Crossings | Spring 2024

Church Divinity School of the Pacific

Crossings

EarlyReturns

Funded curates adding new life in new roles

Good Grief: Acknowledging the pain of rightly ordered love

B

y D r . S tephen F owl President & Dean

Among the many blessings of this school year has been my growing awareness that I am surrounded by a sea of grief.

In the midst of all the exciting future-oriented work we are doing at CDSP is the parallel reality that we are also losing things. Our residential program is closing; we are leaving the GTU; the future of the property is up in the air, but things will certainly change there too.

The loss of someone or something loved is naturally an occasion for grief. The deeper the love,the deeper the grief.

This climate is not formed by knee-jerk, reactive grief that simply opposes change. Rather, we’re experiencing a richly textured, layered grief. It raises up and reflects on past experiences, joys, and relationships connected to the life of this campus as a residential seminary—the only accredited Episcopal seminary on the West Coast.

Countless alums took formative, life-changing classes within the GTU. That will not be the case moving forward. The buildings named for significant people in the history of CDSP will almost certainly be changed. And that’s if those buildings remain at all in whatever fruitful life our campus finds after the closing of our residential program.

For many LGBTQ+ seminarians, residential formation at CDSP was perhaps the only space where they felt sufficiently safe to engage in true formation for ministry. Although our commitments to our LGBTQ+ students will not change, our students who graduate this May rightly lament the loss of this place for those who might have followed in their footsteps but now will not.

I am still fairly new here. Nevertheless, I too have stepped into this sea of grief. I realize that my grief is not as sharp as those who have deeper roots at CDSP. Still, I’d like to share how I have found some consolation through a text I’ve taught for decades, Augustine’s Confessions.

While he was a young man and still far from God, St. Augustine experienced the sudden death of a close

friend. He recalls that his grief was almost unbearable. It left him exhausted, bitter, and unable to find much consolation.

Augustine understands that grief is tied to love. The loss of someone or something loved is naturally an occasion for grief. The deeper the love, the deeper the grief.

Of course, one way to shield ourselves from the pain of grief is through various forms of detachment. Our culture urges us down this path. We are encouraged to think of our connections, possessions, and relationships as disposable.

That is not the way of Christ. The God who calls all things into being desires us to have deep, heartfelt connections to people, places, and things. This genuine love opens us to grief when those connections are lost. When there is as much loss as we are experiencing at CDSP, that grief becomes a sea, threatening to overwhelm us.

Augustine reminds us that the same God who invites us into loving relationships in the created world also calls us to single-minded, wholehearted love of God. Loving God with all our hearts, strength, and minds does not diminish our love for people, places, and things. Rather it enables us to love all things properly.

In the rest of this issue, you’ll see that we have many people, initiatives, and occasions to celebrate at CDSP. In some cases, the losses we grieve make room for new life.

But neither this theological perspective nor the good news that can follow loss eliminate our grief. Nor should they. Instead, the grief that we rightly feel is tempered as we entrust all our loving connections to God’s care, the God who is at work healing the world.

In this way, when we find ourselves adrift in a sea of grief, we can find ballast in the promise that, in Christ, loss is never the final word in our story.

Dean Fowl on acknowledging the pain of rightly ordered love 4

CDSP-funded curates add new life in new roles

8 Sneak Peek

Revised MDiv curriculum taking shape

The Rev. Angela Furlong ‘23 serves as assisting priest and associate for youth and families at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Frederick, MD. |

Crossings

Dr. Stephen Fowl, President and Dean Editorial: The Rev. Kyle Oliver, EdD, with assistance from the Rev. Edward Lowe

Design: Trinity Church Wall Street

Crossings is published by Church Divinity School of the Pacific 2450 Le Conte Ave., Berkeley, CA 94709-1249

© Church Divinity School of the Pacific, all rights reserved. For additional print copies, e-mail communications@cdsp.edu.

