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General Theological Seminary
The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) is an Episcopal seminary in New York City. Founded in 1817, GTS is the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church and the longest continuously operating seminary in the Anglican Communion. The seminary was chartered by an act of the Episcopal Church's General Convention and its name was chosen to reflect its founders' vision that it be a seminary to serve the whole Church. In 2022, the General Theological Seminary entered into a formal affiliation with Virginia Theological Seminary whereby the two separate institutions share a common leadership structure.
In May 1817 General Convention, the governing body of the Episcopal Church, met in New York City and passed two resolutions: first, to found a general Episcopal seminary to be supported by the whole church; second, that it be located in New York City. This was emended in 1820 to remove the school to New Haven, Connecticut, but in 1821 the will of Trinity Church vestry member Jacob Sherred unexpectedly heeded the words of his friend John Pintard and directed that his entire fortune of around $60,000 should be paid when:
... there shall be established within the state of New-York, under the direction or by the authority of the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, or of the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New-York, a College, Academy, School, or Seminary, for the education of young men designed for holy orders in the Protestant Episcopal Church.
The newly established diocesan school in New York expected to be the beneficiary and Bishop Hobart published his thanks for the gift in the April 4 New York Evening Post, since the General Seminary had already begun its 1820 term in Connecticut. A special convocation of the bishops was hastily arranged, however, and it was agreed to return the school to New York City in order to claim Sherred's grant, although the Virginia deputies continued to bemoan that the seminary should be "placed under more favorable auspices for the promotion of what we [believe] to be sound views of the Gospel and the Church than it would be in New York". Duncan Cameron mollified them and convinced one to note that "the evil of the undue influence of New York in the General Seminary ... would be chiefly at the beginning, and would be decreasing every year". With some stipulations concerning its governance, Bishop Hobart consented to the union of the diocesan school with the General Seminary rather than contesting the inheritance. The unified school opened for the spring term of 1822.
Other parishioners of Trinity Church went on to support the once more local institution. Clement Clarke Moore, famous for penning A Visit from St. Nicholas, owned the estate "Chelsea", which included most of what would become the Manhattan neighborhood by that name. Also a member of Trinity Church, he donated 66 tracts of land—which was his apple orchard—to become the site of the new seminary. It was not, however, until 1827 that the seminary occupied that land.
Other figures influential in the founding of the seminary include Theodore Dehon, William White, and John Henry Hobart. Bishop Hobart served as the seminary's first dean, after which the Bishop of New York served in this capacity until the 1850s.
In 1878, Eugene Augustus Hoffman – said to be the richest clergyman in the world due to his extensive real estate holdings – was appointed dean. Under his tenure, the seminary saw tremendous growth, both in student body and facilities. Dean Hoffman's "grand design" was for the seminary's Chelsea campus to be built on an Oxford model, with neo-Gothic buildings facing onto a central quadrangle or Close. Likely Dean Hoffman's most influential addition to the seminary's campus was the Chapel of the Good Shepherd which was begun in 1886, completed two years later, and became known as the "Jewel of Chelsea Square." Its set of 15 tubular bells is the oldest extant in this country, with tubes by John Harrington of Coventry, England; original installation (1888) by Walter Durfee of Providence, Rhode Island; and a modern baton clavier (1983) by Royal Eijsbouts of Asten, Netherlands. The tower chime is played daily by members of the seminary's Guild of Chimers to call the community to worship. Architect Charles C. Haight designed and supervised construction of most of the buildings on Chelsea Square while Haight's father, Benjamin I. Haight, was the first priest at nearby St. Peter's Episcopal Church.
Due to growing housing needs for married students, GTS acquired 422 West 20th Street, a residential building opposite the seminary's 20th Street gate in March 1957.
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General Theological Seminary
The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) is an Episcopal seminary in New York City. Founded in 1817, GTS is the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church and the longest continuously operating seminary in the Anglican Communion. The seminary was chartered by an act of the Episcopal Church's General Convention and its name was chosen to reflect its founders' vision that it be a seminary to serve the whole Church. In 2022, the General Theological Seminary entered into a formal affiliation with Virginia Theological Seminary whereby the two separate institutions share a common leadership structure.
In May 1817 General Convention, the governing body of the Episcopal Church, met in New York City and passed two resolutions: first, to found a general Episcopal seminary to be supported by the whole church; second, that it be located in New York City. This was emended in 1820 to remove the school to New Haven, Connecticut, but in 1821 the will of Trinity Church vestry member Jacob Sherred unexpectedly heeded the words of his friend John Pintard and directed that his entire fortune of around $60,000 should be paid when:
... there shall be established within the state of New-York, under the direction or by the authority of the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, or of the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New-York, a College, Academy, School, or Seminary, for the education of young men designed for holy orders in the Protestant Episcopal Church.
The newly established diocesan school in New York expected to be the beneficiary and Bishop Hobart published his thanks for the gift in the April 4 New York Evening Post, since the General Seminary had already begun its 1820 term in Connecticut. A special convocation of the bishops was hastily arranged, however, and it was agreed to return the school to New York City in order to claim Sherred's grant, although the Virginia deputies continued to bemoan that the seminary should be "placed under more favorable auspices for the promotion of what we [believe] to be sound views of the Gospel and the Church than it would be in New York". Duncan Cameron mollified them and convinced one to note that "the evil of the undue influence of New York in the General Seminary ... would be chiefly at the beginning, and would be decreasing every year". With some stipulations concerning its governance, Bishop Hobart consented to the union of the diocesan school with the General Seminary rather than contesting the inheritance. The unified school opened for the spring term of 1822.
Other parishioners of Trinity Church went on to support the once more local institution. Clement Clarke Moore, famous for penning A Visit from St. Nicholas, owned the estate "Chelsea", which included most of what would become the Manhattan neighborhood by that name. Also a member of Trinity Church, he donated 66 tracts of land—which was his apple orchard—to become the site of the new seminary. It was not, however, until 1827 that the seminary occupied that land.
Other figures influential in the founding of the seminary include Theodore Dehon, William White, and John Henry Hobart. Bishop Hobart served as the seminary's first dean, after which the Bishop of New York served in this capacity until the 1850s.
In 1878, Eugene Augustus Hoffman – said to be the richest clergyman in the world due to his extensive real estate holdings – was appointed dean. Under his tenure, the seminary saw tremendous growth, both in student body and facilities. Dean Hoffman's "grand design" was for the seminary's Chelsea campus to be built on an Oxford model, with neo-Gothic buildings facing onto a central quadrangle or Close. Likely Dean Hoffman's most influential addition to the seminary's campus was the Chapel of the Good Shepherd which was begun in 1886, completed two years later, and became known as the "Jewel of Chelsea Square." Its set of 15 tubular bells is the oldest extant in this country, with tubes by John Harrington of Coventry, England; original installation (1888) by Walter Durfee of Providence, Rhode Island; and a modern baton clavier (1983) by Royal Eijsbouts of Asten, Netherlands. The tower chime is played daily by members of the seminary's Guild of Chimers to call the community to worship. Architect Charles C. Haight designed and supervised construction of most of the buildings on Chelsea Square while Haight's father, Benjamin I. Haight, was the first priest at nearby St. Peter's Episcopal Church.
Due to growing housing needs for married students, GTS acquired 422 West 20th Street, a residential building opposite the seminary's 20th Street gate in March 1957.