Andover Newton Asks Your Congregation to Remember Seminary Sunday

February 7, 2019
“Andover Newton Seminary is beautiful and rare, thought-provoking and soul-enthralling. You know when you are trying to make a left-hand turn against heavy traffic? The frustration builds, the person behind you starts honking. But then one person stops and, waving you on, they let you through. It is a small act of grace and mercy amidst a crushing culture of rush and distraction. That feeling of gratitude, the small but somehow overwhelming appreciation that fills you in that moment; that’s what Andover Newton Seminary @ YDS is like. It’s like being surrounded by people who stop and let you make left hand turns. We operate in a framework of grace, forgiveness, and deep engagement. And we know that because of that framework, we can do the work of challenging one another to step further into the call to ministry, the call to love, the call to use our bodies for good. When I sit in colloquium and look around at my someday-ministerial-colleagues, I say frequent prayers of thanks for their bravery, their integrity, their willingness to learn and to encounter, and their willingness to do the hard work of forging community. I am grateful for the recognition we provide one another, the forgiveness we extend in the bumbling, and the simple grace found in left hand turns.” ~Ali Hillman (MDiv 2021)
 
This February 24th, your congregation is invited to pause and recognize the difference Andover Newton Seminary has made in your faith community.
 
Every day we are grateful for the faithful prayers and financial support of churches like yours. You are the reason for our existence. We have spent that existence – over two hundred years – developing, honing, reimagining, and nurturing programs that would prepare clergy to serve communities just like yours.
 
In our new location, our mission remains unchanged:
Deeply rooted in Christian faith and radically open to what God is doing now, Andover Newton Seminary educates inspiring leaders for faith communities.
 
Students like Ali Hillman are inspiring. We nurture the gifts already provided by the Holy Spirit, and we focus them on ministerial formation. This formation ensures they have the appropriate tools to change the world, shepherd the church, and take care of themselves.
Are you interested in supporting Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School? Invite a member of our staff to come preach or share in an adult education hour.