Auburn Theological Seminary
Encyclopedia
Auburn Theological Seminary was founded in 1818. Auburn Theological Seminary focuses on religious leadership development, movement-building, and research. Auburn is based in New York City
and exists in covenant with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
.
The Center for Multifaith Education equips people of all faiths, from senior religious leaders to teens in conflict-torn countries, to reach across lines of religious difference and build a more just and peaceful world. Led by Rabbi Justus Baird, the Center for Multifaith Education has pioneered multifaith education programs, and has encouraged the growing trend toward multifaith education. For example, the Association of Theological Schools recently began considering the addition of multifaith education requirements to its rigorous accreditation standards. The Center for Multifaith Education’s 2009 study, "Beyond World Religions: The State of Multifaith Education in American Theological Schools", authored by Rabbi Justus Baird and Lucinda Mosher, ThD, features prominently in the lead article of the Association of Theological Schools' 2011 Fall Colloquy magazine.
The Center for Christian Leadership equips Christian leaders to thrive amidst the complex challenges of contemporary ministry; address the most pressing issues in church and public life with theological depth, intellectual rigor, and practical insight; and reach across theological, social, and geographical divisions to find new possibilities for common life and ministry. Led by The Rev. J.C. Austin, Auburn's Center for Christian Leadership is the recent recipient of an $800,000 grant from the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. to equip bold and resilient leaders for 21st century ministry by bringing pastoral coaching to clergy across the country, training new pastoral coaches, strengthening new senior pastors, bolstering women’s leadership, and cultivating wisdom about money in congregational leaders .
Groundswell, a new multifaith voice for justice, is the social action initiative of Auburn Seminary. Groundswell seeks to unite people of faith and moral calling in a movement for justice that transcends partisan politics. Led by Director Valarie Kaur, and Organizing Director Isaac Luria, Groundswell is a campaign-based initiative. Groundswell is a campaign-based initiative. Groundswell’s first campaign connected people across the U.S. to stand together against anti-Muslim bigotry on the ten-year anniversary of 9/11. Future campaigns include joining the fight to end sex trafficking of girls and women, upholding equality for LGBT peoples, and protecting the dignity of immigrants.
Auburn Media
Founded in 2002 by Macky Alston, Auburn Media helps journalists connect with and cover the voices and stories they most need to hear, and equips religious leaders to communicate more effectively in the media. Auburn Media offers media training workshops to religious leaders and experts on religion. To date, Auburn Media has trained over 2,000 religious leaders. Auburn Media innovates new ways to distribute and integrate "story-based media," from documentary films to video-rich Web sites, into faith community education programs and organizing efforts. This includes documentary and multimedia resources for congregations and people of faith.
The Auburn Coaching Institute
The Auburn Coaching Institute works with religious leaders and organizations to develop resilient leaders who create and enhance vision, and actualize mission and values. The Center for Christian Leadership created the Auburn Coaching Institute to help church leaders strengthen their organizational leadership, personal resilience, and vocational discernment skills. The Center is led by the Rev. J.C. Austin. Each year, the Auburn Coaching Institute offers the intensive leadership development program for church leaders. The program begins and ends with a two-day residential program. Each residential program includes plenary sessions and workshops on various topics related to leadership and self-care; it also includes multiple individual coaching sessions.
Generosity and Gender Justice
The Generosity and Gender Justice initiative cultivates and unleashes the power of women religious leaders for social change and transformation. One of Auburn’s newest programs, the initiative offers cutting-edge programming for women across lines of faith, class, race and age to create a more peaceful and just world. This initiative shares its learning, tools and best practices with religious institutes, nonprofits and businesses to create and sustain justice-based activism.
Doctor of Ministry in a Multifaith Context
The Doctor of Ministry in a Multifaith Context is a professional degree for religious leaders who serve across faith boundaries. The degree program was launched in 2005 as a partnership between New York Theological Seminary
and the Center for Multifaith Education at Auburn Theological Seminary. The degree is overseen and granted by New York Theological Seminary
. Auburn faculty assist in the design of the program and teach one of the core seminars. Candidates engage each other in four major seminars and then carry out a demonstration project--the professional equivalent of a thesis.