Crossings also is published as a pdf online, at www.cdsp.edu/news/crossings, with archive copies available. We want to know what you think of our magazine. Please send your comments, story ideas, and suggestions to communications@cdsp.edu.

Go Green with CDSP: Email communications@cdsp.edu to subscribe to our monthly email newsletter, and stay connected on Facebook at /cdspfans. 10 ‘Uniquely Beautiful’

Celebrating CDSP’s final residential students

14 New & Noteworthy

VP Dwyer shares details, reflections on upcoming changes

15 Join Us in June

You’re invited to Dean Fowl’s installation, General Convention reception

On the cover:

The Rev. Katherine Frederick ‘23 (top left), the Rev. Mees Tielens (MDiv ‘23), PhD (bottom left and top right), and the Rev. Angela Furlong ‘23 at work in their post-graduation clergy roles. These positions are part of the rollout of CDSP’s curacy program.

| Photos by Tom Minczeski (Frederick, Tielens) and Larry Canner (Furlong)

Looking for our Community News section? Subscribe to our monthly online newsletter at cdsp.edu/subscribe to stay up-to-date on publications, new calls, ordinations, and more from the wider CDSP community.

Photo by Larry Canner

E arly R eturns :

CDSP-funded curates already adding new life in new roles

by the Rev. Kyle Oliver, EdD

The idea for the new signature initiative at Church Divinity School of the Pacific began as a lament. In 2019 and 2020, after CDSP and Trinity Church Wall Street announced their strategic partnership, senior leaders from both organizations met extensively

with bishops. Their goal was to learn more about dioceses’ hopes and challenges surrounding theological education, and how a revitalized CDSP could contribute.

One answer rose to the top in these conversations: the loss of so-called curacies, a once common model of continuing leadership formation after seminary.

Fast forward four years. The result of those conversations is an exciting reality for new CDSP graduates. The seminary is in the process of rolling out a fully funded curacy program for which graduating MDiv students will be eligible.

Several of those graduates spoke to Crossings about their experience in the early days of this new initiative:

The Rev. Mees Tielens (MDiv ‘23), PhD, is curate at St. Anna’s Episcopal Church in Antioch, CA; the Rev. Angela Furlong ‘23 is assisting priest and associate for youth and families at All Saints’ Episcopal Church in Frederick, MD; and the Rev. Katherine Frederick ‘23 is curate at Grace Episcopal Church in Fairfield, CA.

The challenging post-seminary status quo

At the core of regional leaders’ frustration during those listening sessions is that it has become difficult for many newly ordained priests to return to

their dioceses after seminary and serve with an experienced supervisor in these crucial formative years. The parish and diocesan budgets that once made curacies an attractive and somewhat normative option are under increasing strain.

Unfortunately, the alternatives to curacies can be less than ideal for supporting new clergy. Seminary graduates open to relocation can often find work on the denominationwide job market for assistant or associate clergy roles. However, this option means needing to rebuild the network of local connections that helps mission-minded leaders thrive. For CDSP’s hybrid students, the ability to preserve that network and serve close to home is often a significant part of their interest in the program in the first place.

What’s more, some new clergy report that these positions don’t always have a new leader’s maximal growth and development in mind.

“When I was job searching, I went on several different interviews. There were more rectors than I expected

• The Rev. Tim Hartley ‘22

• The Rev. Ashley Gurling ‘23

• The Rev. Michael Angel Molina ‘23

• The Rev. Jeckonia Okoth ‘23

• The Rev. Angela Furlong ‘23

who want you to stand beside them as they do things,” Tielens said. “It was very clear that they had ideas about what the associate did, and the associate stayed in their lane.”

The increasingly common last resort is for new graduates to immediately take on one or more priest-in-charge roles, sometimes but not always with the promise of supervision, mentorship, or peer support. This approach has its own challenges.

