Bloy House News
The Episcopal Theological School at Claremont
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Greetings!
Greetings from Bloy House, the Episcopal Theological School at Claremont, where our Spring 2016 session is fully in progress. 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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 Welcome, Donna Porras, new Assistant to the Dean
From Dean Sylvia Sweeney
I am delighted to announce that Donna Porras has been appointed the new Assistant to the Dean at Bloy House. Donna began work January 26, and I look forward to all of you getting to meet her and introduce yourselves in the coming weeks. Donna comes to us with wonderful experience in educational administration, having spent the last seven years as the assistant to the assistant dean at Claremont School of Theology. She is, of course, very familiar with life here on the CST campus, and that will allow for a quick adjustment for her.
"I am very happy about this new adventure," says Donna. "I have enjoyed working with the Claremont School of Theology folks, and it feels good to be back on campus."
I can't tell you how delighted I am to have Donna on board, and how grateful I am to the board members and faculty who helped with the discernment process of identifying Donna as our most excellent new assistant. Her email address is bloyhouse@cst.edu. Again, welcome, Donna! |
 Pilgrimage to Scotland
set for Sept. 11 - 23, 2016
Next fall Dr. Frank Shirbroun and Ms. Teresa De Biase will once again lead a 12-day pilgrimage to Iona, Lindisfarne and other parts of Scotland to explore thin places, to walk in the steps of saints, and to drink in the beauty and richness of our Anglican heritage. Those who have participated in this pilgrimage have found it to be a deeply moving, enriching, and life changing experience. Cost of the pilgrimage is $3,850 + airfare. Meals and housing have been prearranged at comfortable inspiring locales. Please see following detail for this profoundly meaningful pilgrimage opportunity led by two inspirational Christian scholars and mentors. Very limited space remains.
Pilgrimage Highlights
We invite you to journey with us to the sacred landscapes of Northern England and Scotland, following in the footsteps of our Celtic 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 on this pilgrimage.
Teresa Di Biase is an 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 at Bloy House (Episcopal Theological Seminary at Claremont) for more than 17 years and continues to teach Adult Education classes in his retirement. With Celtic roots in Ireland and Wales, Frank and Teresa are experienced retreat and pilgrimage leaders, focusing especially on the Celtic saints and sacred sites of 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.
Preliminary Itinerary: September 11-23, 2016
Sunday, Sept. 11: Pilgrims gather in the Arrivals Hall, Glasgow International Airport, at 10:00 am for coach transfer to Lindisfarne/Holy Island. Welcome and Introductions before dinner together. Overnight on Lindisfarne at Lindisfarne Hotel and Manor House Hotel.
Monday, Sept. 12: Morning prayer at St. Mary's. Visit Lindisfarne Heritage Centre to learn Holy Island's history followed by free time for exploration and lunch. Briefing on Celtic Christianity and the Northumbrian Saints-Aidan, Cuthbert, and Hilda-by the Rev. Canon Kate Tristram, local historian and authority on Celtic Christianity. Overnight on Lindisfarne at Lindisfarne Hotel and Manor House Hotel.
Tuesday, Sept. 13: Morning prayer at St. Mary's. Briefing introduction to Celtic Christianity. Free time to explore Holy Island/Lindisfarne. Overnight on Lindisfarne at Lindisfarne Hotel and Manor House Hotel.
Wednesday, Sept 14: Depart for Durham with Morning Prayer on the coach and with a stop at Hadrian's Wall. Guided tour by Senior Guide, Lillian Groves, of Durham Cathedral, including the shrine of St. Cuthbert, the tomb of the Venerable Bede, the Treasury and the Library. Overnight in Durham at Farnley Tower Hotel.
Thursday, Sept. 15: Visit Whitby Abbey, the site of the double monastery of men and women founded and overseen by St. Hilda and the site of the Council of Whitby (664 A.D.) where the decision was made to follow Roman Christianity rather than Celtic Christianity. Free time for lunch and exploration. Tour the 7th century Saxon Church, Escomb. Overnight Durham at Farnley Tower Hotel.
