Community Life and Services
Worship
Daily worship is central to the life and purpose of Yale Divinity School. During the academic year, time is reserved each day for chapel service and an accompanying coffee hour. The YDS community of students, faculty, staff, and administration is invited to gather in worship and to share one another’s company in the socializing that follows worship. In these ways, the community is reminded of the central purpose of theological education, beyond receiving training for practical ministry, and is invited into the life of fellowship made possible when we gather in conversation and collegiality.
Chapel services are held mid-morning in Marquand Chapel every weekday. These services are thirty minutes in length Monday through Thursday and are extended to forty-five minutes on Friday when we celebrate the Eucharist or Holy Communion. Coffee is served in the Common Room following each chapel service.
The daily program of worship in Marquand Chapel is diverse and dynamic, and the ecumenical nature of YDS is expressed in the constantly changing leadership and content of the services. In keeping with the esteemed heritage of preaching at Yale and YDS, sermons are typically offered twice a week by faculty, students, staff, and invited guests from beyond the YDS campus. On other days the rich symbolic, artistic, and musical possibilities of the Christian tradition are explored and developed. The assembly’s song is supported by the Marquand Chapel Choir, the Marquand Gospel Choir, other student-organized vocal groups, many and various soloists, occasional ensembles, and visiting musicians. Many avenues for musical leadership are open to the student body of YDS by volunteering, as are numerous avenues of leadership through the spoken word, dance, and visual and other liturgical arts. In addition to the daily mid-morning worship, there are several evening services during the year, including the annual Advent Service and the Easter Rejoicing Service.
The chapel program is directed by the dean for chapel, assisted by the director of chapel music and the liturgical coordinator. They are supported by a professional gospel choir director and a team of student ministers who are appointed each year, including chapel ministers, organists/pianists, and choir directors.
The worship life of YDS is rich and varied beyond the daily program of services in Marquand Chapel. In addition to Marquand, other spaces for worship include the Henri Nouwen Chapel on the lower level of the library and St. Luke’s Chapel at the Berkeley Center. Lutheran students host a service of Evening Prayer once a week, and Roman Catholic students organize a regular Mass. The Evangelical Fellowship regularly provides a service of praise and worship on campus. The United Church of Christ and Disciples of Christ students hold weekly midday worship on campus, as do the Presbyterian and Reformed students. The Berkeley Divinity School also provides daily weekday worship: Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Holy Eucharist take place in St. Luke’s Chapel or Marquand Chapel, and the entire YDS community is invited to participate. Yale Black Seminarians offers regular campus meetings of prayer and worship and occasional revival services on campus and in area churches. Services are also arranged by the Latino/a and Asian student groups and in celebration of the variety of cultures and languages represented at YDS. Other invitations to worship arise each year under individual and group initiatives, such as services in the traditions of Taizé and Iona, or to focus on a particular theme such as healing or ecological concerns. In addition, private and individual worship may take place in Nouwen Chapel, in St. Luke’s Chapel, and in free moments in Marquand Chapel.
Yale University, through its Chaplain’s Office and organization of campus ministries known as Yale Religious Ministries, is rich in worship opportunities for all faith traditions. Yale University Chaplain Sharon M.K. Kugler directs the staff of the Chaplain’s Office, which offers programs of worship and spiritual reflection throughout campus and in Battell Chapel. Through these organizations, the Christian community is offered a full program of worship opportunities with undergraduate and graduate students through the St. Thomas More Catholic Chapel and Center, Luther House, Episcopal Church at Yale, Yale Christian Fellowship, and many other programs of campus ministry. Yale Religious Ministries brings together representatives from Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and Bahá’í traditions. Both on campus and throughout the city of New Haven and surrounding towns, there are numerous opportunities for worship through established congregations of most Christian denominations and among other faith communities.
Libraries and Collections
Yale’s libraries have been developed over a period of three centuries. Throughout its history, the University has devoted a significant proportion of its resources to the building of collections that have an international reputation and that are matched by those of few other universities in the world.
The Yale University Library consists of the central libraries—Sterling Memorial Library, Bass Library, and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library—and numerous school and department libraries and special collections. Third-largest among the university libraries in the United States, the Yale University Library contains approximately 12.8 million volumes, half of which are in the central libraries. Students have access to the physical collections and study spaces of all the libraries at Yale, as well as to a vast array of online and digital resources. For more information, visit www.library.yale.edu.