Face to Face | Faith to Faith
Since 2001, Face to Face | Faith to Faith has brought together hundreds of Christian, Jewish and Muslim teenagers from Northern Ireland, the Middle East, South Africa, and the U.S. to develop a new generation of leaders able to negotiate a multifaith global society.
.
Nearly two centuries ago, a visitor to Auburn's campus described the seminary as "a little swerved." That characterization has long been appropriate. Auburn has always been an open and progressive institution, slightly eccentric, with an unusual ability to respond to change.
In 1837, Auburn Seminary played a prominent role in one of the great theological controversies of the 19th century: When the seminary's supporting presbyteries were excluded from the church by "Old School" Presbyterians, Auburn became a center of the "New School" church. The statement of "New School" principles of doctrinal openness was called the "Auburn Declaration," (not to be confused with the "Auburn Affirmation
").
The seminary worked across denominational lines to prepare clergy for the American frontier and foreign missions. Faculty participated in the great social movements of the time: the struggles against slavery and for women's suffrage, temperance, and reforms that uplifted the poor. Auburn was one of the first theological schools in the country to educate women and to enroll students from Asia, and it was among the first to establish a summer session and a school of religious education. At their height, the grounds of the seminary flourished with many exotic trees and plants which had been brought back to Auburn by foreign missionaries.
As with the 1837 "Auburn Declaration," written in 1924, Auburn's name was once again attached to an historic document, the Auburn Affirmation
, which defended theological freedom as Auburn faculty joined in a movement that successfully prevented a fundamentalist takeover of the Presbyterian Church.
By the second half of the 1930s, Auburn, like many other seminaries in nonurban settings, faced steadily declining enrollments and financial hardship. In 1939, after several attempts to associate with other institutions, Auburn accepted the offer of President Henry Sloane Coffin to share Union Seminary
's campus in New York City, moved to Union, and built Auburn Hall for the use of both seminaries in 1950. These two independent institutions have enjoyed a cooperative partnership ever since.
Today the only remaining building from the Auburn Seminary Campus is the Willard Memorial Chapel-Welch Memorial Hall
, the only known completely intact interior designed by master artist and craftsman Louis Comfort Tiffany. Named for donor Sylvester Willard, it was built in 1892 and is listed as a National Historic Landmark.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and exists in covenant with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...
.
Leadership
The Rev. Dr. Katharine Rhodes Henderson, President of Auburn Seminary, was inaugurated in April 2010. Auburn’s previous president was Dr. Barbara G. Wheeler, Director of the Center for the Study of Theological Education. Auburn’s executive vice president is The Rev. John Vaughn.Centers
The Center for the Study of Theological Education (CSTE) offers research and consulting to strengthen the institutions that educate religious leaders. Led by Dr. Barbara G. Wheeler, the Center studies a wide range of topics, including students, faculty, finances, administrative leadership, educational programs and the public role of theological schools. Using the Center's extensive database, consultants from the Center help schools evaluate programs, balance budgets, plan strategy, forge partnerships with other institutions, organize searches, and support seminary leadership, especially new presidents. The most recent report from CSTE, "Leadership That Works: A Study of Theological School Presidents," looked at new seminary presidencies and why they succeed or fail. Founded in 1991, CSTE serves all religious groups and is the only research institute devoted solely to theological education.The Center for Multifaith Education equips people of all faiths, from senior religious leaders to teens in conflict-torn countries, to reach across lines of religious difference and build a more just and peaceful world. Led by Rabbi Justus Baird, the Center for Multifaith Education has pioneered multifaith education programs, and has encouraged the growing trend toward multifaith education. For example, the Association of Theological Schools recently began considering the addition of multifaith education requirements to its rigorous accreditation standards. The Center for Multifaith Education’s 2009 study, "Beyond World Religions: The State of Multifaith Education in American Theological Schools", authored by Rabbi Justus Baird and Lucinda Mosher, ThD, features prominently in the lead article of the Association of Theological Schools' 2011 Fall Colloquy magazine.
