CDSP and Diocese Partner to Host Episcopal Service Corps Interns
Diocese of California’s interns will live on CDSP’s campus, participate in community’s life
BERKELEY, December 18, 2014—Beginning in August, up to eight interns with the Diocese of California’s Episcopal Service Corps program will live on the campus of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) and participate in the life of the seminary.
Living on the seminary’s campus will provide richer educational and social opportunities for the interns and immerse them in the life of a Christian community dedicated to study, prayer and fellowship, said leaders of the diocese and seminary. The seminary will benefit from the diverse perspectives and experiences of the interns who will be working at churches and non-profit organizations in the Bay Area while living on campus.
“This partnership is an excellent example of vitality practices we seek to employ in the Diocese of California,” the Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of California said. “This partnership demonstrates collaboration between CDSP and the Diocese of California, offers chances for embeddedness in a variety of communities for interns, and the Bay Area is teaming with diversity — to which the interns have continually contributed with their presence.”
“We are looking forward to inviting the Episcopal Service Corps interns into the rhythms of our daily life,” said the Rev. Dr. W. Mark Richardson, dean and president of CDSP. “CDSP trains students to respond to the challenges of contemporary society with the Good News of Jesus Christ. The work these interns will do will help them to develop their own particular insights about those challenges. That can’t help but enrich the conversation on our campus and deepen the experience of seminarians and interns alike.”
The diocese’s intern program offers young adults a chance to explore their faith while working for justice and living with other interns in a Christian community. The interns gain real life experience by working 32 hours each week, engage in communal theological reflection and consider together the work they may want to pursue when the internship ends.
Tom Poynor, the program’s director, said, “I am excited about this opportunity to strengthen the work we do in forming leaders, both lay and ordained, for the larger church. The cooperation with CDSP creates a stronger locus for our commitment to intentional Christian community while immersing interns in vibrant traditional and cutting-edge theological conversation.”
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The Episcopal Diocese of California serves a diverse community of faith encompassing the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Approximately 27,000 people form 80 congregations in six counties. More information about the Diocese of California can be found at www.diocal.org. If you’d like more information about this topic or to schedule and interview with Joseph Peters-Mathews, please call him at 415.869.7820 or email him at josephm@diocal.org.
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.
