New Brunswick Theological Seminary is a seminary of the Reformed Church in America (RCA), a mainline Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States that follows the theological tradition and Christian practice of John Calvin. It was founded in 1784 and is one of the oldest seminaries in the United States. First established in New York City under the leadership of John Henry Livingston, who instructed aspiring ministers in his home, in 1810 the seminary established its presence in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where its main campus is now located. Although a separate institution, the seminary's early development in New Brunswick was closely connected with that of Rutgers University (formerly Queen's College and Rutgers College) before establishing its own campus in the city in 1856.
New Brunswick Theological Seminary offers professional and graduate degree programs (Masters and Doctoral) to candidates for ministry and to those pursuing careers in academia or non-theological fields. It also offers certificates and training programs to lay church leaders seeking advanced courses in Theological Studies or Church Leadership. While rooted in the Reformed faith, New Brunswick Theological Seminary is dedicated to providing a comprehensive Christian education as "an inter-cultural, ecumenical school of Christian faith, learning, and scholarship committed to its metro-urban and global contexts". As of the fall semester of 2012, the seminary enrolled 197 students.
History Establishment and early history (1784–1810)
The Dutch Reformed Synod of New York recognized that there was a shortage of adequately trained ministers to supply the church's congregations in the British American colonies. Young men had to journey to the Netherlands to pursue several years of theological studies at a Dutch university.Hageman, Howard G. Two Centuries Plus: The Story of the New Brunswick Seminary. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdsman Publishing Company, 1984). Church leaders sought to obtain the right to examine and ordain ministers in the colonies (later in the United States), and to operate a school to train them. In 1766, several clergymen secured a charter from New Jersey's Royal Governor William Franklin for the creation of Queen's College, now Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, New Jersey "for the education of youth in the learned languages, liberal and useful arts and sciences, and especially in divinity; preparing them for the ministry and other good offices."A Charter for Queen's College in New Jersey. (1770) at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, in Special Collections and University Archives in the Archibald S. Alexander Library, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
However, in these early years, the trustees of Queen's College and the Synod of New York disagreed on the purpose of the new institution. With uncertainty about the college's financial stability, the Synod desired to directly oversee the theological training of their ministerial candidates. However, the question of whether to open a seminary was delayed because of the ongoing hostilities of the American Revolution. After the war concluded, the Synod decided in 1784 that it was necessary to support the study of theology and recommenced the effort to establish a seminary. John Henry Livingston, a graduate of both Yale College (1762) in Connecticut and the University of Utrecht (1770) in the Netherlands, was appointed to be the Synod’s Professor of Sacred Theology and to organize theological education at Queen's College. However, Queen's College did not provide Livingston a salary, compelling him to lecture on fees paid by the students directly. Livingston remained in New York overseeing a parish and instructing theology students through lectures given in his home.
In 1792, the Synod became aware that many students were prevented from pursuing their studies in the "commercial emporium of New York" because of the high cost of living and a lack of sufficient funds. To address this difficulty, the Synod decided to locate the seminary outside of the city. However, as Queen's College had severe financial difficulties and was forced to close by 1795, New Brunswick was not considered a viable option. In 1796, Livingston was directed by the Synod to relocate his theological classes to a small school in Flatbush (now in Queens, New York) where it remained for the next 14 years.
A seminary in New Brunswick (1810–1856)
After being closed for twelve years, Ira Condict and other church leaders began an effort in 1807 to revive Queen's College. Condict, the college's third president, and the college's trustees agreed to coordinate with the Synod on theological education, to hire professors, and establish a library. In 1810, Condict declined the post of president of Queen's College in a full capacity (he had been serving in a pro tempore capacity since 1795), and the trustees of the college offered the post to Livingston who accepted. The seminary was relocated to New Brunswick. The college closed again in 1816, but the trustees permitted the theological seminary to remain on the Queen's College campus and expressed hope that the college would be revived. At this time, Elias van Bunschooten, a Princeton-trained minister residing in Sussex County, New Jersey, established funded a trust for assisting indigent young men in pursuing their studies preparing for ministry.
In 1823, the Synod paid a significant portion of Queen's College's debts in order to place the institution on a secure financial footing and enable it to reopen. With the second reopening, the Synod provided clergymen to serve at the college as theology professors. Livingston had dedicated several years to raising money for the effort but died shortly before Queen's College reopened in 1825. Philip Milledoler, a Reformed clergyman from New York City, was appointed to fill the vacancy created by Livingston's death. Milledoler persuaded one of his parishioners, Colonel Henry Rutgers, to support the college. The trustees subsequently renamed it Rutgers College in his honour. At first, the Synod exercised oversight over the operations of the college, but by 1840 directed its attentions solely to the operation of the seminary. During this period Rutgers College, the college's grammar school (now Rutgers Preparatory School), and the seminary shared one building, known as Old Queens (built 1809–1823) until the two schools separated operations entirely in 1856.