The Center for Christian Leadership equips Christian leaders to thrive amidst the complex challenges of contemporary ministry; address the most pressing issues in church and public life with theological depth, intellectual rigor, and practical insight; and reach across theological, social, and geographical divisions to find new possibilities for common life and ministry. Led by The Rev. J.C. Austin, Auburn's Center for Christian Leadership is the recent recipient of an $800,000 grant from the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. to equip bold and resilient leaders for 21st century ministry by bringing pastoral coaching to clergy across the country, training new pastoral coaches, strengthening new senior pastors, bolstering women’s leadership, and cultivating wisdom about money in congregational leaders .
Key Programs
GroundswellGroundswell, a new multifaith voice for justice, is the social action initiative of Auburn Seminary. Groundswell seeks to unite people of faith and moral calling in a movement for justice that transcends partisan politics. Led by Director Valarie Kaur, and Organizing Director Isaac Luria, Groundswell is a campaign-based initiative. Groundswell is a campaign-based initiative. Groundswell’s first campaign connected people across the U.S. to stand together against anti-Muslim bigotry on the ten-year anniversary of 9/11. Future campaigns include joining the fight to end sex trafficking of girls and women, upholding equality for LGBT peoples, and protecting the dignity of immigrants.
Auburn Media
Founded in 2002 by Macky Alston, Auburn Media helps journalists connect with and cover the voices and stories they most need to hear, and equips religious leaders to communicate more effectively in the media. Auburn Media offers media training workshops to religious leaders and experts on religion. To date, Auburn Media has trained over 2,000 religious leaders. Auburn Media innovates new ways to distribute and integrate "story-based media," from documentary films to video-rich Web sites, into faith community education programs and organizing efforts. This includes documentary and multimedia resources for congregations and people of faith.
The Auburn Coaching Institute
The Auburn Coaching Institute works with religious leaders and organizations to develop resilient leaders who create and enhance vision, and actualize mission and values. The Center for Christian Leadership created the Auburn Coaching Institute to help church leaders strengthen their organizational leadership, personal resilience, and vocational discernment skills. The Center is led by the Rev. J.C. Austin. Each year, the Auburn Coaching Institute offers the intensive leadership development program for church leaders. The program begins and ends with a two-day residential program. Each residential program includes plenary sessions and workshops on various topics related to leadership and self-care; it also includes multiple individual coaching sessions.
Generosity and Gender Justice
The Generosity and Gender Justice initiative cultivates and unleashes the power of women religious leaders for social change and transformation. One of Auburn’s newest programs, the initiative offers cutting-edge programming for women across lines of faith, class, race and age to create a more peaceful and just world. This initiative shares its learning, tools and best practices with religious institutes, nonprofits and businesses to create and sustain justice-based activism.
Doctor of Ministry in a Multifaith Context
The Doctor of Ministry in a Multifaith Context is a professional degree for religious leaders who serve across faith boundaries. The degree program was launched in 2005 as a partnership between New York Theological Seminary
New York Theological Seminary
The New York Theological Seminary was established as a non-denominational institution in 1900 with the founding of the Bible Teachers’ College in Montclair, New Jersey by Wilbert Webster White. President White moved the school to New York City in 1902, when it was renamed the Bible Teachers’...
and the Center for Multifaith Education at Auburn Theological Seminary. The degree is overseen and granted by New York Theological Seminary
New York Theological Seminary
The New York Theological Seminary was established as a non-denominational institution in 1900 with the founding of the Bible Teachers’ College in Montclair, New Jersey by Wilbert Webster White. President White moved the school to New York City in 1902, when it was renamed the Bible Teachers’...
. Auburn faculty assist in the design of the program and teach one of the core seminars. Candidates engage each other in four major seminars and then carry out a demonstration project--the professional equivalent of a thesis.
Face to Face | Faith to Faith
Since 2001, Face to Face | Faith to Faith has brought together hundreds of Christian, Jewish and Muslim teenagers from Northern Ireland, the Middle East, South Africa, and the U.S. to develop a new generation of leaders able to negotiate a multifaith global society.
