March 2016
In This Issue
Welcome

 

Each month, we share news of CDSP's students, faculty, alumni and campus life. We welcome your news, ideas and suggestions via email. Thank you, as always, for your support of CDSP.
War in Film and Sci-Faith Faith Coming Soon from CALL
Continuing education program offers innovative courses online

Watching war movies, reading science fiction and examining Zen Buddhism aren't your typical seminary fare, but they are among the many innovative, online continuing education courses available at CDSP.

The Center for Anglican Learning and Leadership (CALL) offers online courses during winter, spring and fall sessions that allow students to go at their own pace and learn at a time convenient to them. Courses are seven weeks long and are open to everyone, lay or ordained.

In an upcoming class titled "War in Film and Faith," participants will explore whether it is possible for disciples of Jesus Christ to participate in or approve of war. And if so, under what circumstances? The course, taught by Dr. Bradley Burroughs, will approach these questions through the lens of contemporary films-both fiction and documentary-that portray key aspects of war. The films will be augmented with readings that deepen students' understanding of the rich history of Christian reflection on war.

Looking ahead to the fall of 2016, science fiction writer Michelle Murrain will teach a course called "Sci-Fi Faith." A primary text for the course will be "The Sparrow," by Mary Doria Russell, a book about the first Jesuit mission to a planet inhabited by intelligent life. The course will also include short stories and non-fiction readings.
Online Learning With CALL 
Spring Courses begin April 11 and end May 30

Join CDSP online this spring for new courses from the Center for Anglican Learning and Leadership (CALL):

Introduction to the New Testament with Dr. Judith Stack-Nelson
The New Testament stands as the key resources for preaching, theology, and spiritual formation, growth, and encouragement in the Christian tradition. This course will give students a foundational background in the process of faithful interpretation of New Testament texts for ministry and service in congregations. Learn more and register online. 

War in Faith and Film with Dr. Bradley Burroughs
Is it possible for disciples of Jesus Christ to participate in or approve of war? If so, under what circumstances? Those are the central questions with which this course will wrestle. It will approach these questions through the lens of contemporary films that portray key aspects of war. Learn more and register online.


This course integrates a theology of mission and the insights of asset-based community development to give clergy and lay leaders an urgently-needed toolkit for helping faith communities join in God's mission. Learn more and register online. 



Genesis: Texts and Contexts with Dr. Julián González
This course is an introduction to the Book of Genesis, its structure and contents. We will discuss common misconceptions about the Bible and introduce it in relation to the cultures in the Ancient Near East. Learn more and register online.



This course will investigate Anglican ideas about and practices of "church" in their historical and theological dimensions. The course will provide students with the tools and vocabulary they need for a deeper understanding of and involvement in both shaping and being church in an Anglican way in their own time and place. Learn more and register online.

Anglicanismo (in Spanish only) with the Rev. Dr. John Kater
This Spanish-language course is offered in two 12-week segments (2 weeks for each class), beginning in Spring 2016 and continuing with Part II in Fall 2016. It provides an introduction to the history of Anglican Christianity from the time of the Reformation through the growth of Anglicanism as a global Communion, with special emphasis on Anglican history and identity in the context of Latin America. Learn more and register online.
Tripp Hudgins Named 2016-2017 Bogard Fellow
Liturgical studies, ethnomusicology doctoral student to join CDSP community

The Rev. Tripp Hudgins, a doctoral student in liturgical studies and ethnomusicology at the Graduate Theological Union, has been named the 2016-17 Bogard Teaching Fellow at Church Divinity School of the Pacific, the Rev. Dr. Ruth Meyers, academic dean at CDSP announced last week.
 
"We're pleased to welcome Tripp, who has an energetic presence, a lively mind and a deep understanding of how music and culture affect one another and how both shape our experience when we gather to worship," Meyers said.
 
Hudgins, who has been serving as director of admissions and an adjunct professor of liturgy at the American Baptist Seminary of the West, will serve as a teaching assistant in the fall term, then offer a course during the spring semester. He succeeds Stephen Shaver as the Bogard Fellow.
 
"It is a privilege to have an opportunity to learn and teach within a community I already know well," Hudgins said. "I look forward to deepening the relationships that already have a profound influence on my work."
Unpacking Islamophobia
Video:  What Christians should know about Islam at CDSP

Forum: Unpacking Islamophobia - What Christians Should Know About Islam
Forum: Unpacking Islamophobia:  What Christians Should Know About Islam

On March 3, Dr. Munir Jiwa, director and associate professor at the Center for Islamic Studies at the Graduate Theological Union, joined Mark Richardson for a conversation titled, "Unpacking Islamophobia: What Christians Should Know About Islam." Dr. Jiwa spoke about the "5 media pillars of Islam," which he described as the frames that influence attitudes toward Muslims, as well as what Christians can do to address and combat Islamophobia in our everyday lives.
Perspectives from the Global South
Professor González's summer reading picks

Students enrolling at CDSP in 2016 will receive a hefty new summer reading list designed by faculty to prepare them for their studies. Each month between now and the official start of the summer reading season, we'll highlight some titles chosen by our faculty members. 

This month, Assistant Professor Julián González discusses two titles that provide perspectives of Christians in the Global South.

"This book is a study of Christian missionary activity over the centuries," says González. "The authors are talking about the meaning of mission when we talk about the church of the Global South not as people receiving mission, but as people creating a new understanding of mission. How can we imagine a new paradigm of mission that doesn't work on the dichotomy of north and south, or the assumption that we in the Global South are just receiving and never giving anything? What new can we bring from our geopolitics in the south?"

Justo González, "Santa Biblia: The Bible through Hispanic Eyes" 

"This is a good book for people who are new to this stuff of reading the Bible and asking questions that are outside of their own experiences of marginality, poverty, and solidarity. For example, in my country [Colombia], there are no clear demarcations between who is white and who is black. Divisions based on skin color are not the same, because we see ourselves as mestizaje. So we ask how we can bring class to the reading of the Bible."
Service [Projects], Mission [Trips], and Privilege
Youth ministry symposium at CDSP on April 9

Keynote speaker
Anne Clarke
This year's youth ministry symposium at CDSP focuses on the challenges young people face when they become aware of their own economic, racial, gender, and political privilege in the context of mission trips and service projects. The day, which is co-sponsored by the Diocese of California, will include:
  • Devotions led by the Rev. Dr. Susanna Singer of CDSP and the Rev. Canon Julia McCray-Goldsmith, canon for discipleship for the Diocese of California
  • Keynote presentation on privilege and power in service projects by Anne Clarke '14, lifelong Christian formation coordinator for the Diocese of Northern California and the first recipient of the CDSP Youth Ministry Scholarship.
  • New tools and resources to help your youth and congregations reflect on the ways that mission trips and service projects can raise difficult issues of inequality and racism, and ways in which our faith and the teachings of Jesus can help us respond.
Archbishop Kwong to Speak at Commencement
Morgan and Clader will receive honorary degrees at May 20 ceremony

The Most Rev. Dr. Paul Kwong '82, archbishop and primate of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui and bishop of the Diocese of Hong Kong Island, will speak at CDSP's 122nd commencement on May 20.

Kwong, who was ordained a priest in 1983 and became bishop in 2007, was brought up in an Anglican family in Hong Kong. His great-grandfather was one of the first Chinese Anglican priests in the 19th century. Kwong holds a bachelor degree from Lingnan College, an MDiv from CDSP, and a PhD in theology from the University of Birmingham.

At the ceremony, two retired CDSP faculty members--Dr. Donn F. Morgan and the Rev. Dr. Linda L. Clader--will receive honorary degrees. Watch upcoming issues of the newsletter for more information and RSVP details.
Community News

Faculty News
President Mark Richardson preached at Grace Cathedral on March 6 and gave a forum titled "Climate Change:  Science, Religion, or Both?" Watch the forum online and listen to his sermon.

Academic Dean Ruth Meyers recently taught a five-week Sunday series on the baptismal promises at All Souls Episcopal Parish in Berkeley.

Associate Professor Susanna Singer and Assistant Professor Jennifer Snow have each been awarded a Conant Grant for research from the Episcopal Church. Snow will travel to Geneva this summer for research into the World Council of Churches and Lutheran World Federation archives. Singer will travel this summer to the Center for Theology and Community in East London, where she will visit their summer Urban Leadership School.

Assistant Professor Julián González will be part of a panel discussion on changes in the field of biblical studies during "Navigating Crosscurrents: Looking Back. Looking Forward," a conference to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Graduate Program in Religious Studies at Southern Methodist University. 

Visiting Assistant Professor Scott MacDougall recorded three episodes of Homebrewed Christianity's LectioCast podcast during Lent. Listen to "Embodied Spirituality," "Freedom, Forgiveness, and New Creation," and "Hunger, Thirst, and Provision."

Alumni News
The Rev. Sam Dessordi Leite DMin '13 will be the new senior priest of Saint Stephen and the Incarnation in Washington DC.

The Rev. Darren Miner '06  was called to serve as priest-in-charge of the Church of the Incarnation, San Francisco, beginning March 1.

Job Posting
St. John's of Lattingtown in the Diocese of Long Island seeks a full-time assistant rector. Find the job posting online.

News to share? Please email us. 
Stay in touch:
Join Our Mailing List     Like us on Facebook     Follow us on Twitter     Give to CDSP