United Theological Seminary is a United Methodist seminary in Trotwood, Ohio, which is part of the Dayton metropolitan area. Founded in 1871 by Milton Wright (father of the Wright brothers), it was originally sponsored by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. In 1946, members of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ merged with the Evangelical Church to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church, with which the seminary then became affiliated. When that denomination merged with The Methodist Church in 1968, United Theological Seminary became one of the thirteen seminaries affiliated with the new United Methodist Church.Though the seminary is affiliated with the United Methodist denomination, students come from many denominations and are ordained by a wide range of denominations upon graduation. The seminary houses a Hispanic Christian Academy, a UMC Course of Study program for UM local pastors and also a United Church of Christ House of Studies. The seminary also has strong ties to the African-American church tradition, with a number of major figures in the American Civil Rights Movement later going on to become students or faculty at United. In recent years, the seminary has become a leading center for discussion of church renewal. It has also been named one of the fastest-growing seminaries in the United States.