Issuu

FALL 2021

Crossings Navigating the Politics of Poverty

Visiting fellow guides divinity, policy students through an advocacy primer

The Rev. David Beckmann, visiting fellow and instructor for Poverty, Faith Communities, and the Politics of 2021. | Photo by the Rev. Kyle Oliver

Letter from the Dean

What we’re learning about the new normal in theological education By

the

V e r y R e v . W. M a r k R i c h a r d s o n , P h D

President and Dean

At CDSP, our curriculum develops the core leadership skills of contextual awareness, critical reflection, and public conversation.Together, these capacities help our students and alums notice, discern, and gather consensus toward action when challenges and opportunities present themselves. We always strive to practice what we preach at the seminary, so in my brief note to you I would like to share some of what our own ongoing reflection is teaching us about what it means to form faith leaders for the Episcopal Church in our current social climate. We are learning to more effectively bring theological reflection into our community partnerships. You probably know that we collaborate with many communities and institutions with no faith affiliation. For example, we’ve worked with UC Berkeley on important logistical matters like library access, space use for urgent university needs, and even requisition of safety equipment. The accompanying conversations don’t always overflow with heart, soul, and cosmic implications. But as you’ll read in this issue’s cover story, last spring we worked with UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy to engage an interdisciplinary group of students in theological, humanitarian, and pragmatic social reflection on matters of gospel urgency: hunger, poverty, preventable disease, and more. The Rev. David Beckmann’s course on how religious and political leaders engage these issues challenged divinity and public policy students alike to think critically about how society cares for “the least of these.” I’m delighted that our Christian values contributed so much to this distinctive learning opportunity. I’ve had warm discussions with Dr. Henry Brady, dean of the Goldman School, about the possibility of still more collaboration. We are learning to turn disruption into opportunities to improve our practices. Our objective as an institution is training lay and ordained leaders who can help communities connect with new and likely underserved constituencies in their neighborhoods. If we’re doing that work well, then we should be alert for opportunities to model this stance.

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For example, ongoing pandemic restrictions have forced us to implement policies with a possible side effect of exclusion. For everyone’s health and safety, we have to limit who can visit campus, attend classes and chapel, etc. Still, our growing expertise in hybrid instruction and hybrid worship have turned these potentially alienating necessities into opportunities for innovative and pastorally sensitive inclusion. We are grateful for the opportunity to better serve students living with immune system vulnerability or with family members who need similar precautions and support. Whereas in the past we had to present these students with a binary choice—in-person class attendance as part of our residential program or predominantly online learning in our low-residence program—we can now offer added flexibility to move intentionally between in-person and online learning and worship when necessary. For members of our community who do contract COVID-19 via vaccination “breakthroughs,” this flexibility also has the potential to make their time in quarantine less disruptive and isolating. We are learning to learn with and from our students. Sometimes even the most thoughtful educators get so caught up in the excitement of our disciplines’ treasured knowledge and impact that we forget to celebrate the expertise our students bring to the seminary community and into every classroom. In recent days, our students and quite recent alums have taught training workshops, co-led important initiatives, performed at a high level in work for CDSP administrative departments, and taken on duties in pastoral care. The future of theological education and religious leadership is collaborative, responsive, and public. CDSP is ever grateful for the chance to nurture these traits and be transformed by them as well. We all need to prepare not just to incorporate others into our churches but to joyfully enter our neighborhoods ready to be changed by what God is doing— including through people for whom Christian faith may not be the primary language.

4 Poverty, Policy and Partnership

18 Engaging Every Body

Unique class experience tackles tough issues with help from special guests

New student works to improve inclusion in churches

9 Inspiring Initiatives

20 Community News

Alumni share how CDSP prepared them to lead projects across TEC and beyond

New books, new calls, ordinations, and more from the CDSP family

14 Support in Seminary Pastoral care chaplains reflect on the past to shape the future

23 Cultivating Community

Crossings FALL 2021

New dean of students on conversation, embodiment, and space in formation

The Very Rev.W. Mark Richardson, PhD, President and Dean Editorial: Learning Forte, with assistance from Paul Impey ‘23 and Jeckonia Okoth ‘23 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.

On the cover: The Rev. David Beckmann, 2010 World Food Prize laureate and spring 2021 visiting fellow at CDSP, during and after his time leading Bread for the World. All photos courtesy of Beckmann. Learn more at davidbeckmann.net.

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, on Twitter @cdsptweets, and on Instagram @cdspstudent. Fall 2021 C R O S S I N G S | 3

The Rev. David Beckmann, visiting fellow and instructor for Poverty, Faith Communities, and the Politics of 2021. | Photo by the Rev. Kyle Oliver

Letter from the Dean

What we’re learning about the new normal in theological education By

the

V e r y R e v . W. M a r k R i c h a r d s o n , P h D

President and Dean

2 | Church Divinity School of the Pacific

4 Poverty, Policy and Partnership

18 Engaging Every Body

Unique class experience tackles tough issues with help from special guests

New student works to improve inclusion in churches

9 Inspiring Initiatives

20 Community News

Alumni share how CDSP prepared them to lead projects across TEC and beyond

New books, new calls, ordinations, and more from the CDSP family

14 Support in Seminary Pastoral care chaplains reflect on the past to shape the future

23 Cultivating Community

Crossings FALL 2021

New dean of students on conversation, embodiment, and space in formation

WITH GOSPEL URGENCY: Visiting fellow navigates politics of poverty with students, VIP guests by the

Rev. Kyle Oliver

“She has to go into the cloakroom and take our call,” said Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner to a dozen or so assembled divinity and public policy students.The co-chair of the National African American Clergy Network was vamping a bit, interweaving the narrative threads of her lecture with impromptu check-ins to set up her interview with the day’s other guest.

This classroom session was unusual, even accounting for the predictably choppy rhythms of a Zoom call. In my experience, seminary courses tend to unfold at a somewhat measured pace. Studying ancient texts and time-honored traditions calls for rumination, for pauses pregnant with the inner soundings of the Spirit’s still, small voice. But most seminary courses don’t focus on the fast-paced world of political advocacy, let alone feature appearances by chairs of powerful congressional committees.The Rev. David Beckmann, an ELCA Lutheran pastor and spring 2021 visiting fellow at CDSP, is working to change that reality. On March 8, 2021, the House of Representatives was voting on the American Rescue Plan. And so his VIP guest, Rep. Barbara Lee of the 13th Congressional District of California, had to connect with Beckmann’s class via telephone rather than video. (It turned out she was in a Capitol-bound automobile, not the Democratic Cloakroom.)

“A lot of advocacy work is a little bit on the run,” Beckmann said a few months later, reflecting on that session. He served as designer and convener of the course, entitled Poverty, Faith Communities, and the Politics of 2021.“You’re always adapting to what’s happening in Congress, and the members of Congress are always adapting to what’s happening now. It’s not easy to govern a country of 350 million diverse people, especially nowadays.” Lee and Williams-Skinner were among more than a dozen national leaders from the fields of politics, public policy, and faith-based advocacy whom Beckmann invited to take part in the interdisciplinary learning experience. The guest speakers came from a professional network he assembled throughout a career in faith-based leadership on global and domestic poverty issues.Their shared purpose, and the focus of the course, is taking part in political processes for the benefit of people in need.

