Each year, Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School identifies a theme that helps guide our mission to be deeply rooted in Christian faith and radically open to what God is doing now to educate inspiring leaders for faith communities.

For 2025-2026, we are exploring the theme: Radical. Sustainable. Faithful. 

Radical comes from our mission statement: “Deeply rooted, radically open.” While often tied to political disruption, the word “radical” shares its etymology with rooted (like radish, or eradicate). Both senses apply to our work. For more than 200 years, Andover Newton has claimed that faith community leadership matters deeply. In a culture that prizes consumerism and technology above all, our insistence on cultivating faithful leaders is both disruptive to the status quo and a return to the roots of our tradition.

Sustainable reflects our recent history and current commitments. In 2016, Andover Newton relocated to Yale and affiliated with Yale Divinity School to ensure a sustainable model for our mission. That sustainability now takes concrete form in choices like ANS’s decision to invest in YDS’ construction of  Bauer Hall, a  dormitory that rises to the global “Living Village” challenge and gives back more power to the grid than it consumes. Every decision we make is guided by our commitment to prepare learned clergy, not only for today but for generations to come, sending ministerial gifts into the community and into the future.

Faithful names the motivation behind it all. Our work is grounded in faithfulness to God’s call, so that God’s love and justice may be made real, generation after generation.

This year, we live into these words—radical, sustainable, and faithful—as we continue our legacy of preparing leaders for the church and the world.