The Divinity Library was established in 1932 through the consolidation of the Day Historical Library of Foreign Missions, the Trowbridge Reference Library, and the Richard Sheldon Sneath Memorial Library of Religious Education. These collections have been augmented through purchases and gifts. The gifts include the libraries of Deans Charles R. Brown and Richard J. Wood, Professors Benjamin W. Bacon, Frank C. Porter, Douglas Clyde Macintosh, Henry Hallam Tweedy, Kenneth Scott Latourette, Carl H. Kraeling, Roland H. Bainton, Liston Pope, Johannes Hoekendijk, Henri Nouwen, Robert L. Calhoun, George Lindbeck, Randolph Crump Miller, James Dittes, and Marvin Pope; the files on religion in higher education collected by Clarence P. Shedd; the Edward Sylvester Smith Collection of Methodistica; and the John R. Mott Library. The library contains more than 500,000 volumes, 250,000 microforms, and 4,000 linear feet of manuscript and archival material.
The primary strength of the Divinity Library is in the history of missions, Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox; Christian doctrine, historical and constructive; biblical literature; and church history. The mission collection is one of only two such major collections in the world, and the section on doctrine is unusually complete. Subjects particularly well documented include Jansenism; American slavery and the Church; and the classical theologians, especially Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Schleiermacher, Harnack, and Barth.
The Special Collections Department is a rich source of primary research material. It includes the archives and papers of the World Christian Student Federation, the Student Volunteer Movement, the Student Division of the YMCA, John R. Mott, Henry Knox Sherrill, Horace Bushnell, Dwight L. Moody, the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia, and the China Records Project. This department also houses many microtext collections of missionary archives, a large collection of historical sermons, the publications of numerous missionary and non-Western ecclesiastical bodies, and the papers of many Yale scholars.
In addition to its extensive print and manuscript collections, the Divinity Library’s Henry H. Tweedy Reference and Resource program provides access to research materials in electronic formats. At the heart of the program is a number of public and staff computer workstations connected to locally mounted tools and databases, to public resources on the University’s campus-wide network, and to the Internet. Patrons may use the workstations to query a wide variety of bibliographic and full-text databases and to communicate with scholars throughout the world. The Tweedy program also provides facilities for using audio, video, and multimedia tools for study and research. Inaugurated in 1992, the program is named in honor of Henry Hallam Tweedy, Professor of Practical Theology at YDS from 1909 to 1937, and Acting Dean from 1934 to 1935.
Resources found elsewhere in the University bearing upon the work of YDS include approximately 100,000 volumes classed as religion in the Sterling Memorial Library, with another 100,000 in the Library Shelving Facility. This collection contains a wealth of scholarly periodicals and publications of learned societies, the source material of the Protestant Reformation, Byzantine and Orthodox literature, early Americana, and older books acquired in the past. A primary collection of Mormonism is in the Collection of Western Americana, together with related materials. Other collections important to YDS are Judaica; the American Oriental Society; and the Lowell Mason Collection of Hymnology in the School of Music Library. Early English church history imprints and the James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection of Negro Arts and Letters are found in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. There is an excellent collection on Cardinal John Henry Newman and the Tractarian Movement. Christian art is in the Arts Library; archaeology bearing on biblical studies and Christian origins is found in association with archaeology, ancient Near East, and classics. Resources to support the various area programs at Yale—East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Slavic and East European—are invaluable for the study of missions, non-Christian religions and culture, and world Christianity. The collections of the University illustrating the monuments and literature of Assyria and Babylonia are housed in Sterling Memorial Library.
The Yale University Art Gallery houses a collection of Palestinian pottery, acquired through the generosity of the late Mrs. Francis Wayland. Collections obtained through the excavations of the Yale–British Expedition to Gerasa, Transjordania, and the Yale–French Academy Expedition to Dura-Europos are also located in the Art Gallery.
Access to Resources
The Divinity Library offers a full range of bibliographic and technical services. During the term, the library is open Monday to Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 2 to 11 p.m. Daily messenger service is provided between the Divinity Library and other circulating collections at Yale.
Career Services
The Office of Career Services sponsors a variety of programs designed to help students clarify their vocational calls, learn job search skills and strategies, and develop the documents necessary to find appropriate employment after graduation. Programs are planned to meet the interests and needs of students planning ministries and careers in a wide variety of arenas.
Specific programs and services include, but are not limited to, individual career counseling, individual career assessment testing, an online résumé and CV creation system, list-serves where vacancies are announced, access to a credential file system for storage of reference letters and transcripts, practice interviews, access to the career network as sponsored by the Association of Yale Alumni, and production of sermon CDs for future pastors. Other programs are added when possible. All services are available to current students, and many to alumni. For appointments or questions, students may contact divinity.careers@yale.edu or call 203.432.9485.