Beckmann’s work in policy advocacy at Bread for the World connected him with hundreds of domestic and international leaders. | Photos courtesy of Beckmann

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WITH GOSPEL URGENCY: Visiting fellow navigates politics of poverty with students, VIP guests by the

Rev. Kyle Oliver

Beckmann’s work in policy advocacy at Bread for the World connected him with hundreds of domestic and international leaders. | Photos courtesy of Beckmann

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From World Bank gadfly to NGO president A graduate not only of Christ Seminary in St. Louis but also the London School of Economics, Beckmann has always understood his ministry as connected to the alignment between public policy and God’s mission in the world. “My call was to be a missionary economist,” he said.“To connect Christian faith and moral teaching to economics, especially poverty issues.” He began this work at the World Bank, where in fifteen years of service he developed a reputation as a squeaky wheel who challenged the organization to do more effective work transforming the lives of poor people around the world. He then served for nearly three decades as president of Bread for the World, which he describes as “the largest faith-based advocacy movement in the country, certainly on poverty and hunger issues.” “We were able to play a major role in quadrupling U.S. foreign assistance focused on reducing poverty around the world,

and also improving the quality of that assistance,” Beckmann said.“During this period, there was dramatic progress against hunger, poverty, and disease. Even now, the setback because of COVID-19 is huge, but nothing like a reversal of all that progress, not even close. A lot of Christian people and Christian leaders over a period of decades kept pushing on different aspects of getting the U.S. government to do its part, and we were successful.” Beckmann received the distinguished World Food Prize in 2010, sharing that year’s honors with Heifer International CEO Jo Luck. He retired from Bread for the World in 2020, crediting his time there with transforming his entire understanding of what is possible in his mission field. “When I started working at Bread for the World, I assumed [the potential] was just a matter of marginal changes at best,” he recalled.“But then we started seeing dramatic reductions in hunger, poverty, and disease in places like Ethiopia and Bangladesh. It made it clear that we can virtually end hunger, poverty, and avoidable disease within a couple of decades, if we can organize the necessary political give-a-damn.”

This sense of momentum and possibility is part of what keeps Beckmann motivated in his work. It’s also a key aspect of his theological interpretation of the progress so far. “It’s like a great exodus underway,” he said.“Do we think God’s not part of this? You can’t worship the God of love that we know in Jesus Christ and not realize that this is something God is doing in our time, wanting us to be part of it in our time. [And it] seems to me to be really important to the integrity of the Christianity in the United States. “Our civic life, our life as citizens, is part of what we have to offer to God.”

Policy progress amid political polarization Listening to Beckmann describe the accomplishments of the various faithbased coalitions he has been a part of, I couldn’t help but feel a bit exhilarated. What brought me back to earth was how he balances lofty theologizing with a knack for communicating about the hard-nosed strategies and tactics that ultimately make these outcomes possible. This mix of inspiration and perspiration probably feels familiar to CDSP students trained in community organizing. Still, Beckmann encouraged them to think about the discipline of legislative advocacy as a complementary skill, one just as relevant to a civically informed vision of discipleship. “To get people experience in influencing public policy at the national level as well as the local and state level should be part of the life of our local congregations,” he said.

What has changed for Beckmann in recent years is the result of a tectonic shift in the partisan political landscape for anti-poverty legislation, voting rights legislation, and meaningful bipartisan collaboration. Beckmann is frank that the takeover of the Republican party by Trumpist forces has had a destabilizing effect on the cooperation he and his colleagues once counted on.

when it comes to explicitly electoral advocacy, Beckmann nevertheless believes a greater focus on this area will be necessary for advancing gospel priorities. For example, he says Christians should consider political contributions to be a part of their charitable budget, and likewise voter registration and working for candidates to be excellent ways to faithfully volunteer their time.

“I worked in a bipartisan way all my life, but I’m really disappointed with the Republicans in Congress this year,” he said.“Not with all Republicans, but I think the congressional leadership has been really off the tracks. If the Democrats don’t win in 2022 at the national level, I think we’ll see a big reversal for poor people from what we’re seeing now with a slight Democratic majority.”

“It’s a wonderful thing, the extent to which congregations are still bipartisan,” he said.“That is really crucial.The gospel of God isn’t Democrat or Republican. But I think many people who are Christians who follow through the logic in our current political situation will say,‘Geez, we’ve got to get Democrats elected in 2022.’

Although cognizant of the care that leaders of congregations must take

“I’ve never said that in my life. I’ve always talked about,‘Let’s work together.’ Bipartisanship is not dead, but it’s not enough.”

A course born of partnerships However, in two important ways, Beckmann’s time with CDSP has been deeply shaped by a different sort of cooperation. For one thing, Poverty, Faith Communities, and the Politics of 2021 was not solely a divinity school course. Beckmann had a joint teaching appointment with the Goldman School, the public policy unit of the University of California, Berkeley. Seminarians from CDSP and other schools of the Graduate Theological Union shared the classroom with Goldman grad students. He said the different institutions have a lot to contribute to shared conversations. “CDSP is very much focused on not only pastoring the people in the

church but helping the people in the church to be in mission to the world,” he said.“And Goldman knows a lot about the public policies that would actually help us get to a world that better reflects what God wants.” Beckmann’s relationship with Dr. Henry Brady, longtime Goldman School dean and past divinity student at Union Theological Seminary in New York, served as partial catalyst for the course. Beckmann also credits the Very Rev. W. Mark Richardson, president and dean at CDSP, with playing a key role in bringing the course to fruition.

The other dimension of partnership at work in the class was Beckmann’s collaboration with the various guest speakers. Certainly for the session I attended, entitled “How the Black Church Built Electoral Power,” it was Williams-Skinner and briefly Lee in the driver’s seat. Williams-Skinner examined the history of Christianity’s influence on both white people’s justifications for American enslavement and Black people’s long struggles for liberation.

Beckmann and other faith leaders speaking near the U.S. Capitol. | Photos courtesy of Beckmann Top: Williams-Skinner interviews Lee during the March 8 class session. | Video screen capture

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Although cognizant of the care that leaders of congregations must take

“I’ve never said that in my life. I’ve always talked about,‘Let’s work together.’ Bipartisanship is not dead, but it’s not enough.”

Beckmann and other faith leaders speaking near the U.S. Capitol. | Photos courtesy of Beckmann Top: Williams-Skinner interviews Lee during the March 8 class session. | Video screen capture

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Seeking strategic impact “Why did Black people build so many churches?” she asked the class.“It was the one thing they could control.” She went on to explore how this foundation of dignity, belonging, sacred purpose, and collective endeavor translated into civil rights advancement for African Americans, with implications for today’s politics. “Why are they now trying to cut Sunday voting in Georgia?” she continued in her early March lecture. “Because that’s how Democrats were able to take the Senate.” For her part, Lee discussed the policy changes that are possible when electoral power is paired with ongoing issue advocacy.

“Public pressure is everything,” she said, recounting the role of faith communities in advocating for global aid increases she helped win during the George W. Bush administration. Other guest speakers in the course included Josh Dickson, former national faith engagement director for the Biden-Harris campaign; Gabriel Salguero, founder & president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition; the Goldman School’s Brady, who discussed how churches foster democratic participation but too often shy away from conflict; and Eric Sapp, whose political marketing firm, Public Democracy, works to amplify disenfranchised voices online (see sidebar below for full list of course speakers).

Beckmann also saw these partnerships as a way to immerse course participants in real-world skill-building opportunities. He required each student to give twenty volunteer hours to an activist project. In at least one case, that challenge may have catalyzed a minor turning point in a public policy career.

Beckmann lives in Metro Washington and returned home when his course wrapped up in April. But he has plans to continue translating his vocational experiences into practical learning experiences for ministry leaders and other people of faith who want to be more involved in antihunger advocacy.

“One of the students contacted Eric [Sapp] and asked if he could be an intern in that company for these twenty hours,” Beckmann said. “He ended up working 200 hours and getting a paid fellowship to continue working for Public Democracy.”

This fall, Beckmann offered a new iteration of his course at Union Theological Seminary.This time around, he focused the conversations even more deeply on proven actions that faith communities can take to change the politics of poverty.

