USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Andover > History of Andover theological seminary, 1933 > Part 18
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18
"I find that, apart from doctrinal or creedal requirements, the Plan of Closer Affiliation fulfills, as nearly as is possible under the existing conditions, the purposes for which Andover Seminary was founded. I further find that if the purposes for which the Seminary was founded, so far as such purposes involve doctrinal or creedal requirements, are fulfilled if instruction in the field of theological studies in which doctrinal questions are involved is in the historical succession of New England Trinitarian Congrega- tionalism, the Plan of Closer Affiliation fulfills with respect to Andover students as nearly as possible under existing conditions the purposes for which Andover Seminary was founded."
The Court, however, held that the language of the original Constitution, Associate Statutes, and other fundamental doc- uments was so unequivocal that no relaxed interpretation was permissible, even though, as the master found, it had be- come impossible for any theological scholar of standing to subscribe to the Creed if literally interpreted. While the actual decision (which was rendered in September, 1925) did not go further than to set aside the Plan of Closer Affiliation, it was apparent that it was useless, either with or without any affilia- tion, to attempt to keep the Seminary open, so long as it should
{ 201 }
be subject to the creedal requirements as construed by the Court.
Apparently nothing remained for Andover Seminary but to close its doors. For the remainder of the academic year 1925-1926 the Seminary was conducted under the original Plan of Affiliation adopted in 1908, which was not directly affected by the decision. By concurrent action of the Trustees and of the Harvard Corporation this plan was then abrogated. The Faculty resigned, and the Trustees voted that instruction be suspended.
It was in a chastened frame of mind that friends and alumni contemplated the future. Must the school that had served so well the denomination and the Christian world die of strangu- lation? Was the noble purpose of the founders to educate a Congregational ministry to be defeated by the dead hand of outgrown dogma? The Court had suggested a possible method of liberation. By a decree in accordance with the liberal principle of cy pres the Court might remove the ancient restriction and make it possible for the old school to breathe again. The Trustees immediately entered upon a serious con- sideration of the feasibility of obtaining relief by this means. Many important questions, both of law and of policy, had to be taken into account before the Trustees felt justified in instituting further proceedings. In November, 1930, however, the Trustees filed in the Supreme Judicial Court a bill in equity, representing that it was impossible under existing conditions to execute in all respects the designs of the founders as in- terpreted in the previous decision, and that attempted con- formity to the creedal requirements of the Constitution and Statutes as so interpreted would altogether defeat the primary object of the founders and subsequent donors, i.e., the providing of learned, able and devout ministers for the Trinitarian Congregational churches, and would necessitate the permanent discontinuance of the Seminary. The bill therefore asked the Court to adjudge that persons whose theo- logical views were in conformity with those obtaining among Trinitarian Congregationalists generally should thereafter be deemed qualified so far as concerned their doctrinal position
{ 202 }
for professorships in the Seminary and that instruction given in the Seminary should not thereafter be called in question because of inconsistency with the creedal requirements of the Constitution and Statutes. The Board of Visitors (whose composition had undergone still another change) filed an answer in substance joining in the request of the Trustees. On April 10, 1931, the Court entered a decree reciting that it had become impossible to carry out the purposes of the founders and subsequent benefactors of the Seminary so long as the creedal requirements of the Constitution and Statutes were strictly enforced, and relieving the Trustees and the Visitors from the necessity of complying with these requirements except to the extent of seeing to it that the theological views held by the professors and by the members of the Board of Visitors are in conformity with those obtaining among Trini- tarian Congregationalists generally.
While the legal matters were under advisement, the future course of Andover Theological Seminary was under consider- ation. The terms of the charter required that the Seminary should remain in Massachusetts, a provision which eliminated the possibility of going West or South. The continual objec- tion to the Harvard affiliation made resumption of the ar- rangement at Cambridge impracticable. Yet Andover lacked an endowment sufficient to continue instruction alone, and since the old buildings at Andover had been disposed of to the Academy in 1908, and Andover Hall in Cambridge was not available, the Seminary was in a dilemma.
