The Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology is located in Kingsley Hall on the historic campus of Virginia Union University, a premier historically black liberal arts university. Built in 1899, Kingsley Hall forms one of the original “Noble Nine” gray granite buildings commissioned by the American Baptist Home Mission Society and designed by New York architect John Hopper Coxhead. The exterior of Kingsley retains its Romanesque Revival architectural style while the interior has been extensively remodeled and technologically upgraded to house the University’s graduate theological school.
The capital city of Richmond, Virginia combines the amenities of a big-city with the charm and feel of an intimate community. Founded in 1607, Richmond is perched on hills overlooking the James River and is rich in natural beauty, historic sites, and artistic, cultural, educational, and religious institutions. In addition to Virginia Union University, Richmond is home to Virginia Commonwealth University, the largest urban public research university in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the University of Richmond, a top ranked private liberal arts university. Also calling Richmond home along with the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology are the members of the Richmond Theological Consortium – Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond and Union Presbyterian Seminary. The constellation of diverse universities and seminaries makes Richmond a unique location for graduate theological education.
Opportunities for cultural enrichment abound in Richmond – from the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia located in the historic Jackson Ward district of Richmond to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to the symphony, opera and ballet companies, numerous dinner theaters and performing arts centers. Situated just two hours south of Washington, DC and an hour from historic Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg to the east and Charlottesville to the west, Richmond is a hub to some of our nation’s most treasured and revered locales.
Richmond provides a full range of opportunities for ministry and training in ministry. The promises and problems of a diverse, multi-faceted, and constantly evolving urban environment provides a rich matrix of issues which demand a theologically creative, ethically just and culturally responsive ministry. Indeed, Richmond offers a rich heritage of African-American and African diasporic history and culture that critically forms and inform graduate theological education at STVU.
Throughout its life, the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology has been a covenanting seminary with its founding denomination, American Baptist Churches, USA. In addition, four other corporate Baptist bodies contribute to various facets of the institution: Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Convention; National Baptist Convention of America; National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.; Progressive National Baptist Convention; and National Missionary Baptist Convention of America.