Misplaced Pages

#91908

47-933: The Boston Theological Institute was formed in 1968 to facilitate collaboration and enable joint programming among seven graduate-level Christian theological schools in Greater Boston: Andover Newton Theological School (American Baptist Church), the Boston College Department of Theology (Roman Catholic), the Boston University School of Theology (United Methodist), Episcopal Theological School (later Episcopal Divinity School ), Harvard Divinity School (interfaith), St. John's Seminary (Roman Catholic), and Weston College (now Boston College School of Theology and Ministry , Roman Catholic). Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Evangelical) became

94-546: A big influence on America. Prior to the American Civil War, when there were few fully developed graduate programs in the United States, the two schools trained some of the nation's most important scholars, linguists, social activists, educational innovators, and college presidents as well as many of its leading Protestant clergy. Below are the graduates of the school: Union Theological Seminary in

141-710: A large academic-Gothic style facility there, and began to develop plans for a more formal merger with Harvard. However, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts disallowed the alliance. Although the court decision was later reversed, Andover eventually relocated to the Newton Centre campus of the Newton Theological Institution in 1931. The original Andover Seminary library remained on the Harvard campus, where, merged with

188-649: A member institution in 2020. Meanwhile, the Episcopal Divinity School ended its membership in the BTI after the closure of its Cambridge, Massachusetts campus, as did Andover Newton Theological School after its Newton, Massachusetts campus closed. The BTI began using the name Boston Theological Interreligious Consortium in August 2018. Past directors of the BTI include the Rev. Walter Wagoner, Sr. (1968 through

235-531: A member of the consortium in 1972, and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in 1975. On January 1, 2011, the BTI became a multifaith organization when Hebrew College joined the coalition. On January 1, 2018, the BTI expanded beyond Greater Boston when Hartford Seminary , a nondenominational seminary in Hartford, Connecticut, became a member. The Boston University Graduate Program in Religion became

282-626: A process it completed in July 2017. Andover Newton was a product of a 1965 merger between two schools of theology : Andover Theological Seminary and Newton Theological Institution . The two institutions had been co-resident on the same campus in Newton Centre, Massachusetts , since 1931. Andover Newton took the earlier founding date (1807) of the Andover Theological Seminary for its founding year. The school created

329-545: A process of formal affiliation with Yale Divinity School over a two-year period. 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. Copenhaver projected that a sale of the Newton campus would pay off debt and create an endowment for

376-619: A reduced student base. Eventually, the school agreed to lease some of its buildings to Columbia University and to transfer ownership of and responsibility for the Burke Library to Columbia. These agreements helped stabilize the school's finances, which had been hobbled by increasing library costs and the need for substantial campus repairs. On July 1, 2008, feminist theologian Serene Jones became UTS's first female president in its 172-year history, succeeding Joseph C. Hough Jr. On June 10, 2014, Jones announced that UTS would be joining

423-490: Is located in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan , New York City , bordered by Claremont Avenue , Broadway , and West 120th and 122nd Streets. The brick and limestone English Gothic revival architecture , by architects Allen & Collens , completed in 1910, includes the tower, which adapts features of the crossing tower of Durham Cathedral . Adjacent to Teachers College , Barnard College ,

470-727: Is the oldest independent seminary in the United States and has long been known as a bastion of progressive Christian scholarship, with a number of prominent thinkers among its faculty or alumni. It was founded in 1836 by members of the Presbyterian Church in the USA , but was open to students of all denominations. In 1893, UTS rescinded the right of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church to veto faculty appointments, thus becoming fully independent. In

517-681: The Auburn Theological Seminary moved to its campus and departed in 2014. Among its graduates were the historian of Christianity Arthur McGiffert ; biblical scholar James Moffatt ; Harry Emerson Fosdick , the pastor of Riverside Church who served as professor during his tenure there; and the Socialist leader Norman Thomas . In 1895, members of the Union Theological Seminary Alumni Club founded Union Settlement Association , one of

SECTION 10

#1732773025092

564-676: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America , and the Manhattan School of Music , Union has cross-registration and library access agreements with all of these schools. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 23, 1980, and parts were made a New York City designated landmark in 1965. Some sections of the campus are now on long-term lease to Columbia University. The Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, one of

