History of Payne Theological Seminary

Payne Theological Seminary is one of the oldest Black seminaries primarily concerned with the training of men and women for the ministry. The mission of Payne has always been: to prepare men and women of faith to be spiritual leaders, intellectual leaders, and agents of constructive social change in the church and world. Its origin can be traced to the Ohio Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, which met in Columbus, Ohio, October 18, 1844. There a committee was appointed and empowered to select a site and erect a Seminary and Manual Training School. 

The objective of the proposed school, to be known as Union Semi­nary, was the "education of young men who propose to enter the Christian ministry." Union Seminary, located near what is now West Jeffer­son, Ohio, was closed in 1858.In 1856 the Cincinnati Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church North organized and established Wilberforce University, located at Tawawa Springs near Xenia, Ohio. In 1863 the African Methodist Episcopal Church purchased Wilberforce University. Following this transaction, the assets of the former Union Seminary were transferred to Wilberforce University. A major emphasis at Wilberforce was the training and preparation of men for the ministry of the Church. A special theological department was organized for this purpose in 1866.

The Board of Trustees of Wilberforce University began con­sideration of a plan to establish a separate theological school in 1870. In 1871, this Board voted and approved the organization of a seminary to be named after Bishop Daniel A. Payne, who had interested the African Methodist Episcopal Church in a program of higher education.

The Seminary was incorporated in 1894 as an independent institution "for the purpose of promoting education, religion and morality by the education of persons for the Christian ministry and missionaries for the redemption of Africa and other foreign lands." In 1948, the Bishop Williams School of Religion of Western University located at Quindaro, Kansas, was closed. Its library, faculty and student body were transferred to Payne Seminary. In 1954, the Seminary took steps to raise its standards by promoting a program exclusively on a graduate level. Payne Theological Seminary was admitted to membership in the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) in 1956. In 1995 it became the fourth historically African American theological seminary to become fully accredited by the ATS.