New Dean Welcomes Incoming Class to CDSP - The Episcopal Diocese of Northern California

Entering Class Larger by 25 Percent

The Very Rev. W. Mark Richardson, the new Dean and President of Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) in Berkeley, California, welcomed the incoming class during orientation activities. Amid worship, workshops on transition to seminary life and spiritual formation, and fellowship, Dean Richardson met with and greeted the new students.

After greeting the incoming class, Richardson reflected, “It has been a pleasure to meet this new class as I begin my own work at CDSP. This class is truly outstanding with a wide array of gifts to offer the church. As we begin a new chapter in the history of this school, the eagerness of these students to come here are a sign of the spiritual vitality and intellectual inquiry that CDSP has to offer the church.”

Students were equally enthusiastic about commencing their studies with the arrival of Richardson. “The arrival of Dean Richardson is but confirmation that CDSP stands as splendid educational resource for the Church, and I am thrilled to now be counted as a part of this community” said Justin Fletcher of the Diocese of Oklahoma.

With this new class, CDSP celebrated a 25% increase in enrollment over the previous academic year and a 50% increase in matriculation to the Master of Divinity program. Reflecting the school’s mission to theological education for the entire church, new students have arrived from a wide range of diocese from Pennsylvania to Minnesota to Alaska as well as closer to home in California. In keeping with CDSP’s historic connection to Anglican province in Asia, students have arrived to study from Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan.

Students recognized the academic strengths of CDSP rooted in its participation as a founding member of the Graduate Theological Union along with CDSP’s focus on preparation for ministry. Said Jakki Flanagan from the Diocese of Vermont, "I’m thrilled to be at CDSP during this time of transition and I love being at a seminary that is steeped in the Episcopal tradition, yet also at the cutting edge of interfaith opportunities and relationships. Mark Richardson’s experience teaching at seminaries on the east and west coasts give him a unique perspective that will facilitate this dynamic school’s continued growth and new vision for the entire church." Members from the entering class have a wide range of interests that mirror the school’s breadth. Some students have come in preparation for parish ministry and chaplaincies, others to ready themselves for new forms of ministry. Drawing on the strengths of the CDSP faculty, some of the new students intend to pursue focused study in liturgy, ministry development, interfaith relations, and constructive theology. All of these studies occur within the context of deep communal formation within the Anglican tradition.

“With this new cohort, the important mission of Church Divinity School of the Pacific continues. As we welcome this new class, we are grateful for the opportunity to teach and mentor them, and to receive the gifts they bring to our midst,” said the Rev. Jan Wood, Dean of Students.

Established in 1893, