Jonathan Morgan (’00), Wilson Yates, & the Legacy of a Friendship

There are few, if any, alums in United’s 63 years that can claim to have occupied the office of the presidency before graduating. So it is with Jonathan Morgan (’00), whose connections to the seminary span decades and run the gamut from alum to donor, trustee, and interim President—though not in that order. The son and grandson of prominent Twin Cities attorneys, both of whom he greatly admired, Jonathan spent his early years in tension between two paths. 

“When I was in college, I was torn between going to law school and theological seminary.” Jonathan ultimately chose law school. An alum of Harvard University and Harvard Law School, Jonathan began his career as an attorney on solid footing. In an interview with Mendota Heights Living Magazine, Jonathan is cited as having followed his tenure at his father’s firm in the Twin Cities—Briggs and Morgan, P.A. (now Taft Law), where he met his wife, Martha—by working in the Minnesota Attorney General’s office. Still, the deeper he waded into legal work, the stronger the pull toward seminary became.

Jonathan’s foray into theological education began in his role as a trustee. “It was in the 1970s, ” he recalls, “that Virginia Brooks on the United board was responsible for inviting me to serve on the board of directors, which I was very happy to do.” He began serving as a trustee in 1988, and in 1994, he stepped away from practicing law and answered the call to enroll at United. 

“One day,” Jonathan remembers from his time as a student, “President Ben Griffin called me into his office: ‘Would you be willing to serve as Interim President upon my departure?’” With the stipulation that it was indeed temporary, Jonathan graciously accepted and served as Interim President from 1995 to 1996. “I had that wonderful year in that capacity,” Jonathan reflects, “And of course, at that time, I got to know Wilson Yates very well.” In 1996, after Rev. Dr. Wilson Yates was named President, he asked Jonathan to serve as Vice President of Development. “I was very happy to do that,” Jonathan shares. 

He graduated from United in 2000 while also serving as  Vice President.“ For the ensuing nine years, I served as Vice President of Development and Stewardship, and Wilson served as President.” Jonathan fondly recalls that the pair became quite close—“not only in our work for the seminary, but also as great friends.” As a team, they were highly effective, sharing meals with countless donors, successfully raising support for two capital campaigns, not only advancing the seminary’s mission, but also enjoying “the journey as friends who were able to be inspired to do what we did.”

The closer they became, the more Jonathan’s esteem for Wilson grew. “I came to admire Wilson not only as a theologian, but as a scholar and a teacher.” Thus, when the announcement was made that a chair was to be endowed in Wilson’s name, it was—for Jonathan and Martha—an enthusiastic yes. Alongside other faithful friends and alums, the Morgans pledged money to help establish the Wilson Yates Chair in Theology and the Arts. They also wrote United into their will, ensuring that the legacy of their friendship and Wilson’s impact on Jonathan extends far into the future.

Jonathan celebrates Wilson as a “pioneer” in the field of theology and the arts, and its application for churches and religious life. In Jonathan’s view, Wilson “stands as the founder and the foremost advocate and illuminator of the relationship between religion and the arts.” He contends, “That has been a blessing not only for the seminary, but for the wider religious community.” 

Jonathan’s commitment to United and support for this new Chair reflect his belief in the relevance of progressive theological education. “[United] and its graduates are in an excellent position to be a force for good in a nation which is struggling for renewed hope and direction.” It is Jonathan’s “hope and prayer that United will continue to reflect God’s summons that we may be a force for concern and love for those whom we are privileged to serve.” 

We give thanks for Jonathan and Martha’s enduring legacy of support for and involvement with theological education at United.