Student Book Supply
The Student Book Supply (SBS) has been serving the needs of YDS for more than seventy years. It is committed to providing YDS, Yale, and the greater New Haven community with the best in current and classic theological scholarship. In addition to providing textbooks for YDS classes, the SBS stocks more than 14,000 titles for practical ministry, academic study, professional service, and personal devotion. The bookstore also offers student supplies and insignia merchandise, and sponsors periodic book signings and author lectures.
Now professionally staffed, the SBS maintains the tradition of its earlier life as a student cooperative through its members’ discount program. The bookstore actively participates in the wider bookselling community through membership in the Association of Theological Booksellers, the American Booksellers Association, and the IndieBound independent booksellers association.
Campus Mailroom
The YDS campus mailroom is located on the first floor of the School’s building, adjacent to the commuter lounge. The sole purpose of the mailroom is to receive and send YDS and University correspondence. YDS is not responsible for receiving or sending personal mail and packages. All members of the community should use their primary home address for all personal mail and package deliveries.
Student Groups and Activities
YDS students enjoy a rich community life in both the larger University and the School itself. On the YDS campus, life outside the classroom centers on two student-led organizations, the Student Council and the Community Life Committee (CLC), both of which provide programming to enrich community life among students, faculty, and staff of YDS. The daily schedule of classes works in concert with the goals of the student organizations by providing two class-free hours each day. The first hour, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., enables students to attend chapel worship and coffee hour, and the second hour, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., enables students to eat lunch together in the refectory and common room and to hold meetings and special events for the community.
The Student Council leadership is elected each spring term (and fall term, if needed). A president, vice president, and secretary give primary leadership to a council of students filling roles such as M.Div. representative, M.A.R. representative, S.T.M. representative, Berkeley Divinity School representative, and Institute of Sacred Music representative, and filling committee representations for the Ministerial Formation Committee, Professional Studies Committee, Worship Committee, Curriculum Committee, and Committee on Spiritual Formation and the Practice of Faith. Through the Student Council, students have an active voice alongside faculty and administration in making decisions affecting the academic and community life of YDS. In addition, the Student Council, in conjunction with the CLC, addresses the needs of the community as they arise each year.
The CLC, under the direction of two student coordinators and a committee of students and faculty, oversees the work and ministry of student groups on campus, including the Black Seminarians, the Women’s Center, the Korean Association and Pacific Asian Community, the Committee on Social Justice, the Coalition (of Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Bisexual, and Transgendered persons), the Latina/o Association, the Evangelical Fellowship, the Outings Club, the Earth Care Committee, FADS (Fans and Athletes at Divinity School), two a cappella singing groups (the Sacramental Winers and the Bible Belters), the Catholic Student Fellowship, the Lutheran Student Organization, the Methodist Society, the Presbyterian/Reformed Students Group, the Baptist Student Fellowship, and the United Church of Christ/Disciples of Christ Students Group. In addition, the CLC sponsors three annual events: the Advent Party, the Spring Fling dance, and the All-School Conference (a program of speakers, panel discussions, dinners, and social events focused on a common theme). The CLC also sponsors a series of community dinners during the academic year to provide an opportunity for socializing and the sharing of community concerns.
The Before the Fall Orientation (BTFO) for new students, the daily schedule of chapel and coffee hour and lunch, and student-run events throughout the academic year, all make community life at YDS rich in opportunities for learning, socializing, serving, and giving leadership. New ideas for organizations and activities emerge each year as students enter the School and as new commitments and needs surface among returning students. While many activities are in place, each academic year is made unique by the particular gifts and passions of the student body. Whether it is gathering students for dinner and discussion in the Slifka (Jewish student) Center, gathering a group to play basketball in the gym each Saturday morning, organizing events for Earth Day, or organizing a group to attend Yale football games, the richness of community life is enhanced by the energies and wishes of the individuals who join this community of faith and learning.
In addition, as members of the Yale University graduate and professional student population, YDS students are invited to participate in all appropriate student organizations and activities. YDS students enjoy the nightly social life of GPSCY, the graduate and professional student center located off York Street near the central University campus. Students are involved in leadership of graduate student activities and programs through the Graduate and Professional Student Senate. These venues for socializing and programming enable YDS students to meet and work alongside students from Yale’s other graduate and professional schools.
