Atlanta, GA, (April 19, 2011). The Reverend Dr. Ronald Edward Peters is the newly inaugurated eighth president of The Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC). He will now lead this prestigious institution as it continues to train men and women for Christian leadership and service in the church and the global community. His inauguration took place in the King International Chapel at Morehouse College (Atlanta, GA) among a group of his peers and many education leaders from the greater Atlanta community and the Atlanta University Center.
For more than a half-century, the ITC, a consortium of six different denominational seminaries, has provided ecumenical theological education and continues to mold preachers, pastors, academic scholars, and lay leaders in the church.
The vision of President Peters begins to take shape within his comments, "The incomparable significance of the Interdenominational Theological Center and how our collaborative seminaries work together to prepare future leaders for the Church is a gratifying ecumenical lesson to be emulated by all of us in the clergy. In a world where religious conflict is often the cause of violence and war, the ITC teaches people of different religious traditions how to work together to improve society. I look forward to helping the wider society understand how the heritage of the African American church can help strengthen the quality of life in the plural, global, and increasingly urbanized society of the twenty-first century."
Before assuming this position, Dr. Peters was the Henry L. Hillman Associate Professor of Urban Ministry and the first Director of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary's Metro-Urban Institute, an interdisciplinary program of religious leadership development for urban society. He brings to Atlanta and to the educational community significant experience and commitment to service which propelled him into leadership positions in the Greater Pittsburgh region where he served on the boards of the United Way of Allegheny County and the Urban League of Pittsburgh, and the Mayor's Commission of Public Education, to name a few.
A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Dr. Peters received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Southern University (Baton Rouge, Louisiana), the Master of Divinity degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Hamilton, Massachusetts), and his Doctor of Education degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Rev. Dr. Peters was ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and joined the Pittsburgh Seminary faculty following 18 years of pastoral leadership. He is an internationally respected preacher, author, and advisor on social witness policy and urban theological education.
