Bloy House News
The Episcopal Theological School at Claremont
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Greetings from Bloy House, the Episcopal Theological School at Claremont, where another class has graduated and we're looking forward to the fall term. 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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 Four Bloy House alumni ordained June 7
On Saturday, June 7 Bishops Bruno and Glasspool officiated at the ordinations of four Bloy House alumni. Allison Cornell (2014, center left), Annie Engstrom (2014, center right), James Prendergast (2010, fourth from left), and Chitra Rao (2011, third from left) were ordained to the transitional diaconate at that service. Following their ordinations, Allison Cornell will begin as a chaplain resident with the VA hospital CPE program in La Jolla (San Diego). Annie Engstrom has been called as assistant rector at Trinity, Orange. James Prendergast will continue as vice chancellor for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, and Chitra Rao will continue as a chaplain at UCLA Medical Center. Blessings on all of your diverse and varied ministries, both new and continuing!
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The Instituto de Liderazgo is a vital and enriching program of Bloy House that offers theological formation for lay leaders of the church who are in Spanish speaking communities. The Instituto meets on a monthly basis in several congregations in the diocese, and students who participate in the program earn certificates for ministry in various fields of study. Classes are taught by clergy and lay leaders with expertise in Latino ministries. Another significant part of the program is personal spiritual formation based on Franciscan spirituality practices. The program is directed by the Rev. Vincent Schwahn of St. Mark's, Van Nuys. This June, 22 Instituto students will receive certificates in Liturgical Leadership.
Receiving Advanced Liturgical Leader certificates:
Jose Avendano, Reina Avendano, Ana Elias, Oneida Flores, Nely Jimenez, Julio Manzanares, Luise Pelayo, Aida Margaritqa Posadas, Dalila Rowell, Eric Rivera, Alicia Ruvalcaba, and Carlos Ruvalcaba.
Receiving Liturgical Leadership I certificates:
Maria Ayala, Rosa Loza, Sandra Martinez, Martha Navarrete, Angela Nieves, Rocio Pena, Lety Rayas, Victor Silva, Angeles Soto, and Patricia Vizuette.
Congratulations to all of these graduates! And congratulations to the Instituto on all of the wonderful ministry formation they are enabling in this diocese!
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 Celtic Pilgrimage
Last month my wife, Teresa Di Biase and I re-traced most of the route we will take next May, "Following in the Footsteps of the Celtic Saints." We were inspired again by our visit to Lindisfarne / Holy Island, where St. Aidan, an Irish monk from the other Holy Island, Iona, established a monastery and trained twelve English boys to take the Gospel to the people of Northumbria. St. Aidan was known for his humility -- he walked, rather than rode a horse, as was expected of those in his position -- and for his generosity; he once gave away his horse to a beggar! Later, St. Cuthbert lived on Lindisfarne, serving as both Abbot and Bishop. St. Cuthbert was known for his holiness and his dedication to travel to remote villages so that they might hear the word of God.
St. Aidan and St. Cuthbert were both described with admiration by the first historian of the English people, the Venerable Bede. We learned more about Bede in our first visit to Bede's World in Jarrow near Durham. Bede's World contains informative displays and reproductions which allow us insight into the world in which Aidan, Cuthbert and Bede lived. We have added it to our 2015 pilgrimage itinerary.
During our trip this past May, we also made our first visit to Whitby Abbey, a double monastery of men and women founded at the urging of St. Aidan and overseen by St. Hilda. She presided over the Council of Whitby (664 AD) where the decision was made to follow Roman Christianity rather than the Celtic Christianity brought to England by the Irish monks. In recognition of the importance of St. Hilda for Celtic Christianity, we have added Whitby Abbey to the 2015 pilgrimage itinerary.
While driving from Whitby to Durham, we discovered the lovely Escomb Saxon Church, just west of Bishop Auckland. It was built around 675 AD with stone probably from the Roman fort at Binchester, and may have been an offshoot of St. Hilda's monastery at Whitby. We think this little church will be an appropriate place on our 2015 pilgrimage to have a service of thanksgiving for the lives of St. Hilda and the other Celtic saints whose footsteps we will follow next year. We invite you to 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.
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 Carving a new identity
By Sylvia Sweeney
In the last two weeks I have attended two very different conferences, both of which had a surprisingly similar message. Two weeks ago I was part of a wisdom circle of faith leaders who gathered in Salt Lake City, Utah to imagine how the work of Encore.org might benefit from a relationship with faith communities. For those of you unfamiliar with Encore.org, it is a non-profit organization founded by business entrepreneur Marc Friedman, set up to support and inspire individuals in the second half of life as they seek to discern what they will do during their post retirement years and how they might still contribute to society from that place.
 Last weekend I was at All Saints by-the-Sea in Santa Barbara where church historian Diana Butler-Bass discussed the current sociological and demographic trajectories for Christianity in this century and the numerous ways in which the institutional church is standing at a crossroads and a time of inevitable systemic change. Christianity after Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening invites us to explore how Christian spirituality is flowering across our broader western culture and the ways in which the church can flourish by participating in newly evolving models of spiritual belonging and relationship, some of which can even happen in churches.