“You can’t food bank your way to the end of hunger.You’ve got to food bank, but you’ve also got to get the U.S. government to provide leadership, and we can do that,” he said. “Once you get that, the feasibility of progress makes the politics of poverty ‘gospel urgent.’ I don’t think poverty is just another issue.The widow, the orphan, and the immigrant are really close to the heart of God.” In addition to teaching new iterations of his course at other seminaries, Beckmann is publishing resources he hopes will help individuals and local churches get more involved in anti-poverty advocacy in a savvy way.

For example, he received a grant to turn recordings of his class sessions into a “Poverty, God, Politics” Webcast. The series, outlined in the sidebar below, is now available on the Public Policy Channel of University of California Television and has collectively been viewed more than 17,000 times on YouTube. Readers can access the webcast at cdsp.edu/poverty-god-politics and learn more on Beckmann’s blog at davidbeckmann.net.

POVERTY, GOD, POLITICS WEBCAST POVERTY, Episode 1

Episode 3

Episode 5

Episode 7

Episode 9

Episode 11

DAVID BECKMANN,

BARBARA WILLIAMS-SKINNER,

HENRY BRADY,

GALEN CAREY,

AMY REUMANN,

JOHN CARR,

President Emeritus, Bread for the World and Alliance to End Hunger

CEO of Skinner Leadership Institute, with Congresswoman Barbara Lee, United States Representative

Dean, Goldman School of Public Policy

Vice President, National Association of Evangelicals

Director of Witness and Society, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The strengths of the Evangelical movement and the NAE’s poverty -related advocacy.

Why and how her church influences Congress and how they work with other faith partners.

Founder and Director, Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, Georgetown University

Series introduction Episode 2

How the Black church has helped the African American community build electoral power.

Episode 6

JOSH DICKSON, Former National Faith Engagement Director, Biden For President How effective outreach to faith communities helped win the White House and what this has already achieved for people in and near poverty.

How churches foster democratic participation, but often shy away from needed conflict.

Episode 4 GABRIEL SALGUERO, Founder & President, National Latino Evangelical Coalition Examining the extent of support among Latinos for policies to reduce poverty and church efforts to encourage more support.

ERIC SAPP, Founder, Public Democracy How tech and artificial intelligence can be used to strengthen support for progressive causes among faith-based voters and strengthen the voice of low-income voters.

Episode 8 ANNA ENG, Senior Organizer, Industrial Areas Foundation How faith-based community organizations build the capacity of low-income Americans to speak for themselves.

Episode 10

The resources and liabilities of the Catholic community for this work. Catholic social teaching and Pope Francis.

TOM HART, North America Director, ONE Campaign How faith-based and other advocacy groups have helped to increase international aid and support progress against global poverty.

Episode 12 EUGENE CHO, President, Bread for the World How people and congregations across the country repeatedly convince Congress to do the right thing on issues of importance to hungry people. Episode 13 DAVID BECKMANN Conclusions

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POVERTY, GOD, POLITICS WEBCAST POVERTY, Episode 1

Episode 3

Episode 5

Episode 7

Episode 9

Episode 11

DAVID BECKMANN,

BARBARA WILLIAMS-SKINNER,

HENRY BRADY,

GALEN CAREY,

AMY REUMANN,

JOHN CARR,

President Emeritus, Bread for the World and Alliance to End Hunger

CEO of Skinner Leadership Institute, with Congresswoman Barbara Lee, United States Representative

Dean, Goldman School of Public Policy

Vice President, National Association of Evangelicals

Director of Witness and Society, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The strengths of the Evangelical movement and the NAE’s poverty -related advocacy.

Why and how her church influences Congress and how they work with other faith partners.

Founder and Director, Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, Georgetown University

Series introduction Episode 2

How the Black church has helped the African American community build electoral power.

Episode 6

How churches foster democratic participation, but often shy away from needed conflict.

Episode 8 ANNA ENG, Senior Organizer, Industrial Areas Foundation How faith-based community organizations build the capacity of low-income Americans to speak for themselves.

Episode 10

The resources and liabilities of the Catholic community for this work. Catholic social teaching and Pope Francis.

TOM HART, North America Director, ONE Campaign How faith-based and other advocacy groups have helped to increase international aid and support progress against global poverty.

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On the Pulse: Alums share perspectives from leading new initiatives I n t e rv i e w s

by the

Rev. Kyle Oliver

CDSP graduates are leading innovative, life-giving ministries around the Episcopal Church and around the world. In this occasional interview series, we’ll ask a few of them to tell us more about their work. We have edited these transcripts for clarity and length and will publish the full interviews this spring on our Crossings Conversations podcast.

craft their sermons and get them done on their own schedules, so it’s not spilling over into personal lives all the time. We ran three classes of clergy only in the diocese of Texas in our first three years, but we have since expanded and we have preachers from all different denominations.We have crossed the borders to Canada. KO: You mentioned that part of what you do is spiritual direction. Can you say a little more about that? The Rev. Dr. Lisa Cressman ‘92

Backstory Preaching Kyle Oliver: Tell us about your ministry at Backstory Preaching. Lisa Cressman: I started Backstory Preaching in 2016, and it is now my privilege to work with ecumenical preachers around the world.We run a year-long intensive mentorship.We are as invested in the preacher as we are their preaching. It is at least as much spiritual direction as it is developing skills.We help preachers learn how to 10 | Church Divinity School of the Pacific

LC: Back in the day, we were to present the text in its purest form. But if the text is incarnated into the particularity of the human person, then we are going to be getting in the way of the text. Our whole being goes with us into the pulpit. Our life is preaching because it’s our experience, education, formation, and understanding of the text.The spirituality of who we are and our relationship with God is absolutely central. We try to help preachers honor that unique voice. KO: If I, Kyle, know that I’m preaching on Sunday and I’d like to be done by Friday, where do I start and how is that connected to my incarnate spiritual life?

LC: We apply Lectio Divina to sermon prep, which has four stages to it: lectio, meditatio, oratio, and contemplatio.There is, first of all, an attitude that sermon prep is actually a prayerful event. We start with lectio which means to read. At Backstory Preaching, we pray the coming Sunday’s gospel together. Then we advocate the second stage of meditatio, and that’s most closely akin to exegesis. But rather than being only informed by our study, we talk about it as formative exegesis, so that it is forming the preacher as a child of God. So, we allow a vulnerability in ourselves to become more like Christ by what we are studying. Then oratio is the application. I help preachers do their own discernment of one clear message of Good News. Just one. By Thursday or Friday, depending on your schedule, you’ve got the sermon done.You can let it rest. Contemplatio was happening throughout the week, when you give it rest breaks in between, which is when the spirit and creativity have the greatest opportunity to work.

I literally hear from clergy spouses because they’re having date nights on Friday night because the sermons are done.The entire stress level of the household has dropped, and the preachers are really excited about what they’re preaching because they’ve been transformed themselves by the Good News. Now, they’re really jazzed: “I get to preach. Let me share with you this cool thing that just happened. This Good News I know, because I just experienced it.” Rather than it being a box on the checklist, it’s a sense of,“I get to be sent to scripture on behalf of my congregation.” Who’s got a better job than that? KO: How did your experience at CDSP prepare you for this kind of leadership? LC: The faculty I got to work with was amazing, being able to be a part of the GTU, being around ecumenical peers.The formation of education, the spirituality of the daily services, and witnessing to a world that was broken in all kinds of ways–it couldn’t have set me up better. If I could design a seminary curriculum and experience, I would have designed the one I got. It was extraordinary and I’ve always been so grateful.

KO: How can all seminaries and dioceses better prepare students for work like this in the future? LC: When we graduate from seminary, we are expected and we expect ourselves to be extraordinary preachers. But the equivalent of what we have done is we have brought somebody into a preaching course, we stuck a

Preaching is not our volunteer job. It is a primary and central focus, more so now than ever because we’re online. Preaching is the public face of what people learn about the gospel. KO: Based on your experience with Backstory Preaching, what would you like the wider Christian or Episcopal Church community to know?

