A Pastor for Every Thousand Souls

Beginning with the establishment of Andover Theological Seminary in 1807, the number of Protestant theological seminaries in the United States expanded dramatically—as did their influence on American education and society. While the seminaries varied widely in terms of affiliation and student population, broadly speaking they shared a mission to educate and prepare white men for work as Christian clergy at a time when ministerial authority was believed essential to forming new communities.

This belief, Andrew Gardner argues, was shaped by nineteenth-century ideologies of Christian nationalism and imperialism. Advocates for theological education thought the United States could not succeed without a strong profession of educated clergy, and many schools also served as the educational infrastructure for exporting Christianity beyond the country’s boundaries. As the nineteenth century progressed, these schools developed more politically nuanced and regionally situated mindsets, particularly as the nation looked westward. Taking up case studies of theological seminaries like Andover, Princeton, Lane, and Union (Richmond), Gardner shows how the institutions, bureaucracies, networks, and logics of early theological education shaped clergy into political actors as the country progressed toward civil war.