Just as Hebrew College is taking the lead in rethinking the training of rabbis and cantors, so the new president of next-door Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) plans to reinvent the training of Protestant ministers.

The Reverend Nick Carter, founder of a Boston-based consulting firm that advises senior executives of religious and non-profit organizations, succeeded Benjamin Griffin in July, and brings an entrepreneurial vision to the nation's oldest Protestant graduate school of theology.

Commenting on the shortage of Protestant clergy in a July 31, 2004, profile in the Boston Globe, Carter said, "There are traditions of seeing seminaries as places of reflection, of spiritual formation, to go out into the world. But the dynamic is shifting to a dimension that says theological education starts in the church. Every minister is, in a way, an adjunct professor."

An ordained American Baptist minister, specializing in institutional transformation, Carter is known both for his work in the local church and his national leadership on issues of peace and justice. Notably, he was the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Beverly, Mass., for over 10 years and in the late 1980s he was the executive director of SANE/FREEZE.

Carter and President David Gordis have discussed their complementary academic visions on several occasions. "We share an excitement both about developments within each institution and about the possibility of enhanced collaboration," says Gordis.

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