Preaching is the public face of what people learn about the gospel. violin under their chin, and said, “I want you to learn to be a premiere jazz fiddler who can compose your own stuff on the spot, play beautifully and in tune, and never again have another lesson.” Preaching is an extraordinarily complex art form, and there has never been a mechanism, before Backstory Preaching, to have a place to do that continual development.Anybody can learn to preach well, but it requires intentional practice and feedback and resources and time.

LC: The world and the church are changing in ways that are deeper and faster than any of us have experienced in our lifetimes.We need to do lots of work to acknowledge and grieve what is passing, so that we can rise to an Easter Sunday. It is not a time to be afraid of these changes.Yes, it’s scary. But there’s a reason Jesus keeps saying over and over again,“Do not be afraid.” Have good courage. New life is always, always here. Learn more at backstorypreaching.com

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On the Pulse: Alums share perspectives from leading new initiatives I n t e rv i e w s

by the

Rev. Kyle Oliver

Fall 2021 C R O S S I N G S | 11

The Rev. Edwin Johnson ‘10

Presiding Officers’ Advisory Group on Beloved Community Implementation Kyle Oliver: You have been involved with the Presiding Officers’Advisory Group on Beloved Community Implementation in the Episcopal Church. I’m wondering if you can tell us a little bit about that ministry. Edwin Johnson: It grew out of the General Convention in Austin,Texas. I was the chair of Committee Nine, which is on racial justice and reconciliation. Over these past two years, the committee has put forth four rounds of grants.All of these grants have been really targeted to supporting the building of movements around racial justice.We had a virtual summit that was also very successful. We had the chance to really focus on helping people use different media. There’s a group in Connecticut that is predominantly Haitian.We funded a film project in Haitian-Creole.We’ve funded and empowered groups of young people to similarly capture the stories of others, to share their own stories, to use different media. One question that we ask ourselves is, “How are these grants saving lives?” One of the programs that we funded was a group that was collaborating with a conglomeration of Black nurses.

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We also do a lot of work around helping privileged folks figure out how to best organize. If you have white people and privileged communities really committing to doing their own work, then there becomes space not just to celebrate the joy and the resilience but also to multiply it.

institutions, in schools, and in churches is oftentimes groups will say,“Okay, we want to think about and address racism.” Often, the first place they go is farther afield than from those who are right around them. If we’re talking about seminaries, what does it mean for the folks who are right outside of your walls?

KO: How did your experience at CDSP prepare you for this kind of leadership?

What I’ve heard from those neighbors, those folks nearby, they often talk about having waited for this moment for a really long time.We’ve been able to walk with them as they’ve met for the first time. Every single time they say, “We’ve been waiting for this moment. We’re excited to work with you.”

EJ: For me, CDSP felt like a cultural immersion. I remember showing up to the retreat and I was one of just a handful of Students of Color, and everything about the worship felt so foreign to me. I remember thinking to myself,“Dang, I’m going to have to do this for three years.” I think it showed me that for our Church to truly have a space for everyone, it was going to take a level of discomfort on the part of those who were most comfortable. The theological preparation that I got at CDSP was wonderful. I took a constructive theology course with Dr. Marion Grau. It has allowed me to see and understand things theologically and integrate that into everything I do. Obviously, my preaching has impacted this work of Beloved Community as well.When we use the words Beloved Community, we talk about the kingdom of God. My training at CDSP allows me to understand how these words are both fruitful and loaded in ways that allow us to use them in helpful ways. Finally, I was blessed to do field education in two really different contexts: at a predominantly Mexican and Mexican-American church in San Jose that was in Spanish and at a predominantly Afro-Caribbean church in Oakland as well.The chance helped me ask,“What does it mean to be asking these questions within communities in which everybody is a Person of Color?” That’s critical work that I’m doing now. KO: How can all seminaries and dioceses better prepare students for work like this in the future? EJ: It starts with the most local relationship that you can possibly muster. One thing that I see in

Oftentimes, those close to us are those who’ve been most hurt by us. Nonetheless, I know that work has often been a long time coming. Even through the pain and difficulty and awkwardness, it ends up yielding the most fruit right away. KO: Based on your experience with your ministry, what would you like the wider Christian or Episcopal Church community to know? EJ: I am often put in the position of a teacher, of explainer, of somebody who gets it. One wonderful thing is, especially alongside my non-binary siblings who are part of this work, alongside my Asian and Pacific American siblings, and also the Indigenous folks, is I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned ways that I’m perpetuating things that are difficult for other people. I’ve learned ways that perhaps I and my communities can collaborate more effectively. I feel like I am emerging from this leadership position having just become a better human, a better Christian, a better follower of Jesus. The last thing I’ll say is that it’s also just deeply personal for me. I’m also a father. My sons, Francisco and Santiago, are coming up in a world that isn’t always excited about their presence. For me, the work we’re doing right now makes me feel like wherever the world is, wherever this country is, that the Church is going to be more so. Learn more at episcopalchurch. org/beloved-community/

cornfields, cotton fields, and soybean fields. I am so blessed by both the African American community and the Latinx community here. In a place like this, an old white lady who dances on the patio with her Black and Latinx friends is seen as a total weirdo, but we have a good time.

The Rev. Christie Fleming ‘17

Lighthouse Homeless Ministry Kyle Oliver: Tell us about your ministry. Christie Fleming: I opened the ministry about a year ago. When I moved to rural Northeast Louisiana a little over four years ago, I made friends with a number of homeless people. It became clear that a shelter was needed and eventually I decided to open it.We’re open seven days a week.We offer three meals a day. I’m working very hard right now to open the overnight ministry. My bishop has been more than supportive. He said,“What would you like to do, Christie?” He gave me some time to think about it. I said,“How about opening a homeless shelter?” He said,“Do it.”

We have a weekly chapel service. We have two women who, while I’m setting the table for Eucharist, sing songs, which is just so wonderful. Then during the announcement time, I literally sit down and we have about a ten-minute talk about whatever’s on their mind or whatever I happen to preach on or whatever. I did not anticipate that chapel service at the shelter would be such a blessing, but it blesses all of us. It really does. It has deepened my relationship with my homeless friends because I’m not making it up when I’m with them. We’re having a good time together. We’re joking around.They’re asking me, “How could I help?” For example, I thought that I was going to have to pay a cleaning company to come in. I don’t. I have friends who are scrubbing toilets and sweeping out the patio and mopping the floor, all of that stuff.They’re part of the process. KO: How did your experience at CDSP prepare you for this kind of leadership? CF: In many ways.The professors were wonderful and supportive. I’m not a brainiac, but that’s okay.We’re not all brainiacs. It helped me to see my own value in a way that I hadn’t before. I wasn’t judged for not quoting scripture off the top of my head. It was much more about our relationship with God, and that turned out to be okay.

