Yale Divinity School Lectureships

The Yale Divinity School’s named lectures are part of the Yale University Divinity School Memorabilia Collection (Record Group 53, Series V. Audio-Visual Materials) in Archives at Yale. Many lectures have been recorded and subsequently converted to digital format, and the resulting audio or video files are regularly added to the Yale Divinity Library Audio-Visual collections online.

Bainton Lectures

The Roland Bainton Lectureship, inaugurated in 1988, represents the two foci of Professor Bainton’s life and work: church history and the church’s witness to peace and justice.

Bartlett Lectures

The Bartlett Lectureship was created in 1986 with a gift from the Reverend Robert M. Bartlett, B.D. 1924, and his wife, Sue Bartlett, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Naples, Florida.

Beecher Lectures

One of the most distinguished lecture series on preaching in the world, the Lyman Beecher Lectureship was founded in 1871 by a gift from Henry W. Sage of Brooklyn, N.Y., as a memorial to "the great divine whose name it bears," to sponsor an annual series of lectures on a topic appropriate to the work of the ministry.

Cheney Lectures

The Francis X. Cheney Lectureship in Pastoral Theology was established by students and friends to encourage a minister’s proper focus in pastoral care.

Chisolm Lectures

The Chisolm Francis Asbury Palmer Fund, established in 1998, provides an annual lectureship in honor of William Anderton Chisolm for the purpose of educating ministers who would eventually occupy a pulpit. The Chisolm Lecture focuses on areas of the Old Testament.

Ensign Lectures

The Loring Sabin Ensign Lectureship in Contemporary Interpretation of Religious Issues was founded in 1994 by church members and other friends to honor Loring S. Ensign, M.Div. 1951, for his twenty-five years of service as pastor of the Southport Congregational Church (Connecticut).

Hoskins Visitorship

The Hoskins Visitorship was established in 1967 in memory of Fred Hoskins, B.D. 1932, by gifts from the churches that he served and from individual friends. The Hoskins Visitor is a Christian leader invited to the School to deal particularly with issues that relate to the reform and renewal of the church. This visitorship is given every second year, alternating with the Luccock Visitorship.

Kavanagh Lectures

The Kavanagh Lecture, presented by the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, is named for the late Professor Emeritus of Liturgics Aidan J. Kavanagh O.S.B., and given in conjunction with Convocation Week at YDS.

Luccock Visitorship

The Luccock Visitorship was established in 1963 in memory of Halford E. Luccock, Professor of Homiletics at Yale Divinity School, 1928–1953, by gifts from alumni and other friends. 

Parks-King Lectures

The Parks-King Lectureship commemorates two civil rights activists, Mrs. Rosa Parks and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was established in 1983 through the efforts of the Yale Black Seminarians.

Pitt Lectures

The Louis Wetherbee Pitt Lectureship was established as a memorial to Dr. Pitt and his wife, Blanche Parmelee Pitt, by his family to provide for lectures by distinguished preachers and world Christians.

Shaffer Lectures

The Shaffer Lectureship was established in 1929 by a gift from John C. Shaffer of Chicago, Illinois, as a memorial to his son, Kent Shaffer, Ph.D. 1907, to sponsor lectures on the life, character, and teachings of Jesus.

Sorensen Lectures

The Margaret Lindquist Sorensen Lectureship was established in 1978 by a gift from her son, Dr. Andrew A. Sorensen, B.D. 1962, to provide an annual series of lectures on politics and ethics.

Taylor Lectures

The Nathaniel W. Taylor Lectureship in Theology was created in 1902 by a gift from Rebecca Taylor Hatch of Brooklyn, New York, in memory of her father, who was Dwight Professor of Didactic Theology from 1822 to 1858.

Terry Lectures

The Dwight H. Terry Lectureship invites preeminent scholars in religion, the sciences and philosophy to address issues concerning the ways in which science and philosophy inform religion and religion is applied to human welfare. The lectures are typically three or four in number and are usually delivered over two weeks. Established in 1905 by a gift from Dwight Harrington Terry of Bridgeport, Connecticut, it is among Yale’s most distinguished lectureships and has yielded important and enduring books, which are published by Yale University Press. A comprehensive list of lecturers since 1923 can be found here.