October 19, 2010
By Matthew Davies

NEW YORK – General Theological Seminary in New York has announced a new initiative intended to eliminate $41 million of debt and restore the school's endowment, according to an Oct. 18 press release.

The "Plan to Choose Life" initiative, approved by the seminary's trustees, aims to leverage $60 million through the sale of several properties to balance the GTS budget within a period of 18-24 months. The seminary's classic quadrangle, known as the "Close," will be preserved, as will all the historic buildings fronting West 21st Street, the release noted.

The properties being sold include a building at 422 West 20th Street that mostly houses seminary students, all of whom will be moved onto the campus into newly renovated space, the Rev. Lang Lowrey, interim president of GTS, told ENS on Oct. 19.

The seminary also will sell six Chelsea apartments and its old West Building that currently houses the GTS offices and a faculty member, who will move to the Moore building. The offices will relocate to the Seabury building, where the current library is housed.

In addition to balancing the budget, the sales are enabling the building of a new library and seminary entrance on West 21st Street.

Lowrey said that the seminary already has a buyer "under letter of intent" for all of the properties and that they are hoping to close the sales within 30-60 days, subject to New York City approvals. He also said the seminary has a "buy-back option" on all of the sales.

"We're hoping to elimate the debt so that we can just focus on one thing and that is our mission," he said.

The trustees also elected Diocese of New York Bishop Mark Sisk to serve as the seminary's new board chair, succeeding the Rev. Canon Denis O'Pray, who served for five years.

"The adoption of this plan represents a comprehensive solution to financial challenges that have been a drain on morale and a serious impediment to the seminary's mission for many years," said Sisk, according to the release. "GTS trustees today took a bold but very carefully considered step to leverage assets through the sale of residential properties. The payoff is the substantial if not the complete elimination of all General's debt."

As with many of the Episcopal Church-affiliated seminaries, GTS has experienced financial setbacks during the past two years. The seminary recently secured a $5.3 million short-term loan to finance the upcoming school year.

A subsequent step in the "Plan to Choose Life" initiative, Sisk explained, will seek to find Episcopal or other not-for-profit partners to share in the ownership of the Desmond Tutu Center, the seminary's conference facility.

"The proceeds from the partnership would be used to rebuild quickly the seminary's endowment which, from its annual earnings, should enable General to achieve a balanced budget and to concentrate on its mission to educate and form leaders for the church," the release said.

"At the crux of our financial crisis we realized that this plan was the only alternative for a comprehensive solution that was achievable in a few years," Lowrey said in the release.

Episcopal News Service