Friday, Sept. 16: Depart for Oban, Scotland, with Morning Prayer on the way. Visit the Kilmartin Museum and Temple Wood, Kilmartin Valley, which contains more than 300 prehistoric stone circles, standing stones, burial cairns, and rock carvings. Nearby is Dunadd hill fort, where it is believed the Scottish kings were crowned, perhaps even one by St. Columba of Iona. Overnight in Oban at Royal Hotel.
Saturday, Sept. 17: Free time to explore Oban and lunch before our 1:00 pm ferry departure to Craignure and bus across the island of Mull to Fionnphort for the ferry to the Holy Island of Iona. Evening Prayer with the Iona Community in the Abbey Church. Overnight on Iona at the Argyll Hotel.
Sunday, Sept. 18: Morning Eucharist with the Iona Community in the Abbey Church and meet members of the Iona Community. Lunch and free time for exploration. Briefing on St. Columba and the founding of the Iona monastic community. Overnight on Iona at the Argyll Hotel.
Monday, Sept. 19: Morning Prayer with the Iona Community. Self-guided tour of Iona Abbey and grounds, including St. Michael's Chapel, Columba's Cell, Tor Abb [Hill of the Abbott, site of St. Columba's Hermitage], St. Oran's Chapel and Reilig Oran [Sacred Burial Place of Kings]. Lunch and free time for exploration. Briefing on Columba and the spirituality of the Iona monastic community. Evening Prayer at the Abbey Church. Overnight on Iona at the Argyll Hotel.
Tuesday, Sept. 20: Morning Prayer with the Iona Community. Pilgrimage walk to St. Columba's Bay, where tradition says St. Columba arrived in his coracle from Ireland. Evening Prayer at the Abbey Church. Overnight at the Argyll Hotel. Optional boat trip at your own expense to nearby island of Staffa and Fingal's cave, which inspired Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture.
Wednesday, Sept. 21: Morning Prayer with the Iona Community in the Abbey Church. Pilgrimage around Iona with Iona Community (optional). Lunch and free time for exploration. Farewell Eucharist in St. Michael's Chapel. Evening Prayer at the Abbey Church. Overnight on Iona at the Argyll Hotel.
Thursday, Sept. 22: Depart Iona for Fionnphort and on to Glasgow. Pilgrimage closure and Farewell dinner. Overnight Holiday Inn Glasgow Airport Hotel.
Friday, Sept. 23: Glasgow Airport Departures.
Cost of the 12 day pilgrimage is $3850per person, which includes lodging, breakfast and dinner for each day, transportation and all entry fees. It does not include flights to and from the UK, lunches or gratuities. There will be a supplemental charge of $420.00 to have your own room. We will visit all sites via coach with walking at each site as needed. The current itinerary is subject to change depending on local conditions.
REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS February 10 , 2016.
Only Two Slots Remaining
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Announcing Bloy House Academy
'How to Be a Crazy Christian' taught by our new Presiding Bishop
On Ash Wednesday Bloy House will launch its newest endeavor, an online program making courses available to churches and individuals interested in online theological education. Through a partnership with ChurchNext, Bloy House will make 8-12 session courses available that can be subscribed to by churches as a part of their formation programming activities. The materials for these classes are available through a registration access code and allow one to access both the videos of the presenters and the discussion guides that have been developed for small group discussions of the videos on your desired schedule. Cost of the course is $30 per course (this is the price for either individuals or groups, allowing congregations with limited budgets to utilize this resource at significant savings). We will begin our academy by offering a course taught by the Most Rev. Michael Curry, "How to Be a Crazy Christian." Our contract with ChurchNext allows us to have up to nine churches participating at a time. When the course is finished the slot reopens and other churches may register. If all of the slots are not taken by churches using this as a resource for groups, we will announce availability for individual participants. To learn more about this program contact Dean Sweeney at ssweeney@cst.edu. To register your church please contact bloyhouse@cst.edu and mail your $30 check to Bloy House.
