United Methodist Church Removes Asbury Seminary From Its Approved List
Asbury Theological Seminary, a 103-year-old evangelical school in Wilmore, Kentucky, is no longer approved to prepare candidates for ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church. The seminary announced the change on June 25, and it marks a significant break between one of the country's best-known evangelical seminaries and the denomination many of its graduates have historically served.
The decision came from the United Methodist Church's University Senate, the body that determines which schools may train UMC ministerial students. Asbury was not alone. Northeastern Seminary in Rochester, New York, was removed at the same time. Two other schools, Palmer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania and Luther Seminary in Minnesota, had already requested removal from the list during the same review period.
Why Asbury Was Removed
At the center of the decision is the United Methodist Church's revised Social Principles, adopted in 2024, which no longer affirm heterosexual marriage as the only recognized form of marriage.
The denomination's Commission on Theological Education concluded that Asbury's published ethos statement is not compatible with those revised Social Principles. The commission also noted that Asbury does not have a full-time United Methodist faculty member who consistently teaches the required courses in United Methodist history, doctrine, and polity. A similar lack of a United Methodist faculty member was cited in Northeastern's removal, along with the fact that it primarily offers online programs.
Asbury President David Watson framed the split as a matter of conviction. He said the Senate's requirements, particularly those tied to the 2024 Social Principles on human sexuality and marriage, do not align with the seminary's institutional ethos or with what he described as the historic witness of the Christian faith. The seminary affirms marriage as the union of one man and one woman for life, and Watson said that position reflects Scripture.
In its own acknowledgment of the decision, the seminary said the outcome reflected a determination made by the United Methodist Church rather than a shared resolution, language that makes clear Asbury did not view this as a mutual parting.
What It Means for Current Students
If you are already enrolled at Asbury or Northeastern, or you plan to begin this fall, there is important news for you: you are grandfathered in. United Methodist students enrolled or matriculating in fall 2026 will be allowed to complete their programs and still pursue ordination in the denomination.
After this fall, however, the door closes. Students seeking United Methodist ordination will need to attend a school that remains approved by the University Senate.
It is worth understanding just how connected Asbury and the United Methodist Church have been. Asbury was founded in 1923 and has never been one of the denomination's official seminaries, but the church approved its training of Methodist clergy as far back as 1946, and it held United Methodist approval to educate ordination candidates from 1981 until now. Its last five presidents, plus one interim, all began their careers within the United Methodist fold. In 2017, of the 418 deacons and elders the denomination ordained, 44 were Asbury graduates, a total second only to Duke Divinity School.
Even today, about 9 percent of Asbury's student body identifies as United Methodist. Those students are the ones the University Senate agreed to grandfather in.