Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) is an Episcopal

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

. It one of nine seminaries U.S. Episcopal Church and a member of the

Graduate Theological Union The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is a consortium of eight private independent American theological schools and eleven centers and affiliates. Seven of the theological schools are located in Berkeley, California. The GTU was founded in 1962 ...

. The only Episcopal seminary located in the Far West, CDSP has, since 1911, been designated the official seminary of the Episcopal Church's Eighth Province, the Province west of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

. The Church Divinity School of the Pacific, or CDSP, and Trinity Church Wall Street announced March 4, 2019 that the New York parish had acquired the seminary. The Very Rev. W. Mark Richardson, CDSP president and dean, told Episcopal News Service in an interview that the deal will put the school on a solid financial footing and position it for growth. CDSP and its assets now belong to Trinity, he said, and the value of those assets “will be a fund, among other resources they have, that supports the program at the school and operation.”ENS Episcopal New Service, March 4, 2019 CDSP is accredited by the

Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) is an organization of seminaries and other graduate schools of theology. ATS has its headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. History It was founded in 1918. The assoc ...

and offers degree and certificate programs aimed at training clergy and lay leaders for ministries in the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

History

Church Divinity School of the Pacific was founded in 1893 in

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster C ...

, by the second Episcopal Bishop of California, William Ford Nichols, after the gift of of land, funds for construction of the first building, and an endowment from George and Augusta Gibbs. Several of the seminary buildings were destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and the seminary relocated to San Francisco in 1911 to a new building on the grounds of Grace Cathedral. In 1914, CDSP was declared to be the official seminary of what is now known as Province VIII of the Episcopal Church, which comprises seventeen dioceses of the western United States and Taiwan. A move to Berkeley in 1930 facilitated cooperation with other seminaries in the East Bay, as well as with the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. CDSP was one of the founders of the

(GTU), established in 1962, and is now one of nine member schools and eight affiliated centers in this ecumenical consortium.

Academics

CDSP offers students a variety of degree programs and courses of study. In order to keep up with changes and advances in the Church and in theological education, faculty members continually review curricula and make changes as appropriate. Currently, CDSP offers several degree programs: *Certificate of Anglican Studies, geared towards students with M.Div. degrees from non-Anglican schools who are seeking ordination in the Episcopal Church. * Master of Divinity (M.Div.) n campus and low residence in January and July* Master of Divinity in cooperation with Bloy House, an Anglican house of study in Claremont, California. *

Master of Theological Studies A Master of Theological Studies (MTS) is a graduate degree, offered in theological seminary or graduate faculty of theology, which gives students lay training in theological studies. Under Association of Theological Schools in the United States ...

(M.T.S.) n campus and online Jointly with the

, CDSP also offers three advanced academic degree programs: *

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(M.A.) * Doctor of Theology (Th.D.) *

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

(Ph.D.) Students may enroll in the M.Div. and M.A. programs concurrently. A separate admission process for each program is necessary, as is the completion of all requirements for each degree. Concurrent M.Div./M.A. programs can be completed in no less than four years. Certificates of one, two, or three years of study may be given to non-degree students who have successfully completed the appropriate full academic years. These certificate programs include: *Certificate of Anglican Studies (C.A.S)

n campus and low-residence in July N, or n, is the fourteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet# ...

*Certificate of Theological Studies (C.T.S) n campus and online

St. Margaret's Visiting Professorship

The St. Margaret's Visiting Professorship of Women in Ministry is named in honor of St. Margaret's House, a school that trained deaconesses and lay women for ministry in the Episcopal Church when deaconesses were separate orders from deacons. The school itself was named after Saint Margaret of Scotland. In the early 20th century, students from St. Margaret's House were able to take classes with CDSP students. By 1966, with the gradual dismantling of separate orders of ministry for men and women, the House was merged into CDSP. The first St. Margaret's Visiting Professor of Women in Ministry is Dr. Jenny Te Paa Daniel, who was a theology graduate of the

and the first Maori woman to earn a doctorate in systematic theology. She was followed by Dr. Suzanne Guthrie, who has served as parish priest and chaplain at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

and

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. The third St. Margaret's Visiting Professor will be the 26th Presiding Bishop

Katharine Jefferts Schori Katharine Jefferts Schori (born March 26, 1954) is the former Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church of the United States. Previously elected as the 9th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada, she was the first woman elected ...

who is a CDSP alumna (1994) and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Divinity in 2001 when she was elected bishop of Nevada.

Affiliated schools

The Episcopal School for Deacons is on the grounds of the CDSP. This school trains

deacons A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

for the Diocese of California.

Notable alumni

* Keith Andrews, bishop of the Diocese of Western Anglicans *

Lani Hanchett Edwin Lani Hanchett (November 2, 1919 - August 11, 1975) was and American prelate who served as Bishop of Hawaii from 1969 to 1975. Education and early life Hanchett was born in Honolulu on November 2, 1919 to Alsoberry Kaumu Hanchett and Mary Mc ...

, Bishop of Hawai'i * Mark Hollingsworth (born 1954), bishop of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

(born 1954), 26th presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church * Edward J. Konieczny, bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma The Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma dates back to 1837 as a Missionary District of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The General Convention of the Episcopal Church recognized the Diocese of Oklahoma in 1937. The diocese consist ...

Paul Kwong Paul Kwong CStJ (; born 28 February 1950) is a retired Anglican bishop from Hong Kong, who served as Archbishop and Primate of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui, Bishop of Hong Kong Island, and Bishop of Macau from 2007 to 2021. Kwong is also the current ...

(born 1951), 2nd Primate of Hong Kong Anglican Church, and Archbishop of Hong Kong *Brian Prior, bishop of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Nedi Rivera Bavi Edna "Nedi" Rivera (born March 24, 1946) is a bishop of the Episcopal Church who has been a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Olympia and appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Eastern Oregon. She was the first Hispanic woman elected to becom ...

(born 1946), bishop suffragan of Olympia, provisional bishop of

Eastern Oregon Eastern Oregon is the eastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost ...

* Michael Roberts, Principal of

Westcott House, Cambridge Westcott House is an Anglican theological college based on Jesus Lane in the centre of the university city of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.Westcott House website, Home pag Retrieved on August 27, 2006. Its main activity is training people for ...

Chester Talton Chester Lovelle Talton (born September 22, 1941) was the Provisional Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin in the Episcopal Church. Personal life Born in El Dorado, Arkansas, Talton was ordained to the priesthood in February 1971, in the ...

(born 1941), bishop suffragan of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, provisional bishop of San Joaquin *Brian Thom, bishop of

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

Notable faculty

*L. William Countryman (born 1941), faculty member, biblical scholar *Sherman E. Johnson, Dean, faculty member, biblical scholar * Massey H. Shepherd (1913-1990), faculty member, liturgical scholar * Louis Weil (1935-2022)

References

Sources

*Robinson, Mary Judith (2001). ''From Gold Rush to Millennium:150 Years of the Episcopal Diocese of California''. San Francisco:

Episcopal Diocese of California The Episcopal Diocese of California is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA) in Northern California. The founding Episcopal diocese in the state, once encompassing all of Californ ...

External links

Official website
{{Coord, 37, 52, 33.78, N, 122, 15, 40.07, W, region:US-CA_type:edu, display=title Episcopal Church (United States) Episcopal Church in California Seminaries and theological colleges in California Anglican seminaries and theological colleges Universities and colleges in Alameda County, California Educational institutions established in 1893 Education in Berkeley, California 1893 establishments in California Graduate Theological Union