The American Theological Society (ATS), founded in 1912, is the oldest professional theological society in North America. It has met at least once each year in various locations on the East Coast of the United States, lately at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey. Membership is by nomination and election, and is limited to 100 people at any given time. The purpose of the American Theological Society is to foster research excellence in the various theological disciplines and to cultivate collegial relationships.
Membership Membership in the American Theological Society is by nomination and election by two-thirds of the members voting at the annual meeting. The society's membership is capped at one hundred. There are several categories of membership. Active members of the American Theological Society are those who regularly attend its annual meetings and regularly pay the annual dues. Sustaining members are previously active members who have not attended a meeting within the past three years, but who have continued to pay the annual dues. Inactive members are those who have not attended at least one meeting within a three-year period and who have ceased to pay annual dues for at least three years. Members-designate are those who have been elected to membership but who have not yet attended an annual meeting.
Executive The American Theological Society's business is organized by an executive committee consisting of a president, a vice-president (who is also president-elect), the immediately past president, a secretary, a treasurer, a program officer, and membership officer, and two at-large members. All are elected by the society's membership at its annual meeting.
Presidents The presidents of the American Theological Society are as follows:
1912–1913: William Adams Brown 1913–1914: Daniel Evans 1914–1915: W. D. MacKenzie 1915–1916: George Cross 1916–1917: E. S. Drown 1917–1918: F. C. Porter 1918–1919: A. C. McGiffert 1919–1920: D. C. Macintosh 1920–1921: Rufus M. Jones 1921–1922: A. M. Dulles 1922–1923: Eugene W. Lyman 1923–1924: M. G. Evans 1924–1925: E. Hershey Sneath 1925–1926: A. L. Gillett 1926–1927: S. B. Meeser 1927–1928: A. C. Knudson 1928–1929: W. P. Ladd 1929–1930: R. M. Vaughan 1930–1931: John Baillie 1931–1932: Durant Drake 1932–1933: G. W. Richards 1933–1934: E. S. Brightman 1934–1935: J. B. Pratt 1935–1936: J. S. Bixler 1936–1937: W. K. Wright 1937–1938: W. M. Urban 1938–1939: R. E. Hume 1939–1940: A. G. Widgery 1940–1941: Angus Dun 1941–1942: George Thomas 1942–1943: Walter M. Horton 1943–1944: Paul Tillich 1944–1945: Vergilius Ferm 1945–1946: Douglas V. Steere 1946–1947: H. Richard Niebuhr 1947–1948: Reinhold Niebuhr 1948–1949: Norman Pittenger 1949–1950: E. A. Burtt 1950–1951: Richard Kroner 1951–1952: Morton S. Enslin 1952–1953: Henry P. Van Dusen 1953–1954: John C. Bennett 1954–1955: Otto Piper 1955–1956: Brand Blanshard 1956–1957: Clarence W. Hamilton 1957–1958: Nels S. F. Ferré 1958–1959: Shelton Smith 1959–1960: Albert Outler 1960–1961: John Knox 1961–1962: Harold DeWolf 1962–1963: Wilhelm Pauck 1963–1964: Peter Bertocci 1964–1965: Paul Ramsey 1965–1966: Paul Minear 1966–1967: Daniel Day Williams 1967–1968: John E. Smith 1968–1969: S. Paul Schilling 1969–1970: Paul Lehmann 1970–1971: George Hendry 1971–1972: Roger Hazelton 1972–1973: James Luther Adams 1973–1974: Eugene Fairweather 1974–1975: 1975–1976: Roger L. Shinn 1976–1977: Frederick Ferré 1977–1978: J. Robert Nelson 1978–1979: Avery Dulles 1979–1980: Gordon D. Kaufman 1980–1981: Carl F. H. Henry 1981–1982: Eugene Borowitz 1982–1983: J. Alfred Martin Jr. 1983–1984: Charles West 1984–1985: Bernhard Anderson 1985–1986: John D. Godsey 1986–1987: Richard A. Norris Jr. 1987–1988: Paul Meyer 1988–1989: Paul van Buren 1989–1990: Charles Curran 1990–1991: Gabriel Fackre 1991–1992: Franz J. van Beeck 1992–1993: J. Deotis Roberts 1993–1994: Owen C. Thomas 1994–1995: Karlfried Froehlich 1995–1996: Edward LeRoy Long Jr. 1996–1997: Geoffrey Wainwright 1997–1998: Stanley S. Harakas 1998–1999: Robert W. Jenson 1999–2000: Joanne McWilliam 2000–2001: Michael Fahey 2001–2002: Christopher Morse 2002–2003: Georges Tavard 2003–2004: Robert K. Johnston 2004–2005: J. Philip Wogaman 2005–2006: Robert Cummings Neville 2006–2007: Elizabeth A. Johnson 2007–2008: Daniel L. Migliore 2008–2009: Max Stackhouse 2009–2010: Kathryn Tanner 2010–2011: Peter Slater 2011–2012: Peter Paris 2012–2013: Charles M. Wood 2013–2014: Francis Schüssler Fiorenza 2014–2015: M. Douglas Meeks 2015–2016: Peter C. Phan 2016-2017: Wesley Wildman
Related societies There are a number of other theological societies in North America.
Self-described national theological societies Catholic Theological Society of America (founded in 1946; ) The Evangelical Theological Society (founded in 1949; website) Wesleyan Theological Society (founded in 1965; website) Orthodox Theological Society in America (founded in 1966; website) Adventist Theological Society (probably founded in 1988; website)
Self-described regional theological societies American Theological Society Midwest Division (founded in 1927; website) Pacific Coast Theological Society (founded in 1939; website) College Theology Society (founded in 1953; website) Old Life Theological Society (founded around 2004; website) Fox Valley Theological Society (founded around 2009 or 2010; website) Boston Theological Society (founding year unknown; website) Theological Discussion Group, currently "New Haven Theological Discussion Group" (founding year unknown; no website)
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