611-620: 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. In November 2015, the school announced that it would sell its campus and become part of Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut,

658-581: The 20th century, Union became a center of liberal Christianity . It served as the birthplace of the Black theology , womanist theology , and other theological movements. It houses the Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary , one of the largest theological libraries in the Western Hemisphere. Union Theological Seminary was founded in 1836. During the late 19th century it became one of

705-524: The Andover-Harvard Theological Library on the Harvard campus. While there were 350 students enrolled in 2007, who represented 35 Christian denominations , a decade later, it had dropped to 225, mostly part-time students, down from 450 full-time enrollees a generation earlier. United Church of Christ students remained the largest segment of the student body, followed by Unitarian Universalists and Baptists. The ‘Spirit of

752-868: The Archives of Women in Theological Scholarship and the Missionary Research Library Archives. In 2004, the Burke Library became fully integrated into the Columbia University Libraries system, which holds over 14 million volumes. The library is named in honor of Walter Burke, a generous benefactor to the library who served as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Seminary from 1976 to 1982. Both Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich taught at

799-544: The City of New York Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (shortened to UTS or Union ) is a private ecumenical liberal Christian seminary in Morningside Heights , Manhattan , affiliated with Columbia University . Columbia University lists UTS among its affiliate schools, alongside Barnard College and Teachers College . Since 1928, the seminary has served as Columbia's constituent faculty of theology. In 1964, UTS also established an affiliation with

846-634: The Episcopal seminary Berkeley Divinity School . Andover Newton relinquished its accreditation from the New England Commission of Higher Education in 2019. Andover Newton students at YDS earn a diploma from Andover Newton in addition to their Yale degrees, and receive scholarship support from the Andover Newton Seminary Program. Andover Newton also funds some faculty positions at YDS. Andover Newton

893-1005: The Harvard College Library system and Andover Newton students were able to register for classes at any of the university's schools. Newton Theological Institution began instruction in 1825 on an 80-acre (32.4 ha) former estate at Newton Centre in Newton, Massachusetts , as a graduate seminary formally affiliated with the Northern Baptist Convention, now known as the American Baptist Churches USA . Its founders were Joseph Grafton , Lucius Bolles , Daniel Sharp , Jonathan Going, Bela Jacobs, Ebenezer Nelson, Francis Wayland , Henry Jackson, Ensign Lincoln, Jonathan Bacheller, and Nathaniel R. Cobb. An important early benefactor and long-time treasurer of Newton Theological Institution

940-635: The Hill’ award, announced at the annual Fall Convocation, was conferred upon one alumnus/a who has exhibited exemplary skills in ministry. Additionally, the Seminary awarded several prizes to its students in recognition of outstanding achievements. A prize for Excellence in Writing was awarded annually by the faculty, named after American theologian and writer, Frederick Buechner . Andover Theological Seminary and Newton Theological Institution produced many notable graduates. Collectively, many of these graduates had

987-751: The Nazis. He took the last ship from New York to Germany in late August 1939. Due to his secret involvement with the 20 July plot on Hitler's life, he was executed at the Flossenbürg concentration camp on April 8, 1945, only 15 days before the United States Army liberated the camp. American theologian, James Hal Cone , one of the founders of liberation theology and influential in the development of Black theology , began teaching at Union Theological Seminary in New York City in 1970, holding

SECTION 20

#1732773025092

1034-604: The Newton Centre campus, with an interfaith model for theological education. Meadville was to sell its campus in Chicago and become the "Unitarian" division of the new institution, with Andover Newton becoming the "Christian" component. The two institutions withdrew from the plan in April 2011, citing issues related to governance and finances. In May 2016, ANTS president Martin Copenhaver announced that Andover Newton would begin

1081-424: The center of both liberal and neo-orthodox Protestantism in the inter-war period. Niebuhr joined UTS in 1929 and Tillich in 1933. Prominent public intellectual Cornel West commenced a promising academic career at UTS in 1977. As liberalism lost ground to conservatism after the 1960s (while neo-orthodoxy dissipated) and thus declined in prestige, UTS ran into financial difficulties and shrank significantly because of

