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United Lutheran Seminary on Wednesday fired its new president, Reverend Theresa Latini, amid continuing controversy over Latini's prior work for an organization that encouraged gay Christians to stop being gay. While Latini has renounced that group's work, many affiliated with the seminary have been questioning not only her appointment but why board members who knew about her background did not share that information widely.
A statement Wednesday by the board said in part, "Guided by our wish to act decisively and seeking God’s blessed guidance, the board voted to end Dr. Theresa F. Latini’s position as president of the United Lutheran Seminary. This decision was made based on the board’s concern that the ongoing controversy surrounding her naming as president made it extremely difficult to overcome the issues related to trust as the president of this institution. With the understanding that there is much work to be done in healing, and recognizing her significant value and gifts, the Board recognized that her ongoing tenure would present a significant obstacle to moving forward."
Latini said via email that she was being scapegoated, and that United Lutheran was facing challenges from its recent creation from merging two Lutheran seminaries. "I had been eager to help this newly-combined organization to flourish," she said. "However, given the longstanding, historic divisions between the predecessor schools and what I believe to have been a politically based whisper campaign against me and other members of the board, it became clear that certain parts of the organization were not going to stand behind me and that I could not be effective as president. I have been scapegoated by an historically divided institution resistant to unification, and have been given little chance to respond to the accusations against me."