“I do know people who are out on their own serving,” Frederick said. “When I hear about some of the things that they are facing, I think, ‘Wow, I’m really grateful I have someone who’s actually in charge that can help negotiate, and I can watch what they’re doing rather than it being on me to work through those things right out of seminary.’”

There has to be a better way, participants in the bishops’ consultations agreed. Their analysis planted the seeds for bringing new life to the time-tested model of intentional post-graduation curacies.

Church of our Saviour San Gabriel, CA

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Park City, UT

Trinity Episcopal Church Easton, PA

Episcopal Church in Minnesota Minneapolis, MN

All Saints’ Episcopal Church Frederick, MD

• The Rev. Mees Tielens (MDiv ‘23), PhD Saint Anna’s Episcopal Church Antioch, CA

• The Rev. Betsy McElroy ‘23

• The Rev. Jessica Frederick ‘23

• The Rev. Katherine Frederick ‘23

Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist Lodi, CA

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Jamestown, NY

Grace Episcopal Church Fairfield, CA

• The Rev. Luis Ottley (MDiv ‘23), EdD Saint Anne’s Episcopal Church Sunfish Lake, MN

New funding for a traditional formation model

The seminary is making the transition to its new curacy program in stages. As a first step, alums who graduated in May 2023, both from the residential and hybrid programs, qualified for $60,000 in yearly salary assistance. This is the iteration of the program in which Furlong and Tielens are participating.

Furlong said this funding made the difference for the viability of her full-time position, and it allowed her to build on the knowledge of the parish she developed there as an intern before seminary.

“It’s a pastoral position, I think, for myself and for the congregation,” she said. Citing the challenges of the pandemic and other factors, she continued, “They’ve been through about five different priests over the last three years. Both the priest-incharge and myself are new. We offer some stability going forward, which is welcomed by the parishioners.”

While All Saints has traditionally been served by two priests, Tielens’ new parish has a very different history. Tielens said the significance of his arrival as part of this program has not been lost on St. Anna’s, a “scrappy” mission congregation formed in 2019 by the merger of two small churches.

“This is a congregation that is very aware that churches close,” Tielens said. “I think it feels like a sign of hope and vitality that they have two priests and can develop new initiatives and programming. The congregation can see that there’s more time for the vicar. There are things I can take off her plate, or

things that were just not her skill set or priority—like we have a youth group now, which we didn’t have before.”

Alums graduating later than May 2023, a group that includes Frederick, qualify for the full financial support of the new initiative. Their dioceses receive quarterly grants from Trinity Church Wall Street to pay the full cost of curates’ salaries and benefits for two years.

While the program represents a major investment both in newly ordained clergy and the faith communities where they serve, seminary and local leaders acknowledge it is not a panacea. The approach is about supporting and accelerating students’ professional formation in a challenging church landscape, not putting a bandage on church or diocesan finances.

“We’re asking questions about how to be compellingly faithful for changing times and contexts,” said the Rev. Mark Chung Hearn, PhD, now dean of academic affairs, when the program was announced.

“The vocational flexibility that this curacy program will support means new opportunities for our students and their bishops to think creatively about ministry leadership and continuing formation.”

Bishops with students at the seminary agree. The Rt. Rev. Scott Barker, bishop of Nebraska, says his diocese has worked hard for years to nurture a curacy program and appreciates the model. When CDSP announced its new initiative, he said he “moved with dispatch” to confirm his students’ eligibility for a “an extraordinary opportunity that seemed almost too good to be true”:

“We need to be educating people to be strong and faithful in their personal discipleship, to have real curiosity and courage about trying new things and looking to the future, and to be resilient and emotionally intelligent,” Barker continued.

“Those are the kinds of skills and knowledges that I think you can develop in a real Christian community when you’re serving in a structured curacy. Outside of that context, it’s going to be more awkward and painful, and it’s probably going to take a little longer.”

