New York Theological Seminary

New York Theological Seminary began its life in 1900 as the Bible Teacher’s College in Montclair, NJ. Under the direction of its founder, Wilbert Webster White, the school sought intentionally to bridge the divide that had then begun to open between university-based and Bible school forms of theological education. A gifted scholar and teacher, President White was a leading proponent of what was known as “the inductive Bible study method.” He believed that the Bible ought to be taught in English and allowed to occupy the central position in the theological curriculum. The method lent itself easily to an emphasis on practical training for ministry, which characterized the institution from its inception.

President White moved the school to New York City in 1902 in order to provide what he called a more “cosmopolitan” setting for the ministerial training of students, renaming it the Bible Teachers’ Training School. In 1921 the corporate name was changed to The Biblical Seminary in New York, and then in 1967 to New York Theological Seminary. From 1900 through the 1960s the Seminary trained numerous men and women who went on into pastoral ministry, missions work, Christian education and teaching around the world. From its founding the school demonstrated a strong commitment to the education of women as well as men, and to members of all races and denominations.

In the early 1970s New York Theological Seminary under the leadership of another gifted theological educator, George W. Webber, took on a new mission, of providing accessible and affordable theological education to men and women in the greater New York metropolitan area who were already in ministry, were bi-vocational, or were contemplating a shift from a secular to a religious vocation. The Seminary sold its campus and relocated to more affordable space, and began offering its programs at nights or on week-ends when urban church leaders who worked full-time could attend. For several years it suspended granting the M. Div. degree and focused on offering the S.T.M. degree, a newly formed Certificate in Christian Ministry, and continuing education opportunities for urban church leaders. In the mid-1970s the Seminary added the M.P.S. and D. Min. degree programs. In the early 1980s it began to offer the M. Div. degree again, and began what has become a highly acclaimed Master’s degree program inside Sing Sing Correctional Facility that trains inmates from throughout the New York State prison system for ministry within the system. In the 1990s the curriculum was modified to reflect the Seminary’s commitment to social and community analysis and the increasingly multicultural urban context. In 2002 the Seminary moved to the Morningside Heights area of Manhattan. Located with offices in The Interchurch Center, with classrooms in The Riverside Church, and making use of the Columbia University Library System which includes the Burke Library at Union Theological Seminary, NYTS is well-positioned at the intersection of the church, the city and the academy.