Bloy House News
The Episcopal Theological School at Claremont
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Greetings from Bloy House, the Episcopal Theological School at Claremont, where the spring term is more than half completed. Thank you for considering Bloy House/ETSC for theological coursework and continuing education alike. For information, phone 909.621.2419 or email bloyhouse@cst.edu.Faithfully in Christ,
(The Very Rev.) Sylvia Sweeney, Ph.D.
Bloy House Dean and President
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On Saturday, May 10 at 11 a.m., Bloy House, ETSC will celebrate the graduation of:
Nathan Biornstad of Holy Trinity, Covina
Certificate of Anglican Studies
Allison Cornell of St. Luke's, Long Beach
Diploma of Theological Studies
Ann Dumolt of St. Luke's, Monrovia
Diploma of Theological Studies
Annie Engstrom of Trinity, Orange
Diploma of Theological Studies
Dennis Sheridan of St. Andrews, Ojai
Certificate of Anglican Studies
Holly Stauffer of St. Luke's in the Mountains, La Crescenta
Certificate of Anglican Studies
Diane Finnecy of Tierrasanta Lutheran Church, San Diego
Certificate of Participation.
Bishop Jon Bruno, chair of the board of trustees of Bloy House, will be the preacher and presider for this service. Following the service there will be a special luncheon in honor of the graduates followed by the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees. All are invited to graduation. Those wishing to attend the luncheon are asked to make reservations by sending a $20 check to the Bloy House office no later than Monday, May 5.
Graduation Weekend Book Sale
From time to time Bloy House receives gifts of books from individuals needing to cull their professional libraries and this year has been a particularly rich year for these donations. As a much-needed fund raiser for the school and to help give these books good homes, Bloy House will be offering a book sale on graduation weekend.
Our huge used book sale will happen from Friday, May 9, 3 - 9 p.m. and Saturday, May 10, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. in Butler 201, the classroom immediately above our graduation lunch. Even if you are not able to make it to graduation, please drop by and make a book purchase to support Bloy House ... and to give a well-loved book a new home.
Bloy House polo shirts, mugs, and Bloy House, ETSC tippet seals will also be available for purchase at the book sale.
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Bishop's Guild Garden Party set for October 4
The Bishop's Guild Garden Party celebrating 100 years of giving to seminarians in the Diocese of Los Angeles will be the afternoon of Saturday, October 4. Mark your calendars now and plan on being at Bishop Bruno's home in Pasadena to be a part of a great party and a wonderful celebration of the individuals who have been raised up for ordained leadership by the Diocese of Los Angeles ... and all those who have supported those efforts. This garden party is the chief fundraiser for the guild and has played an absolutely vital role in helping the bishop's office offer scholarship help to postulants and candidates for holy orders here in the Diocese of Los Angeles. Without their untiring efforts, many of our seminarians simply would not have had the financial resources to be able to attend seminary.
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2015 Pilgrimage to Lindisfarne and Iona
Led By Professor Frank Shirbroun and Historian Teresa Di Biase
We invite you to journey with us to the sacred landscape of Northern England and Scotland, following in the footsteps of our Celtic and Anglo-Saxon forebears who nourished the seed of Christianity in Britain. We will be pilgrims rather than tourists: our aim is not merely to see the sights but to open ourselves to the possibility of transformation. As pilgrims, we will take time for worship, prayer, and reflection; for food and fellowship and laughter; for exploration and for rest. If this invitation appeals to your sense of where you are in your own spiritual journey, join us for this pilgrimage, May 25 - June 5, 2015. Cost of the 12-day pilgrimage is $3850 (airfare not included). For further information contact us at bloyhouse@cst.edu.  Teresa Di Biase is a historian, university librarian, and spiritual director. She has published articles on a variety of little-known women in the arts and religious life and is a regular contributor to Presence: the Journal of Spiritual Directors International. Dr. Frank Shirbroun was Professor of New Testament in the Episcopal Theological Seminary at Claremont, California (Bloy  House) for more than 17 years (1987-2004) and continues to teach Adult Education classes in his retirement. He also operates a used, out-of-print and rare book business called Live Oak Booksellers. With Celtic roots in Ireland and Wales, Frank and Teresa have made several pilgrimages to sacred sites in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany. They frequently share their understanding and appreciation of Celtic Christianity in adult education classes and retreats. Teresa and Frank are Benedictine Oblates and are interested in the intersection between Celtic Christianity and Benedictine spirituality.
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 On the sanctity of marriage
By Sylvia Sweeney
As the Task Force on Marriage of General Convention prepares to meet to further their work regarding the study of the history, theology, and practice of marriage in preparation for the next General Convention, I am acutely aware of how much time I have spent in the last twelve months thinking and reading about marriage. Somewhere between reading Jay Johnson's Divine Communion and reflecting on the notes that have been assembled regarding marriage as a vocation, I was reminded of a moment in my life that has served as an important touchstone for my own spiritual formation.
