San Francisco pastor William Anderson Scott opened two Presbyterian schools in his churches in the mid-19th century, the second of which became the San Francisco Theological Seminary. In 1871, SFTS began with four professors and four students meeting for instruction at the Presbyterian City College located in what now is Union Square. Six years later, the seminary moved to its own building next to the City College building on Haight Street. The seminary moved in 1890 to a hilltop site in Marin County about north of the Golden Gate Bridge. A new charter issued in 1900 gave the seminary power to grant degrees, and jurisdiction over the seminary was transferred from the synod to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 1913. In the post World War II era under its president, Jesse Hays Baird, SFTS enjoyed unprecedented expansion, with enrollment increasing to more than 300 and new buildings rising all over the San Anselmo campus. SFTS joined in 1962 with neighboring graduate schools and academic centers in founding the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. The GTU developed joint M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in cooperation with the graduate school at the University of California Berkeley. In 1990, SFTS opened its second campus in Pasadena, which was housed in the Pasadena Presbyterian Church. Due to seminary budget cuts, the board of trustees voted to close the Pasadena campus in February 2011. However, despite the announced closure, the seminary continued to consider alternative opportunities to expand their programs in Southern California. In February 2019, SFTS announced its intention to become part of the University of Redlands, based in Southern California's Inland Empire region. The merger was complete on July 1, 2019, creating a new Graduate School of Theology that carried SFTS programs forward and expanded opportunities for its students.
Graduate Theological Union Berkeley: Through GTU schools and centers, SFTS students can relate to wider communities within Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism. SFTS students enjoy free and open cross-registration with all GTU member institutions.
University of California Berkeley: Through Graduate Theological Union agreements, SFTS students enjoy free cross-registration for UC Berkeley courses and the use of the university's research and performing arts centers, its nearly 100 library collections and approximately 80 museum collections.
University of Redlands: As part of the University of Redlands, SFTS students have access to a wide range of programming, including joint degrees through the University's School of Business and School of Education.
Notable alumni
Yvette Flunder, D.Min, San Francisco Theological Seminary; Founder the City of Refugee and Chair of the San Francisco Inter-religious Coalition on AIDS.