'Singing the Exsultet' workshop set for Saturday, March 19, from 4:15-6:30pm
Dr. Lisa Sylvester, Professor of Voice at the University of Southern California, will return to Bloy House this spring to offer a workshop on singing the exsultet. This workshop is designed to help deacons, priests, and choir members prepare to sing the exsultet at their Easter Vigil liturgies. In an intense small group setting, Dr. Sylvester will work with students as they practice their singing aloud and develop a greater familiarity with this beautiful ancient hymn. Cost for the workshop is $20. To register contact bloyhouse@cst.edu.
Save the Date: Bloy House Graduation
Bloy House Graduation is Saturday, May 7, at 11 a.m. with the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno preaching and presiding at the Eucharist. A graduation lunch will follow immediately on the Eucharist and ceremony. Cost for the lunch is $20. To make a lunch reservation, send checks to Bloy House at 1325 N. College Ave. Claremont, CA 91711.
We Need Your Support
We invite you to consider making a generous gift to Bloy House. We are dependent upon contributions from individuals and congregations of the diocese, along with Bloy House alumni/ae, in order to make our budget and keep our tuition as low as possible for our seminarians. Your gifts to Bloy House can make it possible for individuals who could never even consider the financial costs of attending a residential seminary to attend Bloy House at significant financial savings. Your gifts can also make it possible for lay persons in this diocese to receive a top drawer theological education in order to equip them for the urgently important work of ministry in the church as lay persons. To contribute, use the donation button on the Bloy House webpage www.bloyhouse.org or send a check to Bloy House, ETSC at 1325 N. College Ave. Claremont, CA 91711.
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 Lasting image By Sylvia Sweeney
There is an image that followed me through the last months of 2015 and branded itself like some new core memory in a sheltered, unforgettable corner of my soul. It was a global-warming, sweltering, triple- digit Southern California September afternoon. Even with my car air conditioner on full blast blowing in my face, comfortable was not a word to describe my exhausted, heat-disgruntled condition. As I pulled up to the corner of a poor, urban, L.A . residential neighborhood with its broken sidewalks, houses with peeling paint, and barren, burnt, postage stamp lawns, I saw a hot, tired, twenty-something black man slowly, resolutely pushing a metal shopping cart up the uneven sidewalk. As he drew closer, I noticed that his small bundle in the cart was not clothes, or bed linens, or a stack of his meager earthly possessions; but instead a treasure requiring far more energy to protect. Curled up stomach down, head turned to her side on a pillow with flat open hands and folded knees tucked beneath her was a tiny, rail thin, sound asleep infant as young perhaps as the Christ child on the flight to Egypt. As she and her father crossed the street in front of me, I couldn't take my eyes off this poignant portrait of homelessness and courage and love. Transfixed, I looked up into the face of this young dad. Our eyes met. I smiled, looked down at his treasure and nodded at him, wanting to say in some small gesture, "I honor you and your daughter. I honor your exhaustion, your courage, and your love of this vulnerable, sweet, innocence deprived child." He met my gaze, smiled back with his eyes, wearing his hard won bearing of dignity and self-possession. Then he and the child continued on their life journey, ambling onward to whatever in life next awaited them in the heat of an L.A. day.
We live in a world filled with refugees -- refugees from war, from poverty, from racism and oppression, and hatred, refugees longing for shelter and safety and home. May our eyes see, our hearts feel, and our lips speak messages of hope, of dignity, of honor, and of welcome to all those seeking refuge from human suffering, all those whom God places in our path through personal encounter, through virtual encounter, and through that torrent of informational platforms that now create our day-to-day world. May we fashion a church as committed to compassion as the compassion lived out by our Lord. May our vision for the future of the church be one that calls forward in us, both individually and corporately, the very best of who we can be. So that working together hand in hand we can bring wholeness and justice and equity to our global community, our municipal communities, and our local communities. When you close your eyes and pray, whose face do you see? Whose prayers do you hear? Whose life can you touch by seeking to be Christ in your world?
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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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An 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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Bloy Bling
Just a reminder that Bloy House polo shirts (in Bloy House Blue with the Bloy House seal) and Bloy House coffee mugs are still available through the Bloy House office. Cost of the polo shirts is $26 and mugs are $10. Bloy House tippet seals are available through the office for $20.
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