There was one way out. A cordial invitation from Newton Theological Institution to join forces in a new affiliation was extended to the homeless school. It was a novel proposition to unite seminaries of different denominations. Newton was Baptist and Andover was Congregational. But interdenomi- national differences had grown less acute since the first pro- fessors were obligated to denounce "heresies and errors, ancient and modern," and there were many likenesses between the two seminaries. Both were evangelical in temper, having come into existence in the same period and under the same impulse. Andover dated from 1807, Newton from 1825.
{ 203 }
The first Newton professors, Chase and Ripley, were An- dover men, and they transplanted the ideas and methods of the older school. Each had a rich missionary heritage. Each had been represented on the home mission field and in the halls of educational institutions. Both had the same high standards of scholarship, the same theological outlook, the same interest in interpreting religion in terms of present as well as future life. Both rested on faith in the ultimate spiritual reality as against the secular spirit of the age. Together they might hope to become a strong force in the life of the time, and to show the way towards the closer cooperation of two great and friendly denominations. In January, 1930, the Trustees of Newton extended a formal invitation to Andover to enter into an affiliation. The Andover Trustees thereupon adopted a resolution declaring their desire to accept the invitation as soon as practicable. Upon the entry of the decree relaxing the creedal requirements, the Visitors voted to approve the Plan of Affiliation with Newton. The Trustees thereupon voted to remove the Seminary from Cambridge to Newton to the extent contemplated by the Plan of Affiliation and to accept the invitation of Newton to enter into that plan. It was further voted that undergraduate instruction in the Semi- nary be resumed in Newton at the beginning of the academic year 1931-32.
The mutual agreement provided resources sufficient for a strengthened Faculty. Professor Evans, whose resignation from the Andover Faculty had been held in abeyance by the Trustees, now withdrew the resignation at their request and resumed his duties as Abbot Professor of Christian Theology in coordination with the Newton department. Reverend Dwight Bradley became lecturer in pastoral problems and church worship, and Reverend A. Philip Guiles was added to the Faculty as the director of clinical training. In 1933 Pro- fessor Amos Niven Wilder of Union College was appointed to the chair of New Testament Interpretation.
Andover students found their way to another hill than the old, but no less consecrated by ancient traditions and precious memories. In the Newton buildings at Newton Centre, An-
{ 204 }
dover men studied side by side with Newton men, and in the classrooms the professors made no distinction between them. The old Society of Inquiry of Andover was revived and the long history of the organization was recalled. Andover alumni fraternized with Newton alumni at Commencement, and trustees of both schools sat together at the Commencement dinner. Friendship with Harvard was by no means broken. Newton had relations of affiliation with Harvard which facilitated the special studies of advanced students at Cam- bridge, and Andover arranged with Harvard to continue for the present the maintenance of the joint library in Andover Hall. The short distance of seven miles from Newton to Cam- bridge made it easily accessible in motor days, and the same distance from Newton to Boston made convenient the cultural advantages of that city and opportunities for service.
The affiliation of the two schools was not a merger. Mind- ful of Andover's past experiences and of the possibility of readjustments, the seminaries adopted the principle of fed- eration with freedom for either school to abrogate the joint arrangement, if it should be desired. All the procedure was carried out in the most cordial spirit and in anticipation of permanence. The instructors of the two schools under the Plan of Affiliation hold regular meetings as one body under the name of the "Faculty of the Andover Newton Theological School," separate meetings of the faculties of the two schools being held as occasion may require. The presiding officer at the joint meetings is the President of Newton, who has the title of "President of the Andover Newton Theological School." President Everett Carleton Herrick, D.D., LL.D., who had been president of Newton since 1926, thus became the first holder of the new title. He had added notably to the endowment of the Institution by tireless efforts, and had enriched the school with new friends. The attendance was increasing materially, and the students were loyal to president and seminary in spirit and conduct. Dr. Herrick made the affiliation possible by his cordial spirit and patient wisdom. There was the friendliest feeling for the affiliation among the Trustees and Faculty of the Institution. To facilitate the
{ 205 }
working of the joint arrangement an administrative com- mittee of five from each board of trustees was appointed.
