Report from the Founding Dean
“Just Like Me”
My mentor-friend, the Rev. Janet Legro, recently preached a sermon on Star Island, where our family attends Star Gathering – a United Church of Christ family conference – every summer. (Every summer we are not moving house (2016), isolating during a global pandemic (2020), or reopening a seminary (2021). Just like I said: every summer.) The sermon included some wisdom Janet had accrued in a workshop with the Buddhist teacher, Pema Chodron, about the spiritual freedom to be found in universalizing our experiences. We live in a time when identity specificity – defining our own, acknowledging and respecting the identities of others – is increasingly viewed as a fundamental right. I appreciate that development. I do not want people to respect me despite what makes me unique. I want to bring my whole self to all I do, and to be seen in that wholeness. That said, there is something liberating about recognizing the universal similarities between us all, which hyper-specificity sometimes prevents.
Chodron taught students to situate themselves in the world using this mantra: “Just like me.” Here is how the mantra works:
- I am caught in traffic when I have somewhere to be. I look to the cars ahead of me, and rather than curse the strangers who will get to their destination 0.2 seconds before I do, I think, “They are frustrated, just like me.”
- The doctor is running more than 30 minutes behind schedule. Every time the receptionist calls someone else’s name, rather than my own, I bless the person summoned, saying, “That person needs to see the doctor, just like me.”
Again, I heard this sermon on Star Island, where I was attending a conference that included working people from a wide range of professions. More than a handful are women clergy (just like me). Several are teachers. One runs a hotel, one works at a local Home Depot, many are retired. A great benefit of the intense time afforded by a conference on an island is that attendees have time to find out how much we have in common.
“What was Covid like for you?” became my go-to question when connecting with people on Star Island. Here is what the answers taught me about the universality of the year behind us at Andover Newton Seminary:
- Communities everywhere were excited and ready to return to normal in the summer of 2021 when the Delta variant broke through immunities. Then the Omicron wave set us back again. Disappointment and anger swirled, in constant search of a target.
- The economy is confusing everyone, as it is following no recognizable patterns. Global catastrophe, and the markets soar? The job market booms, but people need three jobs to pay their rents?
- Differences among individuals are becoming more understood, accepted, and embraced in some settings. A backlash is happening in real time, however, where individual rights to enact moral agency have come under threats not seen in generations.
- The climate is changing faster than anyone expected. We feel like we have no one to blame but ourselves. The sheer number of partners who would need to come together to bring about real change feels daunting and overwhelming.
So, how was the 2021-22 academic year for Andover Newton? It was tough, just like it was for you, and for everyone. Student morale amidst restrictions on being together stressed our community at times to what felt like breaking points.
At the same time, so much good happened! Our constituent leaders developed a new colloquium on social justice leadership in ministry. A crack team designed a new form of travel seminar for our students’ ministerial leadership development, “Emmaus Encounters: Building Community on the Road.” We met our fundraising goals and laid out a plan to raise endowment funds that will ensure a more inclusive future for our seminary.
Most importantly, our students are amazing. They are getting through these hard times, and we are all growing. Our students give me hope that God believes in the future of faith communities, for why else would God call such inspiring people to minister to a new generation?
As you read the pages to come in this Annual Report, I hope that you have many moments where you see connections between what Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School has been doing and what the world needs. I also hope that you see evidence that tells you that Andover Newton is beloved by God, who continues to protect and guide it… just like you, and just like me.
