Carnegie Samuel Calian will retire tomorrow from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary as one of the nation's most successful seminary presidents.

	Robin Rombach, Post-Gazette Carnegie Samuel Calian, Pittsburgh Theological president Click photo for larger image.

During his 25-year tenure, the endowment skyrocketed from $9 million to $160 million. Enrollment more than doubled, to 380.

But such success requires change, and change brings controversy. Some say he saved the future of the oldest seminary in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Others claim he abandoned cutting-edge theology and social ethics to court conservative support.

Dr. Calian, 72, believes he has created a centrist school that prepares pastors for congregations, not the ivory tower. When he arrived in 1981, ties to local churches were weak, partly because what was taught in class often bore little resemblance to basics learned in Sunday school.

"I was looking to be faithful to our theological heritage," Dr. Calian said.

"I'm a conservative in that I see some basic convictions that are essential to the faith. But I'm open-ended, in that I understand that our day-to-day life often has more questions than answers."

Thomas Oden, professor of theology and ethics at Drew University Divinity School in New Jersey and a critic of theological relativism in mainline seminaries, called PTS a sign of hope.

"Sam Calian has been one of those leaders, in my view, who has understood the great importance of holding fast to classical Christian teaching without being narrow," he said.

Many faculty hired during his tenure are either evangelical or do work respected by evangelicals. The New Testament department includes Dale Allison, who writes must-read books defending biblical accounts of Jesus; Edith Humphrey, who does similar work in spiritual theology; and Robert Gagnon, who defends the view that gay sex is sinful. In the theology department, Andrew Purves and John Burgess are standard bearers for traditional Presbyterian theology.

Missions professor Scott Sunquist is doing groundbreaking work on non-Western Christianity. And archaeology professor Ron Tappy made international headlines with his discovery of an ancient alphabet, countering claims that Israelites were illiterate in the age of Solomon.

But not all hires fall on the conservative side of the theological ledger. Ethics professor Ronald Cole-Turner, for instance, is one of the few seminary professors nationwide with expertise in science and genetics.

The Rev. Jim Mead, pastor to Pittsburgh Presbytery and a PTS board member, says Dr. Calian has prepared a bright future for his successor, Dallas pastor William Carl III.

"Sam has built a national caliber, potentially world-class, faculty, he said.

Dr. Calian, 72, grew up in Southern California, the son of Armenian immigrants.

He attended Princeton Theological Seminary and was ordained Presbyterian. He later audited classes at the fledgling, evangelical Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, then earned a doctorate from the University of Basel, Switzerland. In 1963, he became a theology professor at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. PTS trustees who heard him speak at Chautauqua persuaded him to come here as president.

PTS had been created in a 1959 merger of liberal and conservative seminaries. The faculty was rife with theological conflict.

"They were all licking wounds when I came," he said.

The campus was unkempt. Organizers couldn't afford a dinner for his installation.

His first big move was to clean up the campus. Classes were canceled for a day. He bought mops, rakes and paint. Faculty, students and administrators went to work with as many trustees as he could round up. He invited nearby churches to send volunteers.

"It went over big in the community. It appealed to the Presbyterian work ethic, and it was part of my vision that we aren't going to get much done if we don't work together," he said.

But strife would continue. The school lurched rightward, although there is disagreement over whether it landed in the center or the right wing.

Dr. Calian professed no interest in squelching liberal social causes that the faculty was then known for. But he didn't think those should obscure the goal of graduating pastors well grounded in traditional Christian faith.

George Kehm taught systemic theology at PTS from 1961 to 1997, and long counted himself a liberal on a mixed faculty. But PTS tilted evangelical in the 1990s, he said.

"The student body has also changed. Even students from conservative schools such as Geneva College are represented there now," he said.

The shift "made me very uncomfortable," he said.

But it had benefits, he acknowledged.

"When we were engaged in civil rights and anti-war protests and gay rights, we were losing favor with a lot of congregations in Western Pennsylvania, and the presbyteries weren't sending their students here," he said. "That has changed. ... He has created a viable future for the seminary, even if it is one that, for me, is not the best."

Former faculty member Linda Day, who taught Old Testament from 1995 to 2004, says she was denied tenure because of her feminist theological convictions.

"President Calian has been ... getting rid of people who don't fit into [a conservative] view of what a seminary should be," she said..

"Women and minorities ... have not only been neglected, but there is hostility toward them."

People involved in that decision say tenure was denied due to her teaching skills and publishing performance. As proof they point to Susan Nelson, a feminist theologian and one of the most popular teachers at PTS.

When she was hired in 1984 she was one of two women on the faculty; now she is one of five. While more are needed, women have fared better under Dr. Calian than previously, she said.

"I think what we have had under Sam's tenure is diverse voices," she said, "I feel like there is genuine good will among he faculty. We work together and have a growing sense of how we all fit together."

Dr. Gagnon, whose 2002 tenure was seen as a bellwether by both sides, says PTS has become a bit more conservative than most mainline seminaries, but remains slightly more liberal than most mainline churches.

Although evangelicals use his work on sexuality, he could not be hired at an evangelical seminary because he doesn't believe the Bible is inerrant.

"We simply don't have a genuine right-of-center in mainline seminaries, so the spectrum is truncated and skewed," he said.

The Rev. Al Stuart, pastor of Highland Presbyterian Church in Slippery Rock, was an evangelical student at PTS in the mid-1990s. He had enrolled reluctantly, while also studying at the conservative Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Point Breeze. Pittsburgh Presbytery told him to enroll at PTS for exposure to other theological perspectives.

At first he felt his beliefs were belittled. But when Dr. Gagnon and others were hired, "there was a recognition that just because we were evangelicals didn't mean we were dumber than stumps. They took us seriously," he said.

What everyone agrees on is that Dr. Calian raised money. PTS now has the seventh largest endowment of 250 seminaries in the United States and Canada. He set out to quadruple the endowment to $40 million, and surpassed that thrice over.

Admirers say he radiates such enthusiasm for the PTS that he inspires generosity. His critics say he's so persistent that people give to make him go away.

Dr. Calian credits his golden touch to "first and foremost, dependence on God. Only God can create the chemistry in the other person to want to be generous," he said.

He endowed 18 chairs, fortified two others and created new institutes. The Center for Business, Religion and Public Life has generated ties with the business community. The World Mission Initiative supports missionaries. The Summer Youth Institute brings top high school students to campus to experience classes and shadow pastors.

The Metro-Urban Institute makes PTS one of the few seminaries to train pastors for urban ministry. While most PTS students are from this region, the institute draws nationwide, and has made the student body about 12 percent African-American.

Mr. Mead believes Dr. Calian has prepared PTS to become a premier seminary.

"While other people's work has mattered enormously, organizations very rarely go places that their leader doesn't take them," he said.

"Jesus said that we would know church leaders by their fruit, and if you look at the fruit of 25 years of ministry, it is absolutely remarkable."