School Notes: Yale Divinity School
January/February 2021

Program aims to help churches strengthen their congregations

A new initiative at Yale Divinity School will help churches find dynamic new approaches to congregational life and community engagement and strengthen their congregations as they help members deepen their faith, build strong relationships with each other, and contribute to the flourishing of local communities and the world. Reimagining Church: New Models for the Twenty-First Century is funded by a grant of $1 million from the Lilly Endowment Inc. Over the five years of the program, YDS will invite 40 Connecticut congregations to take part in workshops facilitated by senior ministry students in which they will reimagine their missions. “This grant will enable the school and 40 churches to think about ways to reenvision the Christian mission in a post-pandemic world,” Divinity School dean Greg Sterling said. “We hope that these efforts will lead to vibrant and growing communities of faith in a society desperate for spiritual answers.”

Professors earn accolades for recent books

Two Divinity School professors have won accolades for recent books. Publishers Weekly recognized the new book by Willie James Jennings, associate professor of systematic theology and Africana studies. After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging (Eerdmans), a critique of the dominance of an ethic of white masculine self-sufficiency in theological education, was named a Best Book of 2020 by the magazine. Kathryn Tanner ’79, ’85PhD, Frederick Marquand Professor of Systematic Theology, won an award from the American Academy of Religion for Christianity and the New Spirit of Capitalism (Yale University Press). The AAR gave the book the Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion: Constructive-Reflective Studies.