1128-567: The distinguished Charles A. Briggs Chair in systematic theology from 1977 until his death in 2018. Serene Jones, the seminary's first female president, was inaugurated in November 2008. replacing Joseph Hough , UTS' immediate past president. Civil rights activist Cornel West joined the faculty in July 2012, and rejoined again in 2021. Several of Union's members also teach in the Religious Studies department at Columbia University ,

1175-507: The educational model used by almost all Protestant seminaries today and pioneered many training programs for prospective clergy, including field education . Its alumni and alumnae 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; and one of

1222-507: The facilities of the Newton Centre campus expanded many times, especially during a boom in enrollment during the 1950s and '60s. The last addition was Wilson Chapel, a modern interpretation of the traditional New England meetinghouse, constructed to mark the school's bicentennial in 2007. Andover and Newton formally merged in 1965, creating Andover Newton Theological School. Another important 21st-century construction on "the Hill" in Newton Centre

1269-496: The immigrant and low-income residents of East Harlem. One of East Harlem's largest social service agencies, Union Settlement reaches more than 13,000 people annually at 17 locations throughout East Harlem through a range of programs, including early childhood education, youth development, senior services, job training, the arts, adult education, nutrition, counseling, a farmers' market, community development, and neighborhood cultural events. Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich made UTS

1316-561: The institution at Yale. 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 beginning in the 2017–18 academic year. Under the agreement, Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School was established as a unit within Yale Divinity School, similar to Yale's arrangement with

1363-590: The largest theological libraries in North America, contains over 700,000 items. Burke's holdings include extensive special collections, including Greek census records from 20 CE, a rare 12th-century manuscript of the Life of St. Boniface, and one of the first African-American hymnals, published in Philadelphia in 1818. The Burke Library also maintains a number of world-renowned archival collections, including

1410-459: The leading centers of liberal Christianity in the United States. In 1891, Charles A. Briggs , who was being installed as the chair of biblical studies, delivered an inaugural address in which he questioned the verbal inspiration of Scripture. When the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. vetoed Briggs' appointment and eventually deposed Briggs for heresy two years later, Union removed itself from denominational oversight. In 1939,

1457-536: The library collections of the Harvard Divinity School, it became known as Andover-Harvard Theological Library . Andover Newton retained ownership of the books. Harvard later purchased the school's Cambridge real estate, which, known as Andover Hall, now houses most of the Harvard Divinity School. Although the planned merger with Harvard was never completed, the two schools remained loosely affiliated. Andover Newton students and faculty had access to

Boston Theological Interreligious Consortium - Misplaced Pages Continue

1504-403: The mid-1970s); Rodney L. Petersen (1990-2014); and Ann McClenahan (2014–20) 42°19′30″N 71°11′24″W  /  42.325°N 71.1899°W  / 42.325; -71.1899 Andover Newton Theological School Andover Newton Theological School ( ANTS ) was a graduate school and seminary in Newton, Massachusetts , affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA and

1551-593: The most basic questions. They become intoxicated with liberal and humanistic phrases, are amused at the fundamentalists, and yet basically are not even up to their level...." Referring to Union Seminary, Bonhoeffer noted: "A seminary in which numerous students openly laugh during a public lecture because they find it amusing when a passage on sin and forgiveness ...is cited has obviously, despite its many advantages, forgotten what Christian theology in its very essence stands for" (pp. 309–10). He soon regretted his decision and decided that he had to return to Germany to resist

1598-648: The most important presidents of Dartmouth College . Andover Theological Seminary was founded in 1807 by orthodox Calvinists who were members of Congregational churches (forebears of the United Church of Christ) who fled Harvard College after it appointed Unitarian theologian Henry Ware to the Hollis Professorship of Divinity in 1805. One of the founders of the school, and of the Massachusetts Missionary Society,

1645-573: The movement to divest from the fossil fuels industry in protest at the damage the industry is causing to the environment. UTS's $ 108 million endowment will no longer include any fossil fuel investments. On May 9, 2024, UTS's Board of Trustees voted to endorse divestment from "companies profiting from the war in Palestine" and announced that they will be joining the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility . Classroom and faculty space