Continuing learning, contributing new ideas

There is an encouraging balance apparent in the curates’ accounts of their early months of service. Each expressed appreciation for the chance to transition to more immersive ministry in a supported way. Furlong said it helps her bring her best efforts to serving the parish.

“I thought I was busy in seminary and then I came to a church. I liken it to parenthood: No matter what people teach you and tell you, you don’t really know until you actually live it what it’s going to be like,” she said. “My supervisor has twenty-plus years as a rector. Working alongside her, I’m learning what she’s learned over the years, but we’re learning together what this parish needs, what this community needs.”

In the case of All Saints, those needs included extensive redevelopment of the parish budget in light of reduced income and increased costs. Furlong said this is a great example of the kind of learning curates need and simply can’t fully address in seminary.

“We have a huge focus now on looking for people to rent our space,” she said. “You can read about stuff like that in books, but it’s different when you’re dealing with real people and their real concerns and all of the things that used to happen in those spaces.” Tielens and Frederick had comparable examples of such hands-on learning, including building repair, hiring church staff, and managing insurance claims.

On the other hand, the new curates bring distinctive gifts to their new calls. Their exposure to new ideas in seminary means they have plenty to contribute to their new community. Frederick, for example, has taken on significant worship planning responsibilities. She said she was once “very opinionated about traditional music” but is now challenging Grace parishioners to expand their liturgical horizons just as she was challenged when arriving at CDSP.

And like Tielens, she notes that significantly increasing staff capacity seems to have a catalyzing effect.

“Somebody told me yesterday that they really could tell the difference in energy in the parish since I came,” she said. “It’s really nice for them to have me come in and have a second pair of hands, a second brain [in a clergy leadership role].”

The Rt. Rev. Kym Lucas, bishop of Colorado, believes this infusion of extra staff capacity makes the program a good fit for the Church’s current moment.

“Like most dioceses, in Colorado we have so many congregations with a single priest that are too big for a

single priest, but not big enough to be able to afford a second priest,” she said. “It’s exciting to me that, not only do I have the opportunity to provide a livelihood for new priests right out of seminary and to help them find the mentoring that they need, but it also gives a boost to those congregations who are doing okay but need that one little piece to do better.”

Still more work to do

The more programmatic dimensions of the curacy initiative will roll out in 2025, giving CDSP’s new associate dean of formation and recruitment a full year from their planned spring 2024 hiring to finalize the remaining details. These include arrangements about structuring participants’ supervision and mentoring, as well as ongoing peer community and continuing education with their CDSP cohort.

Tielens and Furlong noted that completing the “salary assistance” phase of the program’s rollout will be key to its effectiveness. The flat-rate grants may have made it possible to get the program up and running quickly, but the dramatic variance in regional cost of living has led to very different results in terms of different communities’ additional hiring capacity.

Frederick spoke to the strong potential of bringing targeted learning opportunities to the continuing education portion of the curacy, noting that consultation with the same faculty with whom they studied could help alums more effectively connect classroom and field-based learning.

Tielens added that careful targeting is also important because alums’ situations are likely to be quite different from one another.

“Doing fieldwork at a small church and being interested in small churches, I noticed a lot of the training we received was not based on that situation,” he said. “I hope the training and mentoring comes either in different pathways or is just well-rounded. Angela and I are in very different churches. If we were both a part of this, I hope we would both receive something that we can really put to work right away.”

Still, with a new associate dean coming on board and a whole year’s worth of learning to integrate from the salary assistance year, it feels like the pieces are coming into place for the program to make a big difference.

“How could we not be excited about this?” asked Dr. Stephen Fowl, president and dean of CDSP, who cited the program as a significant source of his interest during the hiring process last spring.

“We don’t know of any transitionto-ministry program that has included every member of a student cohort and directly funded post-graduation roles that wouldn’t have existed otherwise. For students to get the full benefit of what curacies have traditionally offered, it was going to take this level of commitment. It is a big investment of time and resources, but we trust it will be worth it.”