History
Auburn Seminary was founded in 1818 in Auburn, New York. Its founders were progressive Presbyterians who believed passionately in the value of education. Pastor Dirck Cornelius Lansing proposed the school in Auburn, New YorkAuburn, New York
Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States of America. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 27,687...
.
Nearly two centuries ago, a visitor to Auburn's campus described the seminary as "a little swerved." That characterization has long been appropriate. Auburn has always been an open and progressive institution, slightly eccentric, with an unusual ability to respond to change.
In 1837, Auburn Seminary played a prominent role in one of the great theological controversies of the 19th century: When the seminary's supporting presbyteries were excluded from the church by "Old School" Presbyterians, Auburn became a center of the "New School" church. The statement of "New School" principles of doctrinal openness was called the "Auburn Declaration," (not to be confused with the "Auburn Affirmation
Auburn Affirmation
The Auburn Affirmation was a document dated May 1924, with the title "AN AFFIRMATION designed to safeguard the unity and liberty of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America", authored by an eleven-member Conference Committee and signed by 1274 ministers of the PCUSA...
").
The seminary worked across denominational lines to prepare clergy for the American frontier and foreign missions. Faculty participated in the great social movements of the time: the struggles against slavery and for women's suffrage, temperance, and reforms that uplifted the poor. Auburn was one of the first theological schools in the country to educate women and to enroll students from Asia, and it was among the first to establish a summer session and a school of religious education. At their height, the grounds of the seminary flourished with many exotic trees and plants which had been brought back to Auburn by foreign missionaries.
As with the 1837 "Auburn Declaration," written in 1924, Auburn's name was once again attached to an historic document, the Auburn Affirmation
Auburn Affirmation
The Auburn Affirmation was a document dated May 1924, with the title "AN AFFIRMATION designed to safeguard the unity and liberty of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America", authored by an eleven-member Conference Committee and signed by 1274 ministers of the PCUSA...
, which defended theological freedom as Auburn faculty joined in a movement that successfully prevented a fundamentalist takeover of the Presbyterian Church.
By the second half of the 1930s, Auburn, like many other seminaries in nonurban settings, faced steadily declining enrollments and financial hardship. In 1939, after several attempts to associate with other institutions, Auburn accepted the offer of President Henry Sloane Coffin to share Union Seminary
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York is a preeminent independent graduate school of theology, located in Manhattan between Claremont Avenue and Broadway, 120th to 122nd Streets. The seminary was founded in 1836 under the Presbyterian Church, and is affiliated with nearby Columbia...
's campus in New York City, moved to Union, and built Auburn Hall for the use of both seminaries in 1950. These two independent institutions have enjoyed a cooperative partnership ever since.
Today the only remaining building from the Auburn Seminary Campus is the Willard Memorial Chapel-Welch Memorial Hall
Willard Memorial Chapel-Welch Memorial Hall
The Willard Memorial Chapel and the adjoining Welch Memorial Hall are a National Historic Landmark designed by Andrew Jackson Warner of Rochester, New York, which feature the stained-glass windows and interior decoration of Louis Comfort Tiffany...
, the only known completely intact interior designed by master artist and craftsman Louis Comfort Tiffany. Named for donor Sylvester Willard, it was built in 1892 and is listed as a National Historic Landmark.
Notable alumni
- Maltbie Davenport BabcockMaltbie Davenport BabcockMaltbie Davenport Babcock was a noted American clergyman and writer of the 19th century. He authored the familiar hymn, This is My Father's World, among others.-Early years and personal life:...
(1858–1901) - Dwight BaldwinDwight Baldwin (missionary)Dwight Baldwin was an American Christian missionary and physician on Maui, one of the Hawaiian Islands, during the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was patriarch of a family that founded some of the largest businesses in the islands.-Life:...
(1798–1886) - David Riddle BreedDavid Riddle BreedDavid Riddle Breed was an American Presbyterian clergyman and educator, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania....
