Salt Lake seminary to graduate final class?

Once the caps and gowns come off this weekend, graduates of Salt Lake Theological Seminary may be saying goodbye to their alma mater for good, though school officials vow they'll try to resurrect the school when the economy turns up.

What may well be the final chapter for a quarter-century of theological education in Utah will play out on Saturday as 12 graduates receive degrees from the now-closed seminary, which managed to survive and even thrive at one point, despite the demographics of locating a Christian seminary in the heartland of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Money woes forced the conservative Christian seminary to close paid operations last fall. Faculty and staff were laid off, the headquarters on South Temple were vacated in December, and it was announced that the school would cease operations at the end of the 2008-2009 school year.

The school had weathered financial setbacks in 2006 and 2007, and it conducted a major fundraising campaign that kept it afloat, along with salary concessions by faculty and staff. But its financial troubles deepened in December 2007 as the economy began to sour, and by October 2008 it became clear the school was not financially viable.

The graduating students have finished their final semester of classes, overseen by volunteer faculty and staff operating out of First Congregational Church.

Commencement ceremonies are scheduled for 3 p.m. today at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Sandy. Services are open to the public.

In a twist of irony, the graduates represent the school's largest-ever graduating class.

Six students will receive Master of Divinity degrees, and two have earned Master of Arts degrees. Four students will receive a Certificate in Christian Studies.

Officials with the school said it will suspend operations indefinitely, pending the outcome of attempts to align with other seminaries outside Utah.

"It just got to the point that there was no money to operate at all," said David Pascoe, a former seminary employee who has since done volunteer public information work for the school.

Faculty members were forced to take other jobs, but they volunteered their time on Tuesdays in order to make sure graduates were able to complete the coursework they were lacking, he said.

"This commencement is both a commencement for students and a wrapping up of 25 years of theological education in Utah," Pascoe said.

School officials have had conversations with several institutions, including Fuller Theological Seminary and the Denver Seminary, about operating the school as a satellite campus here, he said. "So far the answer has been 'no' or 'not now' or 'we're looking at it.' "