1692-548: The neighboring Jewish Theological Seminary of America . Despite its affiliation with Columbia University, UTS is an independent institution with its own administration and Board of Trustees. UTS confers the following degrees: Master of Divinity (MDiv), Master of Divinity & Social Work dual degree (MDSW), Master of Arts in religion (MAR), Master of Arts in Social Justice (MASJ), Master of Sacred Theology (STM), Doctor of Ministry (DMin), and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). UTS

1739-575: The oldest settlement houses in New York City. After visiting Toynbee Hall in London and inspired by the example of Hull House in Chicago, the alumni decided to create a settlement house in the area of Manhattan enclosed on the north and south by East 96th and 110th Streets and on the east and west by the East River and Central Park . The neighborhood, known as East Harlem , was filled with new tenements but devoid of any civic services. The ethos of

1786-515: The school occupied for its first century. (Most of the original seminary campus survives today as part of the historic core of the Phillips Academy campus. ) Before Andover was founded, American Protestant clergymen attended undergraduate college, then learned their profession by studying under a minister. The new seminary was the first to formalize graduate study for clergymen with a resident student body and resident faculty. The program

1833-679: The seminary. Nieburhr joined the faculty in 1929 and retired in 1952. Tillich was recruited by Niebuhr to UTS following his dismissal from the University of Frankfurt. Nazi officials terminated Tillich from the University of Frankfurt and placed him on their list of "undesirables". Tillich subsequently narrowly escaped arrest by the Gestapo in October 1933 and made his way out of Germany joining UTS in December 1933. In 1930, Dietrich Bonhoeffer

1880-498: The settlement house movement called for its workers to "settle" in such neighborhoods in order to learn first-hand the problems of the residents. "It seemed to us that, as early settlers, we had a chance to grow up with the community and affect its development," wrote William Adams Brown, Theology Professor, Union Theological Society (1892–1930) and President, Union Settlement Association (1915–1919). Union Settlement still exists, providing community-based services and programs to support

1927-475: Was Gardner Colby , Boston industrialist and resident of Newton Centre near the campus. Colby Hall (designed by architect Alexander Rice Esty ) and Colby Chapel on the Andover Newton campus were named in his honor. Colby also contributed to a number of other New England Baptist institutions, including Brown University and Colby College in Waterville, Maine , which was also named in his honor. From 1931 on,

Boston Theological Interreligious Consortium - Misplaced Pages Continue

1974-685: Was Rev. Samuel Spring . Widely reported in the national press, the founding by the Calvinists was one of the significant events that contributed to the split in the New England Congregationalist tradition, and to the eventual founding of the American Unitarian Association in 1825. The new school built a suite of Federal-style buildings at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts , which

2021-481: Was a Postgraduate Teaching Fellow at the seminary. He later returned in 1939 to be a member of the faculty and to escape Nazi harassment in Germany. Writing of his experience there in his book Barcelona, Berlin, New York , Bonhoeffer was dismayed by the liberalism of the seminary and its students, noting, "The students are completely clueless with respect to what dogmatics is really about. They are not familiar with even

2068-551: Was added to UTS in the early 2020s as part of the construction of Claremont Hall, a 41-story residential condominium at 100 Claremont Avenue. UTS owns 27 of the apartments in Claremont Hall. Although administratively independent from Columbia, UTS is affiliated through representation by one voting faculty member and one non-voting student observer in the Columbia University Senate . UTS's campus

2115-558: Was first accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges in 1978, and granted master's degrees as well as a doctor of ministry . Andover Newton students were also allowed to take classes in any of Harvard University 's ten graduate schools due to the prior affiliation of Andover Theological Seminary and the Harvard Divinity School , which combined their libraries in 1911 to form

2162-454: Was for three years of study in four subjects: the Bible , church history, doctrinal theology and the practical arts of ministry. In 1908, Harvard Divinity School and Andover attempted to reconcile (both institutions were strongly theologically liberal by this point), and for a period of 18 years shared Harvard's Cambridge campus. The seminary moved its faculty and library to Cambridge, built

2209-524: Was the contemporary campus of Hebrew College , designed by the architect Moshe Safdie . The two schools collaborated on a number of interfaith programs and their students were able to cross-register for classes. In 2010, Andover Newton and Meadville Lombard Theological School , a Chicago-based seminary affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association , announced plans to create a "new university-style institution" at

#91908