Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School is an American

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

program founded in 2017 within

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

and located in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

. It is the successor institution of

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 the United Church of Christ. It was the product of a merger between Andover Theological ...

(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 The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline/evangelical Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainli ...

and the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximately 4 ...

, announced that it would sell its campus in

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

and relocate, after a presence of 190 years on that site. In July 2017, ANTS and Yale Divinity School completed a formal affiliation to create Andover Newton Seminary within the Divinity School.

History

The former Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) in Newton Center, Massachusetts was a product of a 1965 merger between two schools of

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Andover Theological Seminary 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. ...

and

Newton Theological Institution Newton Theological Institution was a Baptist theological seminary founded on November 28, 1825 in Newton Centre, Massachusetts.Hovey, Alvah, Historical Address Delivered at the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Newton Theological Institution, June 8, 1 ...

—although the two institutions had been co-resident on the same campus in Newton Center, Massachusetts 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

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

seminaries A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

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 Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

, educators, clergy, and theologians; three presidents of

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

; the founding presidents of

Wabash College Wabash College is a private liberal arts men's college in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Founded in 1832 by several Dartmouth College graduates and Midwestern leaders, it enrolls nearly 900 students. The college offers an undergraduate liberal arts cur ...

Grinnell College Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College. Grinnell has the fifth highest endowment-to-st ...

, and the Union Theological Seminary in New York City; one of the most important presidents of

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

; 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

over the following two years. In the 2016–17 academic year, a cohort of faculty relocated to

, 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 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," ...

. Copenhaver projected that the sale of the Newton, Massachusetts campus would pay off debt and create an endowment for 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.

Notes and references

External links

*
Description in Yale Divinity School websiteThe Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum
The Library maintains a collection of papers of the Andover Theological School (manuscript number E 6).
ATS profile for Andover Newton Theological School
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1807 Educational institutions established in 1965 Educational institutions established in 2017 Seminaries and theological colleges in Connecticut Universities and colleges affiliated with the United Church of Christ Seminaries and theological colleges affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA United Church of Christ in Connecticut 2017 establishments in Connecticut