(1848–1931) - Titus CoanTitus CoanTitus Coan was an early American Christian Missionary to the Hawaiian Islands.-Early life and family:Titus Coan was born on February 1, 1801 in Killingworth, Connecticut, the son of Gaylord Coan and Tamza Nettleton. In June, 1831, he entered the Auburn Theological Seminary in Auburn, New York, and...
(1801–1881) - Sheldon DibbleSheldon DibbleSheldon Dibble was a missionary to Hawaii who organized one of the first books on Hawaiian history, and inspired students to write more.-Early life:...
(1809–1845) - Justus DoolittleJustus DoolittleJustus Doolittle was an American Board missionary to China.-Life:Justus Doolittle was born in Rutland, New York on June 23, 1824. In 1846 he graduated from Hamilton College, and in 1849 from Auburn Theological Seminary. Having deliberately chosen China as his field of labor, he sailed for Fuhchau...
(1824–1880) - Josiah Bushnell GrinnellJosiah Bushnell GrinnellJosiah Bushnell Grinnell was a U.S. Congressman from Iowa's 4th congressional district, an ordained Congregational minister, founder of Grinnell, Iowa and benefactor of Grinnell College....
(1821–1891) - Laurentine HamiltonLaurentine HamiltonLaurentine Hamilton was a Presbyterian minister accused of heresy, and founder of the First Unitarian Church of Oakland....
(1826–1882) - Joel T. HeadleyJoel T. HeadleyJoel Tyler Headley was an American clergyman, historian, Author, newspaper editor and politician who served as Secretary of State of New York.-Life:...
(1813–1897) - Moses A. HopkinsMoses A. HopkinsMoses Aaron Hopkins was an African-American clergyman and educator who served as United States minister to Liberia in 1885-1886...
(1846–1886) - Herrick JohnsonHerrick JohnsonHerrick Johnson was a leading American Presbyterian clergyman and author.Born in Auriesville, New York, Johnson graduated from Hamilton College in 1857 and from the Auburn Theological Seminary in 1860. On September 6, 1860, he married Katherine Spencer Hardenburg...
(1832–1913) - George Williams Knox (1853–1912)
- Lorenzo LyonsLorenzo LyonsLorenzo Lyons or "Makua Laiana" was born in Colrain, Franklin County, Massachusetts, April 18, 1807. He graduated from Union College in 1827. Ordained as a Congregationalist minister at Auburn Theological Seminary, September 20, 1831, he embarked from Boston, Massachusetts on November 26, 1831, on...
(1807–1886) - Edward Payson RoeEdward Payson Roe-Biography:Edward Payson Roe was born in Moodna, Orange County, New York. He studied at Williams College and at Auburn Theological Seminary. In 1862 He became chaplain of the Second New York Cavalry, U.S.V., and in 1864 chaplain of Hampton Hospital, in Virginia. In 1866-74 he was pastor of the...
(1838–1888)
Notable faculty
- John Colman Bennett
- Timothy Grenville Darling
- James A. ForbesJames A. ForbesJames Alexander Forbes, Jr. is the Senior Minister Emeritus of the Riverside Church, an interdenominational church on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. He was the first African American minister to lead this multicultural congregation, and served it for 18 years.- Early life and...
(born 1935) - Laurens Perseus HickokLaurens Perseus HickokLaurens Perseus Hickok , American philosopher and divine, was born at Bethel, Connecticut.He took his degree at Union College in 1820...
(1798–1888) - Josiah Hopkins
- Matthew LaRue Perrine
- William Greenough Thayer SheddWilliam Greenough Thayer SheddWilliam Greenough Thayer Shedd , son of the Reverend Marshall Shedd and Eliza Thayer, was an American Presbyterian Theologian born in Acton, Massachusetts....
(1820–1894) - George Black Stewart
- Walter WinkWalter WinkWalter Wink is a professor emeritus at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City. His faculty discipline is Biblical interpretation. Wink earned his 1959 Master of Divinity and his 1963 Ph.D. from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. Ordained a Methodist minister in 1961, he served as...
(born 1935)