The Rev. Ronald Peters, a professor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary who has trained urban pastors and worked to strengthen historically black congregations, has been named president of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta.

Dr. Peters founded the Pittsburgh seminary's Metro-Urban Institute in 1991 to serve the needs of predominantly black churches. Much of his work focused on helping them to address community concerns outside the church.

The center is a consortium of seminaries, most of which are historically black and all of which are concerned with training pastors for the African-American community.

The Rev. William Carl III, president of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, said, "Ron Peters has certainly made his mark on Pittsburgh seminary, the city of Pittsburgh and the world, both in the classroom and on the street, through his leadership of the Metro-Urban Institute. Although we will miss his effective bridging of the word and the world, we celebrate with Dr. Peters this new appointment to lead an outstanding institution such as ITC."

Dr. Peters is an adviser on social witness policy for the Presbyterian Church (USA) and has conducted urban ministry workshops and preached in such places as Botswana and Kenya.

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