming, ecumenical school that embraces all denominations and faith traditions” that exists to “train leaders who dismantle systems of oppression, explore multifaith spirituality, and push the boundaries of knowledge.”
United’s Board of Trustees announced on Dec. 15, 2020, that President Lew Zeidner would be retiring in early 2021. Zeidner had been in this role since 2016, having served on the board for eight years prior to assuming the presidency.
Marshall’s interim presidency at United will begin on March 1.
“I felt led to accept the interim role as theological education is my calling and the seminary’s particular need at this time beckoned my experience as a president,” Marshall told Good Faith Media. “I love to strengthen the mission of a seminary committed to inclusive flourishing.”
She will serve for around two years in the role and will have no teaching responsibilities. Her time and energy will be devoted to “fund development, aligning revenue and expenses, updating the strategic plan and seeking to bring healing to internal divisions.”
Marshall expressed excitement over the fact that the seminary has a clear sense of the changing faith dynamics in the U.S. and is working “to address the realities of religious pluralism.”
“United has been at the forefront of preparing chaplains for interfaith context. It has also been attentive to the ways in which congregations have wounded or marginalized sexual minorities,” she told GFM. “Its ecumenical commitment does not shrink from calling a Baptist to lead in this season!”
Marshall’s life and ministry were chronicled in the Good Faith Media narrative podcast, “Brother Molly,” produced by GFM Media Producer Cliff Vaughn and released in the spring of 2020.
She resigned in March 2020 from Central Seminary in Shawnee, Kansas, after a nearly 16-year tenure as seminary president. Marshall came to Central as a visiting professor in 1995, became a fully tenured professor two years later and, in 2004, was named president of Central.
Prior to her time at Central, she was a professor of theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
Managing editor for news and opinion at Good Faith Media.
