Newest Renovations on the Wilmore Campus to Honor Alumni
When Henry Clay Morrison and his successors built Asbury Seminary’s signature buildings throughout the 20th century, they envisioned a campus that would be traditional in architecture and timeless in tradition. Throughout the years and through significant growth, the campus has remained a familiar place to students who have graduated. In new spaces and old, Asbury Seminary continues to honor our mission to theologically educate men and women and prepare them to spread scriptural holiness throughout the world. Today’s graduating class is radically different from the class of 2000 and different still from the future class of 2023. Asbury Seminary continually finds itself creating space, virtual and physical, to provide a world-class theological education in a technologically dynamic context. As a result, we announce the development of a Global Alumni Center, which will provide the unmistakable message of Asbury’s commitment to power the relational and technological engine needed to propel the Seminary into the next 100 years of theological education.
Asbury Seminary’s purpose is not to build buildings but to prepare evangelical men and women academically and spiritually for service to God. In addition to a world-class faculty, this work requires a highly skilled Advancement team to expand our relational circle by facilitating relationships with donors, grants from foundations, communication with constituents and bonds with alumni. This team requires a central space that inspires engagement, interaction, collaboration and cooperation. In alignment with the 2023 Strategic Plan, we envision a new facility positioned at the front door of the campus and designed to welcome alumni, donors and friends and to serve as the hub of seminary advancement and engagement.
Alumni are not only a link to the past, but are an important key to the future of any institution. Alumni are the top referral source for new students at Asbury Seminary. Many of these referrals matriculate, continuing to increase the number of alumni. The Association of Theological Schools’ survey of students entering theological schools reveals that the recommendation of a graduate is highly important in the decision-making process; students rank it more important than financial aid availability, geographic proximity, and denominational recommendation.” In seminaries, it seems the number of student referrals from alumni is even more significant because the trend indicates our alumni have made a spiritual impact on the students at some point in their lives by offering advice, encouragement, inspiration and guidance.
Since moving to the Crary-McPheeters offices, the Alumni Office has nurtured and expanded the building’s atmosphere of holy hospitality to our community and guests by offering a hospitality room with coffee, tea, and snacks as well as individual prayer and personal support to those who enter the space. To continue that welcoming, hospitable atmosphere, we will showcase the history of Asbury Seminary and our global alumni in the hallways outside the Alumni Office on the first floor. Beginning with the entryway, we will update and refresh the area by branding with Asbury colors and photos, giving visitors and students a grand message upon entering the building: “Welcome to Asbury Theological Seminary!” After going through the double doors, visitors will immediately understand Asbury Seminary has a rich legacy in the words that greet them as they enter the space: “The Whole Bible for the Whole World.” Looking to their left and right, they will see an inspiring timeline telling the story of Asbury Seminary’s first 100 years, with pictures, videos, recordings and other interactive displays.
As they turn the corner, to their right, there is a dedicated prayer room which serves to stress the vital importance both individual and corporate prayer has played in our history. As they continue down the hall, they will notice a second room on the right that highlights the value Asbury Seminary has placed on the music of the church. Here they can hear recorded music and see photos of Singing Seminarians through the years, as well as other Asbury musicians from years gone by. This vision culminates at the end of the timeline with an interactive map display where alumni stories from different countries can be heard, emphasizing Asbury Seminary’s mission statement to “send forth men and women to spread scriptural holiness around the world.” On this global display, they will see points of light where our alumni serve in 76 different countries around the world. Here, Henry Clay Morrison’s vision, “The Whole Bible for the Whole Word,” is realized more fully after 100 years of dedication to this mission, and the culmination of all these pinpoints of light makes the viewer marvel at what God might do with Asbury Theological Seminary in the next 100 years.
The walls of Royal Auditorium will also become space where we continue to glorify God by sharing some of the ways He has blessed the seminary and our alumni to help usher in His Kingdom in our world. We will have one wall engraved with the names of our alumni who have graduated since our inception. On the other walls, we will showcase the mission of Asbury and tell additional stories of our rich spiritual history. This room will become the place where our Board of Trustees and Alumni Council will meet when in session to conduct business and continue to seek the Lord in our commitment to spread scriptural holiness around the world for years to come.
If you would like to contribute to the development of this Global Alumni Center to honor our past and facilitate our future, You can donate online here, or as always, you can mail a check to:
Office of Advancement
Asbury Theological Seminary
204 N. Lexington Ave.
Wilmore, KY 40390
P.S. – We just got a shipment of new Asbury Seminary alumni t-shirts! For a suggested donation of $20 or more, we will gladly send you one. The new batch is heathered black. Be sure to tell us the size you’d like!
Do you guys have pictures? I graduated almost 40 years ago and would love to see pictures of the campus inside and outside.
There are lots of pictures of campus on our website in various places. We will be featuring some before and after pictures of this specific space later, as well as some pictures of the work in progress once this project is complete!
I love what you are doing with this new Global Alumni Center. It will be an inspiration to all who experience it. I can’t wait to see it when it is done. A donation will be on the way soon.
To God be the glory!
Thank you Dale 🙂
I will ever live to thank God for his love and directing me to Asbury Theological Seminary in 1999. Your strategic plan for 2023 overwhelms my spirit and soul. Please, remember me in your Asbury centennial planned celebrations. We have ATS graduates here in Nigeria and we will like to know how that should be done. We are integrally part of your vision and mission.