Choirs
The Marquand Chapel Choir and the Marquand Gospel Choir are active student organizations under the supervision of faculty members of the Institute of Sacred Music and YDS. The choirs offer anthems and support congregational singing at weekly services. Full rehearsals for the Marquand Chapel Choir are held every Sunday evening from 7 to 9 p.m. Members are selected in early September. Auditions are for voice placement only. The Gospel Choir requires no auditions and rehearses for two hours per week. Both choirs may be taken for credit (see REL 801 and 802).
Lectureships
The Roland Bainton Lectureship, inaugurated in 1988, represents the two foci of Professor Bainton’s life and work: church history and the church’s witness to peace and justice.
The Bartlett Lectureship was created in 1986 with a gift from the Reverend Robert M. Bartlett, B.D. 1924, and his wife, Sue Bartlett. The lectureship serves a twofold purpose. The first is to foster knowledge and appreciation of the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony and their contribution to the religious, intellectual, and political life of America. The second is to encourage understanding of the history and culture of modern China. These two areas, which have commanded interest and attention over many decades, are treated on a rotating basis. In 1992 the Bartletts added to their gift and broadened the scope to include “Democracy, Human Rights, and World Peace.”
The Lyman Beecher Lectureship was founded in 1871 by a gift from Henry W. Sage, of Brooklyn, New York, as a memorial to the great divine whose name it bears, to sponsor an annual series of lectures on a topic appropriate to the work of the ministry.
The Francis X. Cheney Lectureship in Pastoral Theology was established by students and friends to encourage a minister’s proper focus in pastoral care. The lectureship is open to scholars in all disciplines who seek to bring their expertise to bear on this subject. This lecture is given every second year at Berkeley Divinity School, alternating with the Louis Wetherbee Pitt Lectureship.
The Loring Sabin Ensign Lectureship in Contemporary Interpretation of Religious Issues was founded in 1994 by church members and other friends to honor Loring S. Ensign, M.Div. 1951, for his twenty-five years of service as pastor of the Southport Congregational Church (Connecticut).
The Hoskins Visitorship was established in 1967 in memory of Fred Hoskins, B.D. 1932, by gifts from the churches which he served and from individual friends. The Hoskins Visitor is a Christian leader invited to the School to deal particularly with issues that relate to the reform and renewal of the church. This visitorship is given every second year, alternating with the Luccock Visitorship.
The Kavanagh Lecture, presented by the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, is named for the late Professor Emeritus of Liturgics Aidan J. Kavanagh O.S.B., and given in conjunction with Convocation Week at YDS.
The Luccock Visitorship was established in 1963 in memory of Halford E. Luccock, who served as professor in the School from 1928 to 1953, by gifts from alumni and other friends. The Luccock Visitor, usually a parish minister, is invited to spend several days at YDS. This visitorship is given every second year, alternating with the Hoskins Visitorship.
The Parks-King Lectureship commemorates two civil rights activists, Mrs. Rosa Parks and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was established in 1983 through the efforts of the Yale Black Seminarians. The lecture brings the contributions of African American scholars, social theorists, pastors, and social activists to YDS and to the larger New Haven community.
The Louis Wetherbee Pitt Lectureship was established as a memorial to Dr. Pitt and his wife, Blanche Parmelee Pitt, by his family to provide for lectures by distinguished preachers and world Christians. This lecture is given every second year at Berkeley Divinity School, alternating with the Francis X. Cheney Lectureship.
The Shaffer Lectureship was established in 1929 by a gift from John C. Shaffer of Chicago, Illinois, as a memorial to his son, Kent Shaffer, Ph.D. 1907, to sponsor lectures on the life, character, and teachings of Jesus. This series is given every second year, alternating with the Nathaniel W. Taylor lecture series.
The Margaret Lindquist Sorensen Lectureship was established in 1978 by a gift from her son, Dr. Andrew A. Sorensen, B.D. 1962, to provide an annual lecture on politics and ethics.
The Nathaniel W. Taylor Lectureship in Theology was created in 1902 by a gift from Rebecca Taylor Hatch of Brooklyn, New York, in memory of her father, who was Dwight Professor of Didactic Theology from 1822 to 1858. A series of lectures on some theme in theology is given every second year, alternating with the Shaffer Lecture series.
The Dwight H. Terry Lectureship was established in 1905 by a gift from Dwight H. Terry of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and in 1923 inaugurated lectures on “Religion in the Light of Science and Philosophy.” It is administered by the Yale Office of the Secretary.
