The Rev. Laurel Johnston (’06) Joins CDSP as Director of Alumni Affairs

The Rev. Dr. W. Mark Richardson, dean and president of Church Divinity School of the Pacific, announced today that the Rev. Laurel Johnston (MDiv ’06) will join Church Divinity School of the Pacific on October 1, as director of alumni affairs and major gifts officer.

“Welcoming Laurel home is a great joy for all of us at CDSP,” said Richardson. “Her gifts in encouraging stewardship and forming networks will be a great complement to our strong new advancement effort, and her commitment to CDSP’s distinctive approach to preparing students for ministry will make her a great addition to our team.”

“I’m delighted to return to CDSP in this role,” said Johnston. “As a seminarian, I experienced CDSP as a rich environment to explore and expand my sense of call. It was there I forged deep bonds of friendships in Christ and I look forward to supporting and strengthening the web of relationships that have grown out of the giftedness of this community—gifts that continue to bless the wider church.”

Johnston, who holds a BA in international relations and Spanish from the University of California at Davis, will be based in Thousand Oaks in southern California and make monthly visits to Berkeley.

In 2013-2014, Johnston was executive director of the Episcopal Network for Stewardship, and from 2008 until 2013, she was The Episcopal Church’s program officer for stewardship. While at CDSP, she was an intern at Providence Hospital in Anchorage, Alaska and at St. Stephen’s Church in Belvedere, California. After graduating, she was curate at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church in Capitola, California. Prior to seminary, she raised funds and managed volunteers for the American Red Cross and CARE.

Church Divinity School of the Pacific, a seminary of the Episcopal Church and a member of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, educates students in an ecumenical and interreligious context to develop leaders who can proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world through traditional and emerging ministries. Learn more at www.cdsp.edu.