BARRYTOWN – On Saturday, May 27th, the Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) held its 41st annual commencement on the Barrytown campus in upstate New York. Degrees in four fields – Master of Religious Education, Master of Arts in Religious Studies, Master of Divinity, and Doctor of Divinity – as well as two honorary degrees, were conferred by UTS President, Dr. Hugh Spurgin. In a special ceremony, awards were presented to international missionaries from the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) who were assigned by the seminary’s founder, Rev. Sun...

… by Celebrating Islam’s Contributions to the World Religion is the root of culture. We are quite familiar with the contributions the Christian religion has given Western civilization, the architecture, art, music and so forth. However, we may not be so aware of the contributions that Islam has given our world. So, as Muslims begin the month of Ramadan, their holy month of fasting, I would like to take a moment to honor their faith by honoring their contributions to our world. The fact is that many contributions that we think of as Christian would not exist if it were not for...

Things can be difficult when one is born into a family that has a “tradition” to uphold. There are often expectations, standards of behavior and levels of success that may be difficult, if not impossible, to meet. Whether the parent or close relative is an accomplished artist, scholar, athlete or religious leader, comparisons – and accompanying successes or failures – are inevitable. A native of India, and second-year Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) student, Manoranjan Samuel Dennis, is such a person. Samuel, as he prefers to be called, comes from a long line of...

On Saturday, May 27, the Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) will hold its 41st commencement at 2 P.M. on the grounds of the Barrytown campus in upstate New York. A reception for all graduates, family members and invited guests will follow at 4 P.M. Dr. Ki Hoon Kim, Continental Chair of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) will give the commencement address, and UTS President, Dr. Hugh Spurgin, will confer the degrees and offer congratulatory remarks. Dr. Kathy Winings, Vice-President for Academic Affairs, will bestow this year’s honorary degrees on...

If you have been waiting for the right Doctor of Ministry Program, your wait is over.  The UTS Doctor of Ministry Degree has been designed for the active minister – whether you have a pastoral ministry, a youth ministry, a campus ministry, an educational ministry, family ministry, a social ministry, or a ministry of your own design. Time spent on campus is kept to a minimum with roughly 80% of the degree coursework, research, and dissertation preparation completed off-campus. What’s more, this design keeps the UTS D. Min. Program affordable, allowing access to advanced...

A question which keeps on coming up is about the financial challenges that students face when they enroll at UTS. There is a real need for financial assistance. This is true for foreign students coming to UTS as well as students coming from the USA. As we read the stories of UTS students like Emmanuel Ndupu, we realize that God’s love and passion is strong within them and like Emmanuel they are being called to ministry and to be of service to others.  UTS has started a scholarship program to allow alumni and friends of UTS to help our promising students. Would you be willing to help...

NEW YORK – It wasn’t long ago that first-year Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) student, Emmanuel Ndupu (MDiv candidate), was at home in Lagos, Nigeria pondering what God had in store for his future. He had already used his degree in physics from Redeemer’s University to secure a job with a plastics manufacturer in his hometown. He was working as a salesman for the company, filling orders and trying to get new ones. The problem was that he knew his future lay elsewhere, but he didn’t know where – or how he was going to get there. Emmanuel knew this, just like he knew...

“And I will make you fishers of men”: The watery odyssey of Chuck Frumin  Frumin family reunion in Kona, Hawaii. From left: Katsunori Kuwahara, Corinna (Frumin) Kuwahara, Chuck Frumin, Mayumi Frumin, Kanoa Frumin, Yonji Kim, Joshua Frumin. From the Atlantic to the Pacific and finally to the palm-lined shores of paradise, Chuck Frumin, UTS class of ’80, has spent a good part of his life on the water.  A native of California, Frumin was born in Whittier, but grew up a stone’s throw from the pounding waves of Carlsbad, CA where he often surfed. After graduating from the...

The third and last of the semester’s Guest Lecture series was held on Wednesday, April 26 at the 4W43rd Street campus of the Unification Theological Seminary (UTS) in Manhattan.  Dr. Taj Hamad (UTS’86), Director of the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) Office of United Nations Relations and the Chairman of WANGO (World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations), spoke to a roomful of students and guests about the purpose, value and recent proliferation of NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) in the world today. Photo: Dr. Taj Hamad (UTS’86) speaking at UTS in...