Advent Calendar Day 8: Church Divinity School of the Pacific

Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP)

“Church Divinity School of the Pacific is a graduate theological seminary and center of theological study of the Episcopal church, and is a founding member of the ecumenical Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.”

Brad Hall, a CDSP graduate, served as the Chairman of the CDSP Board while Rector of St. Margaret’s. Lois Hart and Margaret Watson, Associates here, graduated from CDSP. Gladys from our Forum attended classes at CDSP on her way to receiving a Master’s degree in Christian Education from St. Margaret’s House* in Berkeley.

Mission Statement

Responding to the challenges of contemporary society with the Good News of Jesus Christ, CDSP, a seminary of the Episcopal Church, rooted in our Anglican identity and tradition, provides quality theological education that integrates scholarship, reflection, worship, spirituality, and the practice of ministry.

We fulfill our mission in dialogue with a changing church and world. Committed to an innovative vision of theological education, CDSP:

• Serves as a resource for the mission of the Church.
• Embraces diversity as a gift of the Spirit and an outcome of the Gospel.
• Understands social justice as a core expression of the Gospel.
• Trains the widest possible variety of effective lay and ordained ministers.
• Forms skillful and empowering leaders for mission.
• Engages in responsive and proactive partnerships in ministry development.
• Gathers and creates communities from across the church for learning, spiritual enrichment and mission.
• Calls the church to re-imagine its mission and ministry in light of conflicting cultural values.
• Cooperates and collaborates with the GTU and other partners worldwide.

Church Divinity School of the Pacific is the official seminary of the Province of the Pacific of the Episcopal Church.

For more on this ministry: Church Divinity School of the Pacific
Learn more about the Center for Anglican Learning and Leadership (CALL)

*“For sixty years (1907 – 1966) St. Margaret’s House in Berkeley, California educated women for service in the Episcopal Church as deaconesses, missionaries, and educators.” Episcopal Church Archive (you’ll need to scroll down to read the entry for St. Margaret’s House)

St. Margaret’s Symposium 2011 at CDSP – “This inaugural St. Margaret’s Symposium is an outgrowth of the annual St. Margaret’s Lecture. Both programs continue the vision of St. Margaret’s House, founded in 1909 to train women for ministry, by focusing on women’s lives and ministries.”

Advent Calendar in one place
About the Online Advent Calendar

For further reflection

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”  Romans 10:13-15

Center for Anglican Learning and Leadership (CALL)

Lifelong formation is absolutely vital to a rich and penetrating Christian life. CALL is dedicated to Christian formation and demonstrates that by using a variety of formats to deliver meaningful educational experiences — experiences with instructors and presenters who enable their students to draw deeply from tradition to engage the issues of today’s church, indeed today’s world.

Since 1997, CALL has been seeking out innovative ways to expand the opportunities for sound Christian formation. And as we look to the future, we continue to seek these opportunities always with a focused eye on maintaining the quality and integrity of instruction. Our extensive list of online offerings and our onsite conferences and classes enable learners from diverse backgrounds and locations to create community, developing a network of people who are connected to their own call to ministry.

I am thrilled to manifest my own call to ministry in service to the wider church as the director of CALL and it is this awareness which inspires me to be personally committed to helping our students embody their own invitation to be a part of Christ’s body in the world. As such, I am honored to have the opportunity to share the extensive academic and pastoral resources of the CDSP community with you. I know that you will find your experience to be an enriching one.

Whether you visit our Easton Hall Conference Center in the beautiful Berkeley hills for an evening forum, workshop or course, participate in events like our summer conferences on Christian formation, or enroll in an online course, we hope you will come to know CALL as an extension of your faith community.

I am delighted to welcome you to the Center for Anglican Learning & Leadership.

Blessings,

The Rev. Michelle Meech
Director, Center for Anglican Learning & Leadership

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Images from: Church Divinity School of the Pacific