At the time I was in the midst of doctoral studies and immersed in the theology and the history of the Eucharist, working very hard at trying to understand the ways in which our understanding of what God is doing in the Eucharist had been constructed over the course of Christian history. Trying to see with the eyes of a medieval thinker, I worked to understand how Christ could be so profoundly and unequivocally present in the bread and the wine. Seeing as a Reform thinker I worked to understand how Christ could be so profoundly and unequivocally present in the action of communing. "Christ be known to us in the breaking of the bread." As I went to the communion rail one Sunday and stood with that small wafer in my hand, it dawned on me: If Christ could be this present, this wholly present in a tiny stale little wafer that had been blessed by our prayers, how much more could Christ be present in the person of those with whom I lived and learned from and loved every day!
Vocation is about finding the roles in our lives through which we become bread for the world. Vocation is found in the settings where we become Christ to one another in a way that is as sacramental, as real, and as profound as our Eucharistic experiences. Marriage is one the most blessed of those vocations; as are parenthood and friendship and living as the son or daughter to another human being. Marriage is a call to be and become. To live in a relationship that on some days of the week will demand that we offer nothing short of unearned unconditional love to those with whom we share our lives. Sometimes we will succeed at offering that. Sometimes we will not quite make it. All of the time, God can be with us in the building up of those bonds of love and affection, mutuality and forgiveness, trust and faithfulness.
"Christ be known to us in the breaking of the bread." Christ be known to us even more in the breaking open of our lives so that love may flow freely, healing make come through sacred touch, and homes of the heart where strangers are wanted and welcomed may be created.
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 Divine Communion: A Eucharistic Theology of Sexual Intimacy
By Jay Johnson
Seabury Books
There are books you read and as you're reading them what you sense is that someone has finally put into words things that you've known or at least suspected for a long time, but didn't quite know how to articulate. Jay Johnson has found words to describe what can be one of the most enriching and powerful experiences of human existence, words that for us as Christians make sense out of a mystery that the world sometimes ignores. Divine Communion: A Eucharistic Theology of Sexual Intimacy offers readers the opportunity to explore what it means to be spiritual embodied people and the ways in which God has created us with a deep intrinsic yearning for love, for giving, for receiving, for communion, and for intimacy.
Christians have since the earliest days of the church insisted on affirming the sacredness of life lived in human bodies. Our theology declares that Jesus was fully human as well as fully divine. As a result, we know that our bodies are to be vessels for holiness. In this book Johnson invites us to explore for ourselves the link between Eucharistic communion, and sexual union. He invites us to see how sacred our bodies are, and how essential they are for communion with one another and with God.
In an age when our communal mores regarding sexual intimacy are being radically reshaped by cultural forces, Johnson provides Christian people with a theological language that speaks volumes about how to live intimately with God and with one another. He explores how we can best understand the giving of ourselves in sexually intimate relationships and the receiving of ourselves through that same act as an action that is deeply personal, deeply spiritual, and worthy of profound respect. If you are, as most of us are, being challenged to build a 21st-century sexual ethic for yourself, your children, or your grandchildren that neither denies the reality of current sexual practice in contemporary society nor ignores the deep truths within our Christian tradition about the sacredness of our human bodies, you will find this book illuminating, inspiring, and deeply hopeful.
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Your support is appreciated
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Financial contributions to support the work of Bloy House are appreciated year-round. Thank you for your consideration and generosity. Gifts may be mailed to Bloy House, the Episcopal Theological School at Claremont, 1325 N. College Avenue, Claremont, CA 91711.
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In this issue: Please scroll down for more on upcoming courses and student and faculty activities.
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Spring 2014 Teaching Weekends, Academic Calendar
January 10 - 11
January 24 - 25
January 31 - February 1*
February 14 - 15
February 28 - March 1
(Long Retreat Weekend)
March 14 - 15
March 28 - 29
April 11 - 12
April 25 - 26
May 9 - 10
(Graduation Weekend)
*Second of back-to-back weekends.
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Fall Academic Schedule Now Online
For any of you who are contemplating enrolling at Bloy House this fall, either for one class as an EEL student, as a Fresh Start participant, or in our for-credit programs, the 2014-15 academic calendar is posted on the Bloy House website at www.bloyhouse.org. That website will also give you information about what classes are scheduled for this fall and how to apply for admission at Bloy House.
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A new and easy way to support Bloy House, ETSC
Support Bloy House by shopping at Amazon! It is very easy. Just go through this link, or go through Amazon smile. Log in using your existing Amazon account and then search "The Episcopal Theological School at Claremont" as your charity of choice. Bloy House gets 5% of all proceeds!
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