Update on reading schedule: We are taking a week-long break from #ANSWERS2021 and have changed the dates for reading the final three books. We’ll be off the week of August 2nd, but return on August 9th with the intro and first chapter of Latinas Evangélicas. Find the updated calendar for reading below…

 

 

As I write these sentences, only a few days have passed since Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School held its third commencement since becoming an embedded partner on the Sterling Quadrangle. 

 

Over the past fifteen months, whenever tears shed during a service reached critical mass, one of our second-year students typed into the chat: “TISSUE MINISTRY.” Indeed, it was only moments into this celebration that the tissue ministry was called forth. Here we were marking one more momentous milestone via Zoom – students unable to high-five, families unable to hug their graduates, professors unable to offer handshakes and side-hugs. And yet… And yet, the pervasiveness of the Beloved Community transcended our physical separateness. In those sacred moments, the only thing existing between us was the breath of life, the breath of God.

 

The Holy Spirit cannot be quarantined. Need more evidence? Check out the postlude from the event on our Facebook page… TISSUE MINISTRY…

 

As I have corresponded with many of Andover Newton’s alumni/ae over the past year, I have been reminded time and again of the power and import of their/your ministry in all of the powerful, wonderful, peculiar, and, yes, exhausting forms ministry takes.

 

As we at Andover Newton continue to foster and nurture connection between alumni/ae of Andover Newton Seminary and alumni/ae of Andover Newton Theological School, an idea started percolating… What if we celebrated the intersection of our institutional identities and historic mission by joining together in a summer reading series? And, what if all of the books we read, not only aligned with our mission, but were written and/or edited by members of the extended Andover Newton communitas?

 

From these questions, we formed #ANSWERS2021…

Andover Newton Summer: Writings for Excellent Reading Series

Between June 1^st and August 16^th, we will work our way through eight books written by or edited by people with deep connections to our community – whether they be alums, faculty members, or administrators. During this three-month period, we’ll work our way through these excellent writings and post a quote from one chapter or section each day. We invite you to join us, to read all of – or one of – these volumes; to post your own favorite quotes from them; to engage; to be inspired and challenged.

Below you’ll find the list of titles, a calendar of dates when we plan to be reading them, and how each one is connected to this beloved community. Join us or follow along. The choice is up to you. And, if you need them, we’ll provide the tissues… TISSUE MINISTRY…