"This Grand Errand"

A comprehensive history of Yale Divinity School and its impact on theology, religious life, and culture across two centuries, published for the school's bicentennial.

"This Grand Errand" is the chronicle of a theological institution through 200 years of commitment to its mission of producing religious and civil leaders amid a society ever in flux. The school's contributions to church life and theological education in U.S. history are perhaps unparalleled – YDS has played a critical role in preparing ministers, social reformers, religion scholars, deans and presidents of theological schools, denominational executives, and civic organizers who are grounded in theological education.

This book features achievements by faculty and alums while documenting institutional transformation across two centuries. Over this period, the school has evolved from a regional seminary to a national and global pacesetter for the training of religious, scholarly, and public leaders. Throughout successive dramatic eras of national history, YDS has been remarkably steady in its identity, which is to preserve and restate, in an ecumenical setting, the value of Christian tradition in preparing leaders and speaking to contemporary human need, social reform, community building, reconciliation, and belonging. This ethos – an adherence to Christian faith, the value of critical thinking about religion, a commitment to diversity and interfaith expression, and a mandate to work for divine mercy, justice, and the common good – has its origins in early Yale history, which began as a college for the training of church and civic leaders. That moral calling is served by Yale Divinity School.