According to Bruggink and Baker, in 1792 (seven years after Livingston began to teach in his home), there were 116 Reformed churches served by 40 ministers. In 1830, twenty years after starting instruction in New Brunswick and organizing the seminary, there were 159 ministers serving 194 churches.Bruggink, Donald J. and Baker, Kim N. By Grace Alone: Stories of the Reformed Church in America. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004), p. 83
Campus on "Holy Hill" (1856–2012)
In the 1850s, the student bodies of Rutgers College and the Seminary began to expand, overcrowding the space provided at the Queens Campus.Frusciano, Thomas J. (University Archivist). From "Seminary of Learning" to Public Research University: A Historical Sketch of Rutgers University (2006). Retrieved 24 August 2013. The seminary professors realized that students renting rooms at boarding houses in the city were paying more for their housing than students at other seminaries—over double the costs of housing at New York City's Union Theological Seminary or at nearby Princeton Theological Seminary. The professors surmised that it would be cheaper to build a seminary building that provided both student housing and instruction space.
When the seminary's leaders proposed the idea, the Synod of New York removed financial support from both Rutgers and the seminary. Colonel James Nielson, David Bishop, and Charles Dayton—prominent citizens in New Brunswick—donated plots of land totaling almost consisting of part of a hill extending from George Street to College Avenue. At the same time, Ann Hertzog of Philadelphia donated $30,000 for the construction of a building to be named "Peter Hertzog Theological Hall" in memory of her husband. Hertzog Hall (built 1855–1856) became a dominant feature on the hill, which became known locally as "Holy Hill". In November 1776, during the American Revolution, the hill was the site of a British artillery redoubt during the occupation of New Brunswick.
In 1865, a fourth professor position, the Professorship of Pastoral Theology and Sacred Rhetoric, was established at the seminary. David D. Demarest was the first elected to that professorship and was inaugurated on 19 September 1865, at the First Reformed Church of New Brunswick.
Throughout the nineteenth century, the institution became known because of the efforts of missionaries serving throughout the world.Reformed Church in America. "RCA Report of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary: Building a New Future for the Oldest Protestant Seminary in North America." (2013). Retrieved 17 September 2013. In the 1870s, the campus was expanded with the construction of two buildings—one housing a gymnasium and additional lecture space; the second, a library. The seminary desired to build a library first, citing the need to house its expanding collection of books. However, local businessman and seminary benefactor James Suydam donated funds to build the gymnasium, to be named Suydam Hall, because he was concerned with student health.Rutgers University Libraries. Suydam Hall and Statue, Rutgers College, New Brunswick, N. J. . Rutgers University Community Repository. Retrieved 24 September 2013. Suydam Hall was built in 1873 and was designed by architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh. Hardenbergh had finished completing the design for Kirkpatrick Chapel and Geology Hall on the Rutgers campus and later would become known for buildings in New York City, including the Plaza Hotel and Dakota Apartments.Glovin, Bill. "Castles in the Air" in Rutgers Magazine (Spring 2006), pp. 35–41. After receiving a donation from Gardner A. Sage earmarked for the construction of a library, the trustees commissioned Hardenbergh's former teacher, German-American architect Detlef Lienau, to design it. The Sage Library was completed in 1875. Lienau designed the library to complement Hardenbergh's (style) design for Suydam Hall. In the 1960s, Suydam Hall and Hertzog Hall were deemed to be inadequate for the administrative and instructional needs of the seminary. The trustees voted in 1966 to demolish both buildings and replace it with a modern one-story all-purpose building, Zwemer Hall, containing the seminary's chapel, faculty offices, and classroom facilities.
In the late 1970s, during the tenure of seminary president Howard Hageman, the seminary revised its academic programs to focus on serving the needs of second career and bi-vocational students. This was intended to make theological education more accessible as the seminary transitioned during the 1980s to 2010s from "a predominantly residential school to one that is more than 90 percent commuter based." This transition meant that the seminary would serve an increasing number of second-career pastors who would study part-time. Another result of this transition was that the seminary's student body became the "most richly diverse" seminary in North America.