The trend towards higher education was forward and back. In 1843, the minutes of the General Conference of the Evangelical Association contained a statement acknowledging that the movement had been perceived to be averse to higher education. The statement also sought to clarify the position of the church that, even though it felt higher education was not necessary for its ministers to succeed, more education would, in many instances, make those ministers more effective.
Having put that out there, the General Conference went on to state: “Entertaining these views of the advantages of learning in a minister of the Gospel this conference recommends to all its candidates for the ministry, and to all its ministers generally, to take proper measures to store their minds with as large an amount of useful information as they possibly can, or to endeavor to become learned and literary men, who also have the unction of the Holy Spirit.”
So, the General Conference put it on record, and that statement served to release the pent up feelings from all the advocates of higher learning within the denomination. In this same era, public secondary schools began to proliferate, as did church-sponsored colleges. So, there existed a sort of “get aboard or get left behind” mentality, and even the existing clergy worried that they might be made obsolete by younger, better-educated upstarts. And, consistent with other denominations, thoughts turned from simply educating the clergy toward educating clergy and lay persons alike.
In 1845, Jacob Albright’s protégé, John Dreisbach, wrote an article titled “Teachers and Preachers Should Not Be Ignorant,” wherein he reiterated that “useful knowledge,” while still not to be considered a necessity for the minister, would nevertheless be of benefit. However, there still remained strong opposition in some areas. Two years later, Dreisbach introduced a resolution to the General Conference to establish a “nursery of general knowledge.”
The resolution was so vague, it is speculated that it was a trial balloon to test the congregation’s collective will. While passed by the General Conference, the motion was rejected by the local church members, a vote having been stipulated by Dreisbach. Subsequent publishing during 1848 left little doubt that higher education was the vision of a few, with the grass roots largely opposed.
Consequently, it was 1853 before the Pittsburgh Conference voted to establish the Albright Seminary in Berlin, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Initially, it looked like the school would make a go of it, but the budget was said to be pitifully inadequate and enthusiasm waned. Another failure was Greensburg Seminary, established in 1855 in Greensburg, Ohio, which gobbled up Albright Seminary in a merger. The combined school closed in 1865.
It was a third school, established in 1856, that succeeded. Union Seminary, established in New Berlin, Pennsylvania, is considered the mother school to Albright College.
In the story of Union Seminary, William W. Orwig emerges as a man of vision. Orwig is credited as being the instrumental driving force behind the establishment of the school. He had the time, the depth of feeling, money and influence, and he brought all to bear on the matter.
Additionally, he had a pulpit, and he was not afraid to go on record. Orwig was editor of Der Christliche Botschafter, and he wrote often in favor of higher education for young people. Orwig became a bishop, but he served just one four-year term. He did not get elected to a subsequent term, which was unprecedented, and the reason was assumed to be his outspokenness regarding higher education.