My homeless friends have taught me that so many of us do not understand our own worth. I’ve had numerous conversations, filled with tears, when we talk about the fact that they are loved by God, they are loved by God even if they walk around in boxer I’m not somebody who has valued shorts and a torn up t-shirt and flip-flops. herself very well for a long time, but I’ll even say, “What do you think Jesus CDSP really helped me to see that I was wearing? I don’t think He was can be a priest. My call will be maybe wearing a three-piece suit.” a little different from others’, but I can be a priest. KO: Help us envision the space. KO: How can all seminaries and CF: Bastrop is a town of about 9,000 dioceses better prepare students for people right now, majority African work like this in the future? American. It is in the middle of

CF: A couple of years ago, before the COVID-19 virus hit, I was down in Monroe with a member of our congregation who’s an OB-GYN, and a young Black woman came up as our waitress.We hit it off, we were talking and laughing and joking, and all of a sudden, she shut down. I said to her, “What’s wrong?” She said,“Nothing.” I said,“No, no, no. Something happened.” She said,“I just learned that you think I’m going to hell.” I said,“I do?” She said, “Yes, I just heard that you’re a pastor. And I’m Muslim, so you think I’m going to hell.” I said,“Oh, you recognize Jesus as one of your major prophets, and he helped all of us to understand that there is one God.” She burst into tears, threw her arms around me, and she said,“You know that?” That’s the kind of thing that I learned from CDSP, and I just loved that. KO: Based on your experience with your ministry, what would you like the wider Christian or Episcopal Church community to know? CF: Well, that you don’t have to be a brainiac.That Jesus’s call to love God and one another is manifested in countless ways.That it’s an ongoing process. Have I learned a lot? You bet. Am I continuing to learn? You bet. I’m really not fearful anymore. I’ve learned to step out across that. I’ve developed a different understanding of carrying my cross and the blessing of that. When I retire, the bishop has said it’s going to be very hard to find somebody to do this work in the middle of nowhere, but also because of the kind of work that it is. Fortunately, I’m building relationships with a number of different churches here.There’s only one Episcopal church in Bastrop. People are coming by, bringing food or donations, and beginning to build their own relationships with the homeless community. My prayer is that because of that, because of their willingness to step out in faith and across fear, when I retire, we’re going to keep going. Learn more at epiwla.org/ministries/ the-lighthouse/ Fall 2021 C R O S S I N G S | 13

The Rev. Edwin Johnson ‘10

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KO: How did your experience at CDSP prepare you for this kind of leadership?

The Rev. Christie Fleming ‘17

Ministry of Empathy:

The Rev. Judith Lyons ‘19

New community chaplains recall their own seminary experiences

he Rev. Judith (Jude) Lyons ‘19 is priest and retreat leader in the Diocese of Los T Angeles and a graduate of CDSP’s low-residence program. Her chaplain duties will focus on support for low-residence students.

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he Rev. Cameron Partridge, ThD, is rector of St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church in San T Francisco and has served as an adjunct instructor in theology. In addition to his new chaplain duties, he will serve as spiritual advisor to the Queer Student Fellowship.

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he Rev. Mauricio Wilson is rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Oakland, CA, and T last year served as spiritual advisor to the Seminarians of Color Union. He will continue in that role in addition to his new chaplain duties.

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amie Nelson ‘15 is foundation specialist at Lower Columbia College in Longview, J WA, but until recently served at CDSP as executive assistant to the president and dean. His role will focus on student spiritual direction.

To introduce these chaplains to the wider CDSP community, we asked them to reflect on their own experiences of seminary—including ways they may remember having needed support. All photos in this article are courtesy of the respective chaplains.

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The Rev. Mauricio Wilson

Moral Theology and the date the ten summaries were due before arriving in Berkeley. Gasp! Then I began printing the hundreds of pages of articles for Foundations in Ministry. Double gasp!

This fall, CDSP implemented a new system for connecting students with pastoral support, inviting four ministers with connections to the seminary to serve in this new capacity:

•

The Rev. Cameron Partridge, ThD

Lyons: Support in the midst of the low-res juggling act

I soon discovered I was not alone in being both thrilled and terrified.As our formation as a low-res cohort began, we shared our stories and heard how we each had been called by God. Then we tentatively tested the waters to discover we shared a lively and sometimes ribald sense of humor. As we grew in our relationships, we moved easily from tears to laughter and back again.

One evening we crowded into a room for compline. One of us was already The day after being accepted as a a deacon, so he led the service. As we postulant in the Diocese of Los Angeles, prayed together, the air in the room I called CDSP to inquire about applying began to change.We all felt it.When it to the low-residence master of divinity was over, we were silent.We looked at program. I learned the program began each other and smiled, deeply aware of not in the fall but in just six weeks. the Holy Spirit in our midst. Formation I filled out the application, wrote the is gradual, and we are not always aware requisite essays, tracked down my of it in the moment.That night we were. transcripts, alerted my references, and The difficulty of the low-residence submitted it all within twenty-four program is that seminary is essentially hours. I was admitted! dropped into the middle of homes Two days later, I received the list of ten already full of schedules, needs, and books I needed to read for Anglican

Jamie Nelson ‘15

responsibilities.To make it through, you have to compartmentalize in order to meet the weekly, sometimes daily, schedule of postings.The isolation that comes from trying to manage the demands of seminary, in addition to the demands of home, relationships, and work, stretches one very thin. What you long for is something deeper and simpler, the time for extended conversations that grow organically in classes, between classes, at lunch, walking to chapel, or just hanging out somewhere.And that is why the intensives are such a lifeline for low-res students. My classmates often expressed a wish for a support person, particularly when the isolation and the juggling act threatened to overwhelm, or when the spiritual connection begins to fray. Sometimes you need a listening ear or praying hands. I am so grateful for my low-residence experience and how it continues to inform my priesthood every day. And I am excited to walk along with the current low-residence students as their chaplain.

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Ministry of Empathy:

The Rev. Judith Lyons ‘19

New community chaplains recall their own seminary experiences

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14 | Church Divinity School of the Pacific

The Rev. Mauricio Wilson

Moral Theology and the date the ten summaries were due before arriving in Berkeley. Gasp! Then I began printing the hundreds of pages of articles for Foundations in Ministry. Double gasp!

This fall, CDSP implemented a new system for connecting students with pastoral support, inviting four ministers with connections to the seminary to serve in this new capacity:

•

The Rev. Cameron Partridge, ThD

Lyons: Support in the midst of the low-res juggling act

Jamie Nelson ‘15

Fall 2021 C R O S S I N G S | 15

Thankfully, the day before I had met a student sponsor from our companion diocese. Upon hearing my dilemma during lunch, she offered to let me use her laptop to write my paper.

Dream of God. For me, imagination was and is a deep pastoral necessity, informed by our ultimate hopes for God’s final and full redemption. Imagination is not disconnected from the difficult, oppressive realities afoot in the world. It acknowledges and identifies those patterns, grieves them, pushes back against them, seeks collectively to transform them, and ultimately refuses to frame its horizons by them. Imagination is a habit of openness to God’s dream breaking into the world. Partridge: Fostering a necessary sense of imagination During my undergrad experience, I stumbled upon a memoir of one of the Philadelphia Eleven, the first women ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church.That discovery renewed and deepened a sense of call to the priesthood that I had first wondered about as an early teen. I went to seminary right out of college in the mid-1990s. I intended to explore a vocational nexus connecting scholarship and ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church.That included the fairly new field of queer theology, an interest that had emerged for me late in my undergrad journey as a religion major with a feminist and gender studies concentration who had come out as queer along the way. During my first year of seminary, the heresy trial of Bishop Walter Righter unfolded. I was relieved when Bishop Righter’s ordination of an openly gay man was found not to violate any core doctrine of the Episcopal Church. But when I haltingly started to come out to myself as trans a few months later, I had little to no sense of ecclesial context for this facet of my journey. Was it even possible to be a trans priest or theologian? I didn’t assume the answer was no, but it was not easy to imagine how the answer could be yes. I was discovering that imagination, a sense of spaciousness, and possibility were what I most needed. I wanted to live deeply and collaboratively in what theologian Verna Dozier called the 16 | Church Divinity School of the Pacific

Over several years after my early, fluctuating recognition of being trans, a sense of imaginative possibility began to open for me.The comradeship of seminary friends, both in my MDiv program and my Anglican year, was crucial to fostering this sense. So too were several professors and other mentors in and beyond my diocese, including a wise spiritual director who framed a space of prayerful discernment in which an expansive sense of gender was understood as fundamental to my vocation. Connecting with other queer and trans people, including (but not limited to) people of faith, has been crucial. In community (including TransEpiscopal, which formed around 2005 just as I was beginning my ordained ministry), I learned that trans people have been part of the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion for years—more years than we likely know.This wide complex of people has helped me situate and claim a sense of agency in my formation. None of this has been seamless. I’ve had searing experiences along the way. I’m also clear that formation is very much ongoing, and the invitation, the challenge, to claim deep agency in that process continues. I seek to share the kind of pastoral support I have received at key points along the way. How might the pastoral necessity of imagination, formed collectively in Christian community, help us open space for the divine dream to break through, so that we might collaborate with God?