To hear the full interview, subscribe to Crossings Conversations at cdsp.edu/podcast

Recipients of post-graduation curacy program funding include (from left) Katherine Frederick, Tielens, Furlong, Hartley, Gurling, Molina, Okoth, McElroy, Jessica Frederick (see p. 5 for full names and positions). | Photos by Tom Minczeski (Katherine Frederick, Tielens), Larry Canner (Furlong), and otherwise courtesy of those pictured.

Sneak Peek:

Revised MDiv curriculum taking shape

Since the announcement of our hybrid shift, our faculty have been hard at work revising the MDiv curriculum and supporting program at CDSP. This article is intended to serve as a kind of guided tour of where that work is heading.

As you probably know, we’ve chosen to narrow our focus to CDSP’s signature strengths and invest much more heavily in our students and the local church. Why? Quite simply, because we want to form the most responsive and faithful priests we can. Our hybrid students prepare to face current and future ministry realities in the local communities they are already serving faithfully. We can’t remove every barrier to thriving as a faith leader in challenging times. But we can give them the best possible chance to begin their years of ordained ministry in a healthy and high-impact way.

We begin with four years of hybrid coursework, advising, and community-based spiritual formation culminating in the MDiv degree. All students accepted into the program will receive a full-tuition scholarship, have meals provided during multiple yearly onsite sessions, and have their travel to those sessions reimbursed.

But the program doesn’t end at graduation. CDSP will work with each student and their bishop to design a two-year curacy position in one or more Episcopal settings (see “Early Returns,” pp. 4–7). We will pay for students’ salaries and benefits in the form of a grant to the diocese from Trinity Church Wall Street. Cohorts will remain connected via continuing

programming for professional development and mutual support.

Student Outcomes

We’re designing this curriculum with very specific student outcomes in mind. As Dr. Hearn shared previously (see “Charting the Courses,” Fall 2023, pp. 12–13), they represent the faithful discernment and planning of our faculty. We’re identifying knowledge, skills, and sensibilities that today’s Episcopal priests need in order for them, and their communities, to thrive. Here are the four categories of outcomes:

Facility in Foundational Disciplines:

Students will have a facility with scripture, doctrine, liturgy, moral theology, historical theology, and practical theology. They will critically probe the resources of the Christian tradition to deepen their love of God, and to inspire their communities to do likewise.

Contextual Understanding:

Our students need a clear-eyed understanding of the realities facing their communities, the Episcopal Church, and Christianity more broadly. This program will prepare them to respond to those realities in a creative, Spirit-filled way, including by engaging difference in their communities without diminishing the vitality of diversity.

Wise, Faithful Leadership:

Priests must know themselves as people on a journey into a deeper experience of Christ, giving thanks for the joys of that journey and developing resilience amid its

common pitfalls. Our students will analyze and navigate complex social systems and embody healthy pastoral and ministerial leadership.

Creative Community Formation:

Tomorrow’s churches and faithbased organizations need support cultivating flexibility, developing a sense of communal responsibility for leadership and care, and forming partnerships that benefit, mobilize, and inspire the wider community. Our graduates will have a passion for reimagining what is possible for the mission of the Church, with God’s help.

Revised course scope & sequence

As you can see from the graphic at right, there are some important changes to highlight in the new course scope and sequence.

First, we will transition to a quarter system with online and onsite learning included in each term. This change is primarily intended to help hybrid students’ workloads and focus. Our previous hybrid student schedule was beholden to the traditional academic semester, which is optimized for residential students. To graduate on time, our hybrid students were forced to divide their attention among multiple courses each semester in addition to the demands of their work and family commitments.

We are working closely with current hybrid students and other stakeholders to determine a manageable rhythm and duration for on-site sessions, some of which will take place in other locations to reduce the average travel burden and take advantage of partner relationships.

