By Pressley Peters
Jeffrey Haggray ’88 M.Div. serves on the YDS Dean’s Advisory Council and chairs the Andover Newton Seminary Advisory Council. He is in his tenth year as CEO of American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS), an organization that encourages, equips, and strengthens Christian leaders to make a positive impact in people’s lives across the U.S. mainland and Puerto Rico.
Before joining the nonprofit arena, Haggray served congregations as a pastor in New Jersey, D.C., and Georgia. He was also a regional executive minister for the District of Columbia Baptist Convention. He received his D.Min. from Wesley Theological Seminary and a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Virginia.
In 2023, Haggray was awarded a YDS Alumni Award for Distinction in Congregational Ministry for his exceptional pastoral leadership in the work of the mission of local congregations.
Both ABHMS and YDS have worked to equip spiritual leaders since the early part of the 19th century. How do their long histories shape these organizations and how they serve their constituents?
ABHMS and YDS are each entrusted with preserving and growing resources so that spiritual leaders will always have access to learning opportunities. We are both committed to knowledge-creation and the formation of moral leaders who can envision a healthy democracy, thriving society, and a world where people care for one another. In times like these when many people are economically challenged, our institutions have maintained endowments and are therefore in the best position to continue their missions.
Making a sustained impact in the world requires continued dedication to our core values, cultivating relationships, encouraging generosity from those who care, and consistently telling a compelling story about the impact we make in the world so that others may participate in our mission.
How did your time at YDS impact your life and career?
When I sought input about ministry from my mentors at UVA, several said YDS should be at the top of my list. I was fortunate to be accepted and receive financial aid. Most people looking to work in nonprofits today can’t afford higher education without assistance. It shouldn’t be like that. We need moral leaders whose educational training is on par with those serving in politics, business, law, healthcare, and other spaces.
As a seminarian preparing to become a pastoral leader, YDS provided me a well-rounded graduate education. Our world-class faculty was astutely aware of contemporary trends and postmodern thought. The faculty challenged students to pursue opportunities for growth and to grapple with scholarly interests throughout the University. YDS also provided a rich community life for personal and spiritual formation.
How does your experience with the YDS Dean’s Advisory Council and the Andover Newton Seminary Advisory Council give you confidence about their future?
My service gives me great assurance and hope regarding Yale’s commitment to engaging with faith leaders and changemakers in the larger society. YDS and ANS understand that a closed academy which isolates itself from the larger world cannot equip leaders for that world.
Both councils invite persons who represent different sectors such as religion, business, academics, culture, and arts. Each of the councils listen to people and ideas to understand the challenges facing students and our communities. So long as YDS continues building bridges between the school, the church, and the wider society, the education it offers will be relevant and dynamic, and graduates will be well-positioned to provide highly competent moral and religious leadership.
You encounter many worthwhile organizations in your line of work. What ministry or service speaks to you personally in terms of your own giving and volunteering?
Increasingly, I am giving more of my time and resources to those organizations that consciously shape leaders for the future church and the wider society. Leadership matters. Emerging leaders require affirmation, support, encouragement, and empowerment with resources, tools, and experiences that shape them. Highly equipped moral leaders do not simply drop into the community like ripened grapes. Instead, they are identified, provided with quality resources and enrichment opportunities, mentored, and given diverse experiences that shape them into the leaders they were meant to be.
How do you imagine your generosity might impact YDS students, the Divinity School, and our world?
I personally support or have steered support from ABHMS both to scholarships and to conference attendance for YDS students where they can network like the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference and Children’s Defense Fund conferences. I recently gave to the George Washington Williams Faculty Chair and the Linda S. Campanella Scholarship, among other funds.
How has giving has been joyful to you?
I am committed to giving to the current generation of emerging leaders. I would not be the leader I am today if persons and organizations had not invested in me. One pastor asked me to always pay it forward, to pass assistance on to someone else in the future. I am at the stage in my professional journey where I am trying to keep that promise.