Alongside that realization, I remember learning in Professor Susanna Singer’s Christian education course about Paulo Freire’s critique of the banking model of traditional education. Freire believed students should not be treated as passive containers into which educators deposit a body of knowledge. I realized that my two years at CDSP would be a brief preparation time to develop habits and construct new understandings to integrate with the knowledge and skills I already held.

The experience sparked something within me to continue making connections, especially beyond the seminary walls. In this way as in so many others, my seminary years were essential in laying the groundwork for my future ministry.

Wilson: Establishing a habit of connection and collaboration In August of 1997, I arrived in New York City with a wife, two suitcases, and $100 to begin a three-year journey to earn a master of divinity degree. Two words summarize how I felt at the moment: culture shock. Before going to seminary, I served as a priest at the oldest and second-largest congregation in my sponsoring diocese, the Diocese of Costa Rica. I was well known from my years of youth ministry, as well as guest preaching at many congregations. Youth work had also taken me to several countries in Central America and a couple of states in the U.S. Needless to say, I felt I had accumulated a strong group of supporters in ministry and my village.And though their prayers and encouragement traveled with me to this new place, their physical presence did not. I needed a new village, and the reality of that need came quite quickly.Within a few days of starting seminary life, I had a paper to write. I went to the library under the assumption the computers were available for student use. Surprise, surprise, they were not! I came from a country where personal computers were things for the rich and people with fancy jobs. I was unprepared for the fact that I would need my own computer and that the institution was not going to provide one.

What I believe was true then continues to be true for anyone going through the process. Discernment is better done through relationships and conversations.We must do our best to have them with as wide a range of people as possible, representing as much of the whole church as possible. There are two reasons why I am currently serving as part of the pastoral support team at CDSP. First, I met Dean Richardson during those formative years, when he arrived at General Theological Seminary to be the theology professor. Over the last couple of decades, we have developed a deep respect for each other and how we approach our service to God’s people. Second, I have a deep need and sense of obligation to pay forward what a myriad of people did for me. Many people and moments during my seminary years impacted my life and ministry, making me the priest I am today. I have fond memories of my time in seminary, but it was by no means a walk in the park. It was a spiritually and emotionally draining experience. Still, the grace and love of God was reflected for me in the presence of many saints—my network of support, my balm in Gilead. It’s payback time.

Nelson: Spiritual direction with a focus on everyday experiences I came to CDSP in 2013 to earn a two-year master of theological studies degree. I remember fielding frequent questions as I prepared to move my life to Berkeley, questions of why I, as a layperson, wanted to get a seminary education.

I also took a history course in my first semester from Professor Dan Joslyn-Siemiatkoski. I became fascinated with the experience of lived religion for everyday people at the times contemporary to the primary texts we were studying.What did their daily practice of their faith look like outside of Sunday services and holy days? It’s no wonder that my seminary

How do people live out their faith on a daily basis? Where and how do they connect with the Divine? I usually gave an answer about my desire to become an academic librarian and how a subject-area degree would strengthen my qualifications. Certainly, that was true. But underneath that external career goal was a sincere internal desire to dedicate two years of my life to reflecting and forming a deeper understanding of what it means to be a Christian in this time and place. Despite thirty years of faithful weekly church attendance, I felt my understanding of my faith was only at a grade-school level of development. That didn’t suit my hungry intellect and spirit. Upon beginning my first semester, I soon realized my expectation that a single Old Testament course would allow me to cite scripture verses at will was unrealistic, nor was it in alignment with Professor Steed Davidson’s intended learning outcomes.

journey led me to become a spiritual director, for that question continues to fascinate me. How do people live out their faith on a daily basis? Where and how do they connect with the Divine? As a spiritual director, I invite people to explore those questions amid their daily concerns, joys, and sorrows. As my advisor, Professor Susanna Singer brought a trained spiritual director’s sensibilities to our conversations about course selections and revisions to my thesis. I continue to be grateful for her wisdom and companionship on my seminary journey. But advising has its own aims and goals that are separate from spiritual direction. So I’m excited that master of theological studies students at CDSP will now have a separate opportunity for the kind of reflection and conversation that is wholly dedicated to the exploration of deep spiritual questions. Fall 2021 C R O S S I N G S | 17

Thankfully, the day before I had met a student sponsor from our companion diocese. Upon hearing my dilemma during lunch, she offered to let me use her laptop to write my paper.

New Student Profile: Weston Morris ‘24 Entering MDiv student Weston Morris ‘24 grew up in the Episcopal Church and had a robust Christian formation experience as a young person in North Carolina. It wouldn’t be long, however, before he would question his sense of belonging at church—though thankfully not his place in the Body of Christ. “I’m a transgender man, so I transitioned when I was in college and didn’t really feel like there was a place for me as a trans person in the church,” he said. “I didn’t have any role models. I didn’t have a whole lot of faith that the church was going to be ready for me, even if I was technically ready for it.” In the end, Morris took a leap of faith, concluding “I don’t get to choose what I’m called to.” His journey took him first to the Episcopal Church in Colorado, where he served for two years in the Episcopal Service Corps. His community organizing work in that role focused on social justice and accessibility in marginalized communities, a theme that has pervaded his other pursuits and that ultimately drew him to CDSP as a postulant for holy orders in the Diocese of North Carolina.

Welcoming Every Body In his second year of Episcopal Service Corps, the final months of which coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Morris was taking stock of what he was learning at work and in life. “I knew that I had built up a lot of skills in advocacy and also education when it comes to identity,” he said. 18 | Church Divinity School of the Pacific

the

Rev. Kyle Oliver

He decided to team up with friend and colleague the Rev.Tory Moir to launch a ministry deeply entwined with both their personal stories and professional experiences. “We sat down and we decided that we would start to try to engage with local communities in Colorado around the issue of inclusion of trans identities in churches,” he said.“If you talk to pretty much any youth minister, they have trans youth in their youth groups or genderqueer, questioning, or gender fluid people. It’s a really important topic right now, because it’s getting a lot more air time.” Thus was Welcoming Every Body formed. Morris says the organization’s work with congregations has focused on providing contextually specific education and facilitation, since churches begin this work from many different starting points. Sometimes they start by discussing the idea of identity, and ultimately gender identity, in a very general way. Other congregations want to dive into theological understandings of gender and sexuality. The common denomination, he says, is mutual respect and empathy. “It does tend to be a really vulnerable space for people. It’s really important that the space be set up in a way that is non-judgmental and seeks to be open and also honest,” he says.“I think being real people in the room is very important.”

Crip Camp The other sense of the phrase “every body” that is important to Morris’s journey is the connection to his experiences working in disability justice. “I am really passionate about us living into the embodiment that we’re given by God, through being alive and making the most of whatever that reality is, and removing barriers for people’s engagement regardless of body,” Morris said.“I think my trans identity is really important to my understanding of that, because the way that bodies interact with the world says a whole lot about who we can be and our theology.” In the year following his experience in Episcopal Service Corps, Morris was looking for other work, in addition to leading workshops for Welcoming Every Body.What he found was an administrative position supporting James Lebrecht and Nicole Newnham, the directors of a documentary called Crip Camp. “Jim is a disabled person. He has spina bifida.When he was young, he went to a camp in upstate New York that was pretty radical and revolutionary,” Morris explained.The revolutionary dimension of that camp? Full access and inclusion. “It was a camp for disabled kids where they got to be exactly themselves. He got to interact with other disabled people for the first time.” In addition to convening a transformative experience for participants at the time, the camp had an outsized impact on the history of disability justice. Camp alums would go on to form a network of mutual support and action that helped champion and ultimately pass the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“It’s an untold story full of living legends,” Morris said.

a ith is w do. r r Mo olora in C

ged ana m he up gro

Although he didn’t know it when he started, Morris’s time working for the creators of Crip Camp would coincide with the film’s nomination for an Oscar and distribution via streaming giant Netflix.The quantum leap in exposure for Crip Camp made the job more intense but also more exciting. Morris says it also gave him plenty of time to reflect on its implications for churches.