Both of these conferences were, each in its own way, about acknowledging the need for new paradigms for participation in American life in the 21st century. And both of them, each in its own way, has everything to do with the mission and ministry of each of us as individuals, the future of the Episcopal Church, and the faith community of Bloy House.
I was reminded at both of these conferences of how different the world of the mid-life adult is from the world of the young adult. Most of us in our fifties, sixties, and beyond have lived our lives in institutions. Schools, churches, corporations, philanthropic organizations, social organizations, and governments have been the stuff of our lives. We are, in large part, who we are because of our participation in those institutions.
What would it be like to be a part of a new generation that did not see institutional participation as key to personal identity? How do we know who we are and to whom we belong if we are not a member of something? That is a question many of our younger generation are both asking themselves, and being forced to ask themselves. For a generation that has not found a home and an identity in church affiliation, has not had access to career possibilities that ground one in an institutional professional identity, has often learned not to trust in the trustworthiness of marriage as an institution, and that has often felt betrayed by academic institutions that have promised the world and delivered debt, how does one go about constructing an identity?
And for me this is where the two conferences converge. This new generation must do it the ancient way, the New Testament way. They do it relationally. Young adults construct their identities through networks of love and concern. And older adults who are leaving or have left the work force and are carving new identities without all the trappings and titles that came with their institutional affiliations are doing precisely the same thing. Identity in our own time, Friedman and Butler-Bass assert, comes through webs of relationship. Interestingly this is also precisely what we tell new seminarians. Their new vocational identities will not primarily come through acquisition of a particular body of knowledge or through jumping through a series of institutional hoops, but through building transformative enriching and challenging intentional relationships with those whom God has put in their path.
Mark Friedman, founder of Encore.org, shared with us on the first night of our wisdom circle, a vision he had for our society. In his vision all participated as they were able from the storehouse of riches they possessed. No one was either put out to pasture or wandered out to pasture. For Friedman there was a powerful and needed relationship between the old and the young, and above all else it is the duty, responsibility, and the privilege of those in the second half of their lives to give of themselves for the sake of those just beginning life. In Friedman's world, life in the second half of life is about entering deeply into relationship with those who need a time, a place, and an opportunity to find meaning and belonging. And in pursuit of that, elders find their own deepest sense of meaning and belonging as well.
Where are you on your life journey, and your faith journey? To whom-not to what-do you belong? Who is forming you through your relationship with them? If all the institutions that give our lives order and structure were gone, what relationships would continue to sustain you; to give your life purpose, meaning, and spiritual wholeness? Where and when and how are you investing in the future of the world and of the Christian faith?
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 Worship for the Whole People of God:
Vital Worship for the 21st Century
by Ruth Duck
Westminster John Knox Press, 2013
One of my great finds for this summer is a new book called Worship for the Whole People of God; Vital Worship for the 21st Century. Written by United Church of Christ liturgical scholar and hymn author Ruth Duck, Worship for the Whole People of God offers excellent insights into the nature of the liturgy from a mainline Protestant perspective. Duck brings her own creative genius to this work helping others to see and apprehend the important and useful complementarity between the ancient liturgical traditions of the church and the need to find new ways of expressing our faith for our contemporary world. She is deeply sensitive to cultural issues, and how those impact the nature of Christian worship. She invites readers to consider the nature of worship from not just a white Anglo perspective, but also from a Black perspective, a Latino/a perspective and a Korean perspective. Her techniques and strategies for designing worship to meet the needs of the people present are extremely insightful and utterly feasible in relation to busy parish life. Duck discusses the nature of sacramental life with emphasis on the primary sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist. She also discusses some of the important sacramental rites of the church and the ways in which healing rites, rites of reconciliation, burial rites, and pastoral rites developed to meet immediate pastoral needs can deeply enrich and support the lives of the faithful. While this is a wonderful resource for anyone seeking to better understand the nature of Christian worship, it will be most especially useful to those trying to understand the similarities and differences in worship theology and practice across the broad spectrum of Christianity. I highly commend this book to anyone interested in the study of Christian worship. It would also make an excellent book study resource for a community wishing to further explore Christian worship.
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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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Save the date:
Bishop's Guild Garden Party is Oct. 4
The Bishop's Guild of the Diocese of Los Angeles will celebrate its 100th year of ministry at a Centennial Garden Party on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2 - 4 p.m. at the home of Bishop J. Jon Bruno and Mary Bruno, 3435 E. California Blvd, Pasadena 91107. As part of the centennial celebration, the Bishop's Guild is looking for stories from clergy who were assisted by the scholarship program, or from congregations that assisted seminarians. Let the Bishop's Guild know about the experience; contact Donna Keller, president, at dkeller68@yahoo.com or 951.545.4218.
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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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