Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School is an American seminary program founded in 2017 within Yale Divinity School and located in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the successor institution of Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS), the oldest graduate seminary in the United States and the nation's first graduate institution of any kind.
In November 2015, ANTS, affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ, announced that it would sell its campus in Newton, Massachusetts and relocate, after a presence of 190 years on that site.[1] In July 2017, ANTS and Yale Divinity School completed a formal affiliation to create Andover Newton Seminary within the Divinity School.[2]
The former Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) in Newton Centre, Massachusetts was a product of a 1965 merger between two schools of theology: Andover Theological Seminary and Newton Theological Institution—although the two institutions had been co-resident on the same campus in Newton Centre since 1931. ANTS took the earlier founding date (1807) of the Andover Theological Seminary for its founding year.
The school created the educational model used by almost all Protestantseminaries today and pioneered many training programs for prospective clergy, including Field Education. Its faculty had historically ranked among the most distinguished in theological education, and its alumni and alumnae have included important abolitionists, educators, clergy, and theologians; three presidents of Brown University; the founding presidents of Wabash College, Grinnell College, and the Union Theological Seminary in New York City; one of the most important presidents of Dartmouth College; and major figures in many areas of American life and culture.
Andover Newton at Yale
In May 2016, ANTS president Martin Copenhaver announced that Andover Newton would begin a process of formal affiliation with Yale Divinity School over the following two years. In the 2016–17 academic year, a cohort of faculty relocated to New Haven, Connecticut, teaching students and launching pilot initiatives focused on congregational ministry education, while Andover Newton continued to operate in Massachusetts.
The aim of negotiations was a permanent affiliation (beginning in the 2017–18 academic year), resulting in a smaller Andover Newton functioning as a unit within Yale Divinity School, similar to the current arrangement with Berkeley Divinity School. Copenhaver projected that the sale of the Newton, Massachusetts campus would pay off debt and create an endowment for the institution at Yale.[3][4][5] On June 29, 2017, the sale of the Andover Newton campus was finalized, and on July 20, 2017, the boards of Andover Newton and Yale Divinity School signed an agreement to formalize their affiliation.[2]
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, in academics, or mostly in Christian ministry. The English word is taken from the Latin seminarium, translated as "seed-bed", an image taken from the Council of Trent document Cum adolescentium aetas which called for the first modern seminaries.
Andover Theological Seminary (1807–1965) was a Congregationalist seminary founded in 1807 and originally located in Andover, Massachusetts on the campus of Phillips Academy. From 1908 to 1931, it was located at Harvard University in Cambridge. It then collocated to Newton with Newton Theological Institution (NTI). Andover Theological Seminary and NTI formally merged in 1965 to form the Andover Newton Theological School (1965–2018). In its original and merged forms, it is the first and thus the oldest theological seminary founded in the United States. The seminary continues as Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School launched in 2017.
For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divinity schools.
The Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) is a theological school in New York City that trains students for service with the Episcopal Church. It was affiliated with Union Theological Seminary from 2018 to 2023. Known throughout the Anglican Communion for progressive teaching and action on issues of civil rights and social justice, its faculty and students were directly involved in many of the social controversies surrounding the Episcopal Church in the latter half of the 20th century and at the start of the 21st.
Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, government, and service. It also caters to students from other Harvard schools that are interested in the former field. HDS is among a small group of university-based, non-denominational divinity schools in the United States.
George Trumbull Ladd was an American philosopher, educator and psychologist.
The Meadville Lombard Theological School is a Unitarian Universalist seminary in Chicago, Illinois.
Newton Centre is one of the thirteen villages within the city of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The main commercial center of Newton Centre is a triangular area surrounding the intersections of Beacon Street, Centre Street, and Langley Road. It is the largest downtown area among all the villages of Newton, and serves as a large upscale shopping destination for the western suburbs of Boston. The Newton City Hall and War Memorial is located at 1000 Commonwealth Avenue, and the Newton Free Library is located at 330 Homer Street in Newton Centre. The Newton Centre station of the MBTA Green Line "D" branch is located on Union Street.
The Boston Theological Interreligious Consortium (BTI), originally the Boston Theological Institute, is the largest theological consortium in the world, bringing together the resources of theological schools and seminaries throughout the greater Boston area. Its activities include facilitating cross-registration and library access among the member schools and supporting certificate programs and student-led conferences. The BTI is led by Stephanie Edwards, who has served as executive director since the summer of 2020, and by a board of trustees that represent its member schools.
An affiliated school is an educational institution that operates independently, but also has a formal collaborative agreement with another, usually larger institution that may have some level of control or influence over its academic policies, standards or programs.
Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
Lexington Theological Seminary is a private Christian seminary in Lexington, Kentucky. Although it is related to the Christian Church, it is intentionally ecumenical with almost 50 percent of its enrollment coming from other denominations. Lexington Theological Seminary is accredited by Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada to award Master of Divinity, Master of Theological Studies, Master of Pastoral Studies, and Doctor of Ministry degrees.
Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (HCHC) is an Orthodox Christian liberal arts college and seminary in Brookline, Massachusetts. Its mission is to educate individuals for life and service in the Orthodox Christian community; this includes men preparing for the priesthood of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and other Orthodox Christian entities, as well as men and women for leadership roles in the church or within secular society. HCHC includes a graduate school of theology (seminary) for clerical training and education, and several undergraduate and certificate programs in business, education, literature, and other secular professions. The institution was founded in 1937 as Holy Cross Theological School in Pomfret, Connecticut, but was moved to Brookline, Massachusetts in 1947.
Hebrew College is a private college of Jewish studies in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. Founded in 1921, the college conducts Jewish scholarship in a pluralistic, trans-denominational academic environment. Its president is Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld. Hebrew College offers undergraduate completion and graduate degrees, Hebrew-language training, a rabbinical school, a cantorial program and adult-learning and youth-education programs.
Berkeley Divinity School, founded in 1854, is a seminary of The Episcopal Church in New Haven, Connecticut. Along with Andover Newton Theological School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Berkeley is one of the three "Partners on the Quad," which compose a part of the Yale Divinity School at Yale University. Thus, Berkeley operates as a denominational seminary within an ecumenical divinity school. Berkeley has historically represented a Broad church orientation among Anglican seminaries in the country, and was the fourth independent seminary to be founded, after General Theological Seminary (1817), Virginia Theological Seminary (1823), and Nashotah House (1842). Berkeley's institutional antecedents began at Trinity College, Hartford in 1849. The institution was formally chartered in Middletown, Connecticut in 1854, moved to New Haven in 1928, and amalgamated with Yale in 1971.
Newton Theological Institution was a Baptist theological seminary founded on November 28, 1825 in Newton Centre, Massachusetts.
The Boston College School of Theology and Ministry (STM) is a Jesuit school of graduate theology at Boston College. It is an ecclesiastical faculty of theology that trains men and women, both lay and religious, for scholarship and service, especially within the Catholic Church.
Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) was a graduate school and seminary in Newton, Massachusetts. Affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ. It was the product of a merger between Andover Theological Seminary and Newton Theological Institution. In recent years, it was an official open and affirming seminary, meaning that it was open to students of same-sex attraction or transgender orientation and generally advocated for tolerance of it in church and society.
Bangor Theological Seminary was an ecumenical seminary, founded in 1814, in the Congregational tradition of the United Church of Christ. Located in Bangor, Maine, and Portland, Maine, it was the only accredited graduate school of religion in Northern New England
George Park Fisher was an American theologian and historian who was noted as a teacher and a prolific writer.
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