Mo rr to a is wit tten h Go ji, d th e O the fi r sca rs. st serv ice dog

trans person at the school. Not only that I wouldn’t be the only one, that I wouldn’t be the first— and I have been the first for a lot of spaces.” Still, Morris admits that there are challenges ahead, both for individual members of the community and the institution. He laments that CDSP’s hillside campus poses significant accessibility barriers for people with disabilities, and he hopes to contribute by participating in the relevant planning processes as campus renovations unfold in the coming years. He sees this work not only as a matter of justice, but also a valuable teaching opportunity for the school and its students.

“It didn’t matter which disability you had, how your body was messing with your brain that day, what meds you were on, or what your ability to swim or walk or hear was,” he said. “You would be included regardless. Everyone had the right to talk and to be who they were in that space. I think “The Episcopal Church has an aging we can learn a lot as a Church by population. Everyone will become emanating and mirroring that welcome.” disabled at some point.That’s just the truth of being alive in bodies,” he said.

Finding CDSP Morris is excited that his recent move for seminary will put him in closer contact with the Crip Camp directors and other participants, many of whom live in the Bay Area. But he says the choice of CDSP was also connected to the school’s theological commitment to welcoming every body. “CDSP has the most accessible financial aid information and has the most appropriate gender language on the website,” he said.“I can’t emphasize enough that it was really seeing that they already use words like spouses and partners and asked for pronouns on forms.There were clear signs that I wasn’t going to be the only queer or

He also named the positive potential of doing this work well, at CDSP and beyond—a lesson he has learned in the many venues of his formation heretofore. “There is tremendous potential for growth in the church by making spaces where people’s embodiment isn’t a barrier to participation.”

Photo courtesy of Morris

Fall 2021 C R O S S I N G S | 19

the

Rev. Kyle Oliver

“It’s an untold story full of living legends,” Morris said.

a ith is w do. r r Mo olora in C

ged ana m he up gro

Mo rr to a is wit tten h Go ji, d th e O the fi r sca rs. st serv ice dog

Photo courtesy of Morris

Fall 2021 C R O S S I N G S | 19

The Rev. Peter Vazquez-Schmitt ‘21 defended his thesis, “A Contextual History of El Libro de Oración Común, the Spanish Translation of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer of The Episcopal Church,” was called to be associate rector at St. Bede’s Episcopal Church in Santa Fe, NM, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 12. Photos by Jeckonia Okoth ‘23

Community News

The Rev. Canon Naim Ateek ‘66 was profiled in “A Palestinian Christian’s cry for justice” on Baptist News Global. The Rev. Kelly Aughenbaugh ‘16 was called to be rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Medina, OH.

Recent updates from CDSP faculty, students, alums, staff, and friends.

Dr. Peter Ajer presented three sessions on Mark’s Gospel as part of the Trinity Church Wall Street “Summer Sundays with Discovery” series. The Rev. John Kater, PhD, is teaching at Ming Hua Theological College this fall via Zoom. The Rev. Alison Lutz, PhD, spoke at a Community Organizing Webinar sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee’s Beloved Community Commission. Dr. Scott MacDougall gave a webinar on sexuality and justice for the Newbigin House of Studies. The Rev. Ruth Meyers, PhD, was quoted in “Denominations have begun creating special prayers for fatal mass shootings” in The Washington Post and published “Language in our common prayer” as part of “Jubilate: A conversation about Prayer Book revision and the language of our prayer” in Anglican Theological Review.

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Dr. Cynthia Moe-Lobeda presented as part of an Earth Week panel, “Environmental and Climate Justice as an Act of Faith” at Chabot College, gave a plenary presentation at “Recasting Vocation in a New Planetary Era” at St. Olaf College, and published “Climate Change as Race Debt, Class Debt, and Climate Colonialism: Moral Conundrums, Vision, and Agency” in Ecological Solidarities: Mobilizing Faith and Justice for an Entangled World. The Rev. Dr. Paul Fromberg ‘14 published The Art of Disruption: Improvisation and the Book of Common Prayer. The Rev. Susanna Singer, PhD (MDiv ‘89) was appointed professor emerita of ministry development and published “From Theology and Pedagogy to Practice: Building on Firm Foundations” in Together Along the Way: Conversations inspired by the Directory for Catechesis. Dr. Jennifer Snow published “The Altar and the Rail: ‘Catholicity’ and African American Inclusion in the 19th Century Episcopal Church” in Religions.

The Rev. Joanna Benskin, PhD (MDiv ‘21), was ordained to the priesthood June 5 at Christ Church Cathedral in Indianapolis, IN, and was called as the new Pathways Priest in the Diocese of Indianapolis. The position, funded by Lilly Endowment as part of the Pathways to Vitality Initiative, provides a recent seminary graduate with the opportunity to serve under clergy mentors at two diocesan parishes. Jen Crompton ‘22 facilitated a Safe Zone LGBTQ+ awareness and ally training for all CDSP faculty and staff. Jessica Frederick ‘23 was interviewed for an Episcopal News Service article about her congregation’s Eat Fresh, Do Good program. Brett Johnson ‘21 was ordained to the transitional diaconate on June 5 at Emmanuel Church in Boston, MA. Myrna Koonce ‘21 successfully defended her MTS thesis, “Spiritual/ Religious Orientation and Moral Distress in Pulmonary Care Nurses: An Exploration of Ethical Norms, Moral Agency and Moral Resilience.”

The Rev. Ethan Lowery ‘20 (MA ‘21) defended with honors his MA thesis, “Bricoleurs Religieux: Suburban Lived Religion in Sacred/Secular Modes,” was ordained to the priesthood June 5 at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, CA, and accepted a call to serve as young adult missioner in the Fredericksburg area of the Diocese of Virginia. Daniel McMillan ‘21 was ordained to the diaconate September 18 at St. Paul’s Cathedral in San Diego, CA. Amy Newell-Large ‘22 was ordained to the diaconate June 26 at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs, CO. Erin Cox Oney ‘22 was ordained to the diaconate June 5 at Trinity Cathedral in Phoenix, AZ. The Rev. SuEllen Pommier ‘21 was ordained to the diaconate August 7 at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, OR. The Rev. Dawn Reynolds ‘21 is the new vicar of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Florence, OR. Patricia Rose ‘21 was ordained to the transitional diaconate June 12 at Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati, OH.

Pamela Stevens (GTU ‘23) was awarded a Lilly Grant of $25,000 by the Hispanic Theological Initiative toward her dissertation, “A Textile Memory: The Garment of Shame of a Sixteenth-century Englishman Suspended in the Cathedral of Mexico City ca. 1560-1657 by the Holy Office of the Inquisition.” She was also awarded a Newhall Fellowship by the GTU to co-teach a course titled “Material Biographies” with the Rev. Dr. Arthur Holder, CDSP professor emeritus of Christian spirituality. Jana Sundin ‘21 successfully defended her MTS thesis, “Secure Relationship, Playful Worship: The Gifts of Childhood and Disability in a Worshiping Community” and was ordained to the priesthood August 21 at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Tempe, AZ. Dr. Mees Tielens ‘23 presented “‘The Signal of Worthy Manhood is Self-Control’: Gender Anxiety, Transgressive Desire, and the Mormon Missionary Body” at the Mormon History Association’s conference “Restoration, Reunion, Resilience.”

