News from the Hill May 07, 2008 | back to index
Andover Newton Trustees Elect Two New Faculty Members
Mary Luti named first Director of Wilson Chapel and Visiting Professor of Worship & Preaching
Simon Lee appointed to Assistant Professor of New Testament
MAY 5, 2008. After receiving enthusiastic recommendations from the faculty and the President, the Trustees of Andover Newton made two faculty appointments at its April meeting. The action follows national searches for the positions; both will begin with the 2008-09 academic year. Following the Trustee’s vote, President Nick Carter said, “Luti and Simon are wonderful additions to our faculty. Each brings a unique combination of scholarship, faith, and commitment to the church that will offer our students exciting educational opportunities. I can’t think of a better way to help celebrate our bicentennial year than to welcome these two outstanding new leaders to our faculty.”
The Rev. Dr. J. Mary Luti has been elected to the position of Director of Wilson Chapel and Visiting Professor of Worship and Preaching. Luti will serve as the inaugural director of Andover Newton’s Wilson Chapel overseeing the imaginative integration of the modern new chapel into curriculum and the life of the School community. In addition, Dr. Luti will teach several courses each year in the areas of worship and preaching.
For the past 8 years Dr. Luti has been serving the Senior Minister of First Church in Cambridge, Congregational (UCC). She is recognized as one of the leading pastors in New England. Her abilities in congregational revitalization, innovative worship, preaching, and spiritual formation have been widely celebrated. The former Associate Dean of Andover Newton, Mary also taught in the Department of the History of Christianity at the School until leaving to work as a church and leadership consultant in 1998. In addition to her service at First Church, she has for many years engaged in a ministry of speaking, workshop leadership and consultation in congregations and with church leaders. She has written on subjects of Christian life and spirituality, and is the author of Teresa of Avila’s Way, a volume in the series, “The Way of the Christian Mystics” (Liturgical Press). Dr. Luti holds two masters degrees (English and Theology) and a PhD (Theology) from Boston College. Luti and her spouse are residents of Cambridge, MA.
Dr. Simon S. Lee has been elected to the position of Assistant Professor of New Testament. Lee is an outstanding scholar who is graduating from Harvard this spring with a doctorate in New Testament and Christian Origins. Simon is a Presbyterian church leader originally from South Korea who worked for several years as an engineer in his home country before embarking on a life dedicated to religious scholarship. He has a Masters of Sacred Theology from Harvard Divinity School, an MDiv (summa cum laude) from Gordon Conwell, and a BS from Seoul National University. Lee and his family are residents of Lexington, MA.
Andover Newton is the nation’s oldest graduate institution of theological education, founded in 2007. Based in Newton Centre, MA, the school is known for its commitment to the pastoral ministry and the pioneering accomplishments of its graduates in the fields of mission and local church leadership. Historically covenanted with the United Church of Christ and the American Baptist Churches USA, Andover Newton now celebrates a student body comprised of more than 30 denominations, including one of the largest concentrations of Unitarian Universalist students in the US.