The Trustees of Andover elected Reverend Vaughan Dabney, D.D., the minister of the Second Church in Dor- chester, as Bartlet Professor of Sacred Rhetoric and Presi- dent of the Andover Faculty. The Plan of Affiliation provides that "The President of the Andover Faculty shall have the title 'Dean of the Andover Newton Theological School,'" so Dr. Dabney became the first holder of this title. Dr. Dabney was Kentucky bred and received his theological education at Chi- cago Theological Seminary and as graduate fellow at Andover in 1912-14. He had had pastoral experience both East and West, and his election was hailed as a most suitable one. He was inaugurated on the seventh of January, 1932, in the First Church of Newton amid the congratulations of friends of both institutions and representatives from other schools of learning. He was inducted into office by Dr. Arthur S. Pease, President of Amherst College, a trustee of the Seminary and son of a former Bartlet professor at Andover, and the pro- gram included addresses by Justice Fred T. Field, president of the Newton Trustees, President Ernest N. Hopkins of Dartmouth, and Dr. Albert W. Beaven, president of the Colgate-Rochester Divinity School. Music was furnished by the chapel choir of the Seminary, led by an Andover student. In his inaugural address Dr. Dabney interpreted the alliance of Andover and Newton as meaning : first, the continuity of ancient traditions of scholarship, missionary zeal, and spir- itual fervor; second, cooperation as the hope of a richer future ; and third, creative accomplishment in the field of reli- gion, so as to feed hungry souls and better to interpret the Master to human society.
Andover students who came to Institution Hill at Newton Centre in the fall of 1932 found a busy student body of one hundred and fifty undergraduates, representing thirty differ- ent states of the Union and twelve foreign countries. Eighty Baptist and Congregational churches were being served by students as pastors' assistants. Deputation teams went to the churches for evangelistic purposes, and city missions were
{ 206}
visited regularly in Boston. The Seminary enjoyed radio broadcasting privileges for religious messages at a neighboring station. Herrick House, a new dormitory erected during the summer, provided modern accommodations for married stu- dents, and Chase House supplied living quarters for women who were studying in the department of religious education. Lectures on the Hyde Foundation were on the point of resump- tion, and Professor Hocking of Harvard soon set a new pace with his contribution to re-thinking missions. The Southworth lectures of Andover supplemented the Greene, Duncan, and English foundations of Newton. And there on the hilltop of forty acres men and women took time for spiritual retreat as well as for intellectual and social activities.
With the approach of Andover's one hundred and twenty- fifth anniversary faith is strong that the school of the prophets formed long ago by the alliance of two groups of Congrega- tionalists will find more abundant life in federation with a school of similar tradition, though of another denomination. They are loyal to the same God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Theirs is the same evangelical faith, the same congregational polity. Theirs are the same educational ideals, theirs the same goal of a social order transformed into the Kingdom of God. The vision of the world's need is glimpsed from Institution Hill in Newton as it was from Andover Hill. And what matters it, said Dr. Dabney in his inaugural, "if the ark of Andover has finally landed on the Ararat of Newton Hill? Progressive theological schools no longer wear sectarian labels. What a challenge is ours at Andover Newton to add a thrilling chapter to the history of the Christian Church, a history too full of wasteful competition and schism."/
On the back of the President's chair in the Convention hall at Philadelphia in 1787 was painted the picture of a half- submerged sun. When the Constitution of the new nation had been adopted, Benjamin Franklin, turning to several per- sons who stood near him, remarked: "I have often in the course of this session looked at the sun behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and
₹ 207 }
not a setting sun." During the vicissitudes of the last quarter of a century the sons of Andover may have felt a similar uncertainty, but on this one hundred and twenty-fifth anni- versary they may feel confident that Andover's glory did not vanish with the fading glow of a sunset over the Shawsheen valley, but that the pioneer seminary of New England, with its windows open toward the east, greets a new and greater day from Newton Hill.
{ 208 }
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.