The Rev. Brian Cleary ‘21 was ordained to the transitional diaconate June 12 at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Bonita Springs, FL. The Rev. Lisa Cressman ‘92 published “Transition & Thrive: Essential questions for a successful first year in your new call.” The Rev. Elizabeth DeRuff ‘98, president and agricultural chaplain of Honoré Farm and Mill, hosted a Planting Day at HomeFarm in Healdsburg, CA. The Rev. Susanna DesMarais ‘03 joined the spiritual care team at HoriSun Hospice in Lincoln, NE. The Rev. Laura Eberly ‘20 was a featured guest on the Films in the Wilderness podcast, a Lenten series led by Episcopal priests the Revs. Jed Dearing ‘20 and Karl Stevens. The Rev. Daniel DeForest London ‘12 (GTU PhD ‘17) published The Cloud of Unknowing, Distilled and “Exorcising Blame Through A Contract with God: A Girardian Analysis of Will Eisner’s Graphic Novel” in René Girard, Theology, and Pop Culture. The Rev. Annie Jones ‘20 was called to be priest-in-charge at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Newport, AR.

Fall 2021 C R O S S I N G S | 21

Community News

Recent updates from CDSP faculty, students, alums, staff, and friends.

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Fall 2021 C R O S S I N G S | 21

The Rev. Jeanne Kaliszewski ‘19 was called to be rector of St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church in Milwaukie, OR. The Rev. Debra Low-Skinner ‘97 is canon to the ordinary in the Diocese of California. The Rev. Laura Osborne ‘21 was ordained to the priesthood June 26 at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs, CO. Caroline McCall ‘15 has been called as canon for congregational development in the Diocese of Spokane. The Rev. Elizabeth “Betsey” Monnot ‘02 was elected bishop of the Diocese of Iowa on July 31. The Rev. Kathleen Moore ‘19 was quoted in “Denominations have begun creating special prayers for fatal mass shootings” in The Washington Post. Jamie Nelson ‘15 accepted a new position as foundation specialist at Lower Columbia College in Longview, WA. Dr. Brenda Richardson led a daylong workshop for 80 African American graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in science, technology, and mathematics disciplines. Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the July 10 online event built on Richardson’s doctoral research in psychology at New York University. The Rev. Colby Roberts ‘14 (MA ‘16) was ordained to the priesthood June 5 at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, CA. The Rev. Julie Wakelee ‘03 was appointed interim canon to the ordinary in the Diocese of Northern California.

The Rev. John Dwyer published Those Seven References: A Study of the References to “Homosexuality” in the Bible and Their Impact on the Queer Community of Faith. The Rev. Kyle Oliver offered the MasterClass “Skills and Tools for Digitally Integrated Faith Formation and Ministry” for Vibrant Faith.

The Rev. Jonna Alexander ‘15 died July 18. The Rev. Theodore O. Atwood, Jr. ‘63 died May 23 in San Diego, CA.

Making room for becoming while connected in community

The Rev. Diane B. Brelsford ‘86 died June 8 in Seattle, WA.

The Rev. David N. Cavanagh ‘78 died June 14.

the

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Dean of Students

Dr. Matthew K. Chew, CPA (DHL ‘08) died August 15. The Rev. Richmond H. Grant ‘61 died January 21. The Rev. Armand J. Kreft ‘87 died April 3 in Palm Springs, CA. The Rev. Robert McNaul ‘69 died February 21 in Las Vegas, NV. The Rev. Nick Ristad, husband of the Rev. Dr. Linda L. Clader ‘88, died September 16 in Santa Rosa, CA. The Rev. Canon Charles William Sacquety Jr. ‘65 (DD ‘00) died April 4 in Huntington Beach, CA. The Rev. Thomas Haines Schultz (DD ‘06) of the Order of the Holy Cross died March 16. The Rev. Richard H. Snyder ‘04 died June 20. Lauren Morgan Tweedale, daughter of Dr. Alda M. Morgan (PhD ‘84, DHL ‘03) and Dr. Donn F. Morgan (DD ‘16), died April 6. Grant to them eternal rest. Let light perpetual shine upon them. May their souls, and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

SHARE YOUR NEWS Please send news items about members of the CDSP community, including death notices, to communications@cdsp.edu or via the CDSP website at cdsp.edu/alumni/information-form/.

22 | Church Divinity School of the Pacific

Formation at CDSP

The Rev. Dr. Gary Jay Adams ‘64 died June 10 in Carson City, NV.

I came to ordained leadership in the Episcopal Church through summer camp. I hadn’t been a regular participant in congregational worship for years—maybe, more honestly, ever. When I sat down with the camp director at the end of our summer working together and asked her how she knew she wanted to go to seminary, she smiled.We sat down next to the lake and talked a while. A little more than a year later, as I pulled my Mini Cooper into the parking lot of CDSP, I felt both excited about the journey I was beginning and also woefully unprepared. Neither of those feelings subsided. But as I made my way through the program I recognized the power of the formation I’d been receiving through camp ministry. Slowly but steadily, I learned just how deep my roots already were: in community, in love of God and neighbor, in an experience of welcome. Formation is about more than ensuring we “know the right things.” It’s more than scores on the GOEs and correct liturgical and pastoral practice. Formation is something we need one another in order to do.We need each other to become who we are. I hope and pray that the formation we do with one another at CDSP is rooted in embodied practices, community conversations that make space for truth-telling, and opportunities for rest, reflection, and imagination.This last year and a half has left us all weary.

Now, more than ever, we have an opportunity to ask questions of ourselves and our institutions— including, and especially, the Church. The formation program at CDSP has a practice of small group gatherings at its core.These formation groups will travel through the academic year together, offering one another grace to be whoever and however they need to be.

In truth, I want our formation program at CDSP to be dynamic.The best formation experiences need room to shift and grow in response to feedback and changing relationships, to who we are and to the many places we imagine ourselves to be going. Rather than add “just one more thing” to our overcrowded to-do lists, we will try to nurture our shared and individual understandings of what it means to be

The best formation experiences need room to shift and grow in response to feedback and changing relationships This semester, we’re inviting groups to work through Willie James Jennings’s book After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging, asking questions and listening to reflections on what it means to cultivate belonging more than conformity. Next semester, we’ll make a similar invitation to engage Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing, exploring the connections between rest, resistance, and imagination. Each Ember Day, those times we have set aside to connect our formation to the liturgical calendar, a member of the community will offer some communal practice of embodiment. Faculty, staff, students, partners, and spouses will lead sessions in breath work, guided meditation, silence, music making, and movement.

formed and to form one another.We will root our work in desire, in hope, and in a willingness to ask questions that have no answers. In Luke 17: 20-21, Jesus says,“The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say,‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.” Whether through one-on-one conversations, small group check-ins, whole group community practices, or sharing meals together in Denniston Commons, we are a community in formation—including in some very new ways this year. I’m grateful to be a part of it.

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The Rev. Jonna Alexander ‘15 died July 18. The Rev. Theodore O. Atwood, Jr. ‘63 died May 23 in San Diego, CA.

Making room for becoming while connected in community

The Rev. Diane B. Brelsford ‘86 died June 8 in Seattle, WA.

The Rev. David N. Cavanagh ‘78 died June 14.

the

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Dean of Students

SHARE YOUR NEWS Please send news items about members of the CDSP community, including death notices, to communications@cdsp.edu or via the CDSP website at cdsp.edu/alumni/information-form/.

22 | Church Divinity School of the Pacific

Formation at CDSP

The Rev. Dr. Gary Jay Adams ‘64 died June 10 in Carson City, NV.

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