Second, we will frame the program with foundations in our highest theological priorities. We begin with a course in the foundations for Episcopal ministry. We end with a course on mission in a multifaith world, acknowledging that our students’ contexts are simultaneously post-Christian and post-secular. Finally, we reserve year 3 of 4 for an extensive, customized experiential program, which will include contextual education as well as CPE if required.

Community & formation

We’ve heard very clearly from our alums and friends who are concerned that students receive the most community-oriented program possible. We agree that deep attention to communal worship, fellowship, and spiritual formation is essential.

Our hybrid students consistently rate the communal aspects of their

programs very highly. We believe the big difference our hybrid alums are making in their ministry settings illustrates the hybrid modality’s potential.

Still, we have already begun to restructure our staff to better facilitate formation and community in the new model. By the time this issue goes to press, we will have hired our first associate dean of formation and recruitment in the spring of 2024. This important new leader will oversee and continue to develop our holistic vision for spiritual formation in cohorts and local contexts.

In addition to group-based experiences, our new hybrid student rule of life will guide members of our community through building personal foundations of scripture study, daily office participation, intercessory prayer, and deepening curiosity about their local community. We will continue to reimburse each student for their work with the spiritual director of their choice.

What comes next?

As of this writing, we were continuing to respond to stakeholder feedback and revise the draft curriculum for final approval by our board.

Meanwhile, we are already beginning to graft current hybrid students into these new rhythms in our planning. Each student chose whether to finish their studies according to the new requirements or to continue with those they committed to when they matriculated.

It will be a complex transition, but we are confident that our emerging plan is effective and fair. More importantly, we know the growing pains will be worth it. It’s not every day that a seminary can so fully redesign its offerings to meet the needs of a changing church. We are grateful for the opportunity, and for all the feedback we have received along the way.

To see an audiovisual version of this overview, visit cdsp.edu/curriculum-tour

Uniquely Beautiful: Celebrating CDSP’s final residential students

of 2025.

Briefly share the story of a favorite campus memory...

For the Feast of the Presentation, Chaplain Steve Hassett needed an icon of the Holy Family. He asked a group of students if we had one, and no one did. We decided to create one ourselves. Several of us collaborated, each drawing a different figure, finding joy working together to write our impromptu icon. We processed it from Denniston to the chapel as we sang a Taizé chant together. This memory of faithful creativity and exuberant fellowship will remain with me always.

My favorite campus memory was meeting Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. I was able to participate in webinars with him prior to seminary and during the pandemic, but I never thought our paths would cross. It was a joy and delight to be in conversation with him. PB Curry blew the roof off our chapel during his sermon. I will always take with me his message: “The church is not dying. It is transforming.”

– Karla Koon ‘25, Diocese of Olympia

– The Rev. Calvin Payne-Taylor ‘24, Diocese of California

An impromptu DIY Holy Family icon in All Saints Chapel.

| Photo courtesy of the Rev. Robert G. Stevens ‘24

Although some current residential students will not graduate until 2025, the ‘23–‘24 academic year will be the last for CDSP’s residential program. As Dean Fowl writes in his Letter from the Dean (see “Good Grief,” p. 2), the whole community feels the sense of loss associated with this transition. But that is all the more reason to celebrate and give thanks for the fabulous residential students of the Class of 2024 and Class of 2025. In order to do so here in Crossings, we asked them to reflect on a series of questions and to share stories and photos of their time in Berkeley.

Many of my most meaningful memories on the CDSP campus took place in our chapel. Regular services punctuated our busy academic schedules and allowed us the opportunity to connect with the community, bring theory into practice, and worship God with our entire beings. Our uniquely beautiful worship space and the gathered community within have been a touchstone of faith, expression, and joy for me in both easy and challenging times. Each time I leave that space, I experience an increase in joy, wonder, and peace.

– John McLean Wolff ‘24, Diocese of California

I loved back when Schola choir still existed and chapel was full on Thursday evenings. We sang James MacMillan’s “O Radiant Dawn,” and it was stunning.

– Michael Drell ‘25, Diocese of Cuernavaca

Seminarians participate in a practice wedding liturgy. From left: the Rev. Brad Gough ‘24, John McLean Wolff ‘24, and Michael Drell ‘25. | Photo courtesy of Gough

What’s one takeaway from a class that you hope you’ll still be guided by regularly in five years?

My biggest takeaway from seminary was learning Kathryn Tanner’s ideas on soteriology in Dr. MacDougall’s Theology I course. It was the first time I encountered the idea that the incarnation, rather than solely the cross, was the salvific act. She put forth the idea that Christ made our entire lives holy, in each and every element, connecting our humanity to his Divinity in his very body. This idea made a major impact on me that I think will continue throughout my ministry.

– The Rev. Erin Wiens St. John ‘24, Diocese of California

What’s one way you’ve changed in your time in seminary? What do you think led to this change?

People told me I would be different when I finished seminary. I was suspicious, but they were correct. Looking back, it is challenging to identify just one way that I have changed. I can say that my theological imagination has become more expansive, and I appreciate that the body of Christ goes beyond the four walls of a church. I attribute this to studying a wide diversity of theologians from antiquity to today—and not just theologians but people doing the ministry of God in the world.

– The Rev. Robert G. Stevens ‘24, Diocese of Olympia

I entered seminary unaware of disagreements (and agreements!) about issues dear to me within the Anglican Communion. I now know so much more, and yet have so much more to learn, about the wider Anglican world. This expansion of view, opening up of possibilities and perspectives, is directly thanks to the teaching and scholarship of the CDSP faculty, including especially Dr. Snow.

– The Rev. Phillip Lienau ‘24, Diocese of Olympia

Several members of the Class of 2024. From left: the Rev. Phillip Lienau ‘24, the Rev. Calvin Payne-Taylor ‘24, Weston Morris ‘24, the Rev. Erin Wiens St. John ‘24, Emily Hyberg ‘24, the Rev. Toby Darrah ‘24, the Rev. Robert G. Stevens ‘24. |PhotocourtesyofStevens

All Saints Chapel after Evensong in spring. “The combination of flowers and sky was beautiful, but I also find the weathering/brokenness of the cross to show how real this place is,” wrote Harlowe Zefting ‘25. “It testifies to the history here and makes me feel connected to the generations of seminarians that have worshipped and learned underneath it.” | Photo courtesy of Zefting

What’s something about living in Berkeley that you didn’t expect but know you’ll miss?

I don’t think I expected Berkeley to be as charming as it actually is, and I definitely didn’t expect it to be so breathtakingly beautiful here between the hills and the sea. I didn’t expect or want it to feel like a place where I belonged. I was coming out here for school and that was it—check seminary off my list and go home for ordination. Instead, I found that out here with so many spiritual seekers, mystic visioners, and people on journeys of discovery about self and other, I was actually very much at home.

– The Rev. Toby Darrah ‘24, Diocese of Michigan

What’s a message of good news or encouragement you’d like to share with the Church?

Amid all the fear that the Church is shrinking, or even dying, my time at CDSP has convinced me otherwise. The old model of Church that can be measured by ASA or pledges is what is dying. The Church as the expression of God’s work in the world is not going away. We have the great pleasure of figuring out what it looks like in its next expression.

– The Rev. Brad Gough ‘24, Diocese of Southern Ohio

“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” Julian of Norwich

– Michael Drell ‘25, Diocese of Cuernavaca

You don’t know what seeds have been planted and when the conditions will be just right for something to bloom with the splendor of vibrant color. So keep your head up and your eyes open. You never know when you will be surprised with delight.

– Karla Koon ‘25, Diocese of Olympia

If you’ve made it this far into the issue, you know that the changes in our life together have been especially significant and numerous this spring. Accordingly, I’d like to use this column to touch briefly on a few issues about which we are receiving many eager questions.

Curacy program logistics

As you have already read (see “Early Returns,” pp. 4–7), the goal of our new curacy program is to revitalize an important model for helping new priests make the post-seminary transition. We hope to provide our graduates with high-quality mentoring and a stable, fairly compensated position in the early years of their ordained service, building on their prior formation at CDSP.

Here are some notes on the process: In the spring of each student’s final year, they will work with the appropriate diocesan official (bishop or bishop’s designee) to discern a potential curacy site (or sites) in their home diocese. Considerations include the student’s particular interests, the amount of time they have available (full time or part time), and the bishop’s or designee’s assessment of the health and learning potential of various communities.

CDSP then completes a restricted grant agreement and oversees the payment process. Our curacy agreements with dioceses are two years in duration. The costs covered

New & Noteworthy: Details

and reflections on upcoming changes

By the Rev. John F. Dwyer Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

by the agreements are salary (according to diocesan guidelines), benefits (insurance, pension, SECA reimbursement), and other qualified expenses (work mileage reimbursement and continuing education, for example). Grants are disbursed in eight quarterly payments to dioceses.

Leaving the Graduate Theological Union (GTU)

The decision to give our two-year notice of intent to leave the GTU was long in the making. It evoked a lot of comment, both negative and positive. I am not going to re-articulate the merits of the decision here. However, I do want to share two difficult observations about the current state of the GTU today.

First, the GTU is a very different institution today from what it was 30, 20, and even 10 years ago. For understandable reasons, the current focus of the GTU is increasing the number of enrolled PhD students. Facilitating ecumenical and interreligious learning does not and realistically cannot receive the attention it once did in our shared life.

Second, the student population living on Holy Hill across GTU institutions is a fraction of what it once was. I know that these blocks of Berkeley were once a vibrant theological neighborhood, but that is less and less the case each year—again for understandable reasons that have affected us all.

Dean Fowl began this issue of Crossings by addressing the grief many are feeling about changes at CDSP (see “Good Grief,” p. 2). He notes that grief is about the loss of something good that we have rightly loved. In the case of our decision about the GTU, I believe that much of what we have loved and lost is bound up with the “changes and chances of this life” that have been impacting the Church and higher education for decades.

Future of the CDSP campus

CDSP and Trinity Church Wall Street have retained the services of a respected Bay Area real estate firm to advise us and our Board of Trustees on the best options regarding next steps for our campus.

No decisions have been made, but we want our community to be prepared for the likely outcome of significant rentals or sales. Should some or all of our property be sold, proceeds will be placed into CDSP’s endowment, which continues to be managed by San Francisco-based Cerity Partners.

In tandem with our shift to the fully hybrid model, this leveraging of our resources is how we have identified a sustainable path forward for CDSP in light of today’s realities in theological education. While these decisions have been difficult and will continue to be, they are also what is making possible the future you have been reading about in much of this issue.

Help us Celebrate Dean Fowl

On Tuesday, June 11, Church Divinity School of the Pacific will host the installation of Dr. Stephen Edward Fowl as president and dean. The ceremony will take place on campus, rain or shine, and will be available for online viewing at cdsp.edu/livestream. Join us for the following events:

4:30 PM Installation ceremony in St. Margaret’s Courtyard

5:30 PM Public hors d’oeuvres reception

For more information, visit cdsp.edu/installation.

Find us at General Convention

CDSP will be an exhibitor in Louisville, KY, at the 81st General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Please join us at Booth #304 for conversation with students, faculty, and staff about the many exciting initiatives underway at the seminary.

We especially hope to see you at our reception, where you can connect with CDSP leaders as well as fellow friends and alums.

Expect a brief program, drinks, and heavy hors d’oeuvres.

TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 6:30–8:30 PM

Omni Louisville Hotel

400 S. 2nd St.

For more information, visit cdsp.edu/gc81.

2450 Le Conte Ave. Berkeley, CA 94709-1249

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