Bloy House is delighted to announce that Dean Angela Bauer-Lesvesque, Ph.D. (pictured at top left), academic dean and Harvey H. Guthrie, Jr. professor of Bible, Culture, and Interpretation at Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge Massachusetts, will be our guest preacher on Saturday September 27, and retired dean and  Professor Emeritus the Very Rev. Dr. Harvey Guthrie (pictured at left) will be our guest presider at that Eucharist.  Dr. Guthrie is also a former Trustee of Bloy House and is a member of Trinity, Fillmore. 

During her visit Dean Bauer-Lesvesque will be getting to know the faculty and students of Bloy House, getting further acquainted with students in the joint EDS/Bloy House Program and sharing information and answering questions about Episcopal Divinity School, and particularly the new distributed learning joint program with Bloy House. Dean Bauer-Lesvesque, an esteemed Old Testament scholar, will also be preaching in chapel at 11:15 a.m. on September 27 and doing a lunch presentation about EDS at 12:15 p.m. following the service.

Her publications include The Indispensable Guide to the Old Testament (The Pilgrim Press); Seeing God in Diversity: Exodus and Acts, coauthored with EDS alumna Elizabeth Magill (Church Publishing); and Gender in the Book of Jeremiah: A Feminist-Literary Reading (Peter Lang), as well as various essays in anthologies, including "The Book of Jeremiah" in The Queer Bible Commentary (SCM Press) and lectionary commentaries in Feasting on the Word (Westminster/John Knox). Anyone interested in attending the lunch presentation should contact bloyhouse@cst.edu.  The cost of lunch is $15.

Mark your calendar now for a lively conversation on Gender and Leadership at the National Coming Out Day Celebration for the Diocese of Los Angeles at 11 a.m. at St. Luke's Church, Long Beach.  As a part of those festivities current and former faculty members for Bloy House will be exploring "Gender and Leadership: What Difference Does it Make?"  Participating faculty members will be Dr. Peter Carlson, GLBT chaplain and Church History professor at Cal Lutheran and former professor of Church History at Bloy House; the Rev. Dr. Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook, professor of Anglicanism and Religious Education at Bloy House; Dean Sweeney and, we hope,  others as well. For more information on this event read the Episcopal News Update in September.

At the September 7 meeting of the Anglican Theological Review Bloy House will become an official member of the supporting institutions of the Anglican Theological Review, the primary journal of Anglican theological education in North America. We are delighted to now be a part of the decision-making board for one of the publications of the Episcopal Church that has historically helped define the nature of the identity and ministry of the Episcopal Church for more than 90 years. The last issue of ATR,  Summer 2013 Volume 95, Number 3, was titled What Is Common About Common Prayer and looked at the nature of common prayer in the Anglican communion in  a time of liturgical change and diversity. Dean Sweeney was pleased to offer an article in this volume on "Future Directions in Liturgical Development."  Bloy House looks forward to continuing to be a part of important theological conversations in our church over the coming months and years.

Fresh Start for Lay Leaders began in this diocese as a tool for helping to equip communities in transition with lay leaders who had been given the opportunity to explore the same important topics in ministry that their clergy counterparts were receiving: understanding congregations as systems, conflict management in congregations, effective leadership in congregations, communications skills in congregations, self-care and balance in ministry, and a host of other issues.  Over the last several years Bloy House has been delighted to host this important resource and we have seen numerous lay leaders graduate from the program and go on to be wonderful resources to their congregations, their vestries, their search committees, and their clergy.  The program has in fact been so helpful that we are encouraging all congregations to see themselves as being in one way or another in transition, moving deeper and deeper into the ministry God has called the community to.  Individuals interested in attending Fresh Start for Lay Leaders need not come from congregations preparing to call a new rector or vicar.  Lay persons interested in attending Fresh Start for Lay Leaders must have the support of their local vestry and clergy person. Fresh Start for Lay Leaders, Fall 2013, is scheduled to begin on September 21 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Bloy House campus, with an informational session for those wanting to learn more scheduled for September 7 at Cathedral Center. Watch the diocese's Episcopal News Update for further details and contact Canon Joanna Satorius at the Cathedral Center.

During the 2012-13 academic year we were happy to add several mini classes and workshops to the Bloy House curriculum, and these events have been so successful that we will be building on them in the coming year.

Canon Bob Williams has been gracious enough to take his show on the road and is now offering a one day mini-version of his "Media and Ministry" class at various locations throughout the diocese. This class is designed for lay leaders and clergy who have been called to hands-on work in communications in their congregation.  It offers help in setting up and maintaining websites, working with social media, and helping congregations move into deeper fluency in the language and media of our contemporary society.  If your region is interested in hosting a "Media and Ministry" mini class, contact the Bloy House office or speak directly to Canon Williams at the Cathedral Center (213.482.2040). Cost of the class is $75.

Over the course of last year Dean Sweeney also began a new series of workshops titled "An Introduction to Lay Preaching."  The next in that series will be titled "An Introduction to Lay Preaching: Writing the Sermon" and will take place on Saturday, October 19 from 2 to 5 p.m. Cost of the workshop is $30.00.  To register mail your check to Bloy House 1325 College Ave. Claremont, CA 91711.

We are delighted to announce that Dr. Gregory Riley, professor of New Testament at Claremont School of Theology, has joined the faculty of Bloy House as our new New Testament professor. Prof. Riley earned a bachelor's degree in Ancient History at UCLA, a master's degree in Classics at UCSB, a master's degree in Northwest Semitic Languages at UCLA, a third master's degree in Religious Studies at Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins at Harvard University.  His book

One Jesus, Many Christs was the first choice in religion of the Book of the Month Club and the British Book of the Month Club, and his book The River of God was a History Book Club selection. Both books have been translated into several languages. He has taught at UCLA, UCSB, Harvard University, George Mason University, and for more than twenty years at the Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Graduate University.

Greg has been married for more than 30 years, and has two sons in college.  He loves to cook, rock-climb, cycle, surf, ski, and travel, among other things.  He funded his many years in college and graduate school as a teacher and as a journeyman carpenter.  Dr. Riley attends St. John's, La Verne.

We are delighted and blessed to have Greg as the newest member of our faculty, and we look forward to having an opportunity to introduce him to our Bloy House alums as the academic year progresses. Welcome, Dr. Riley!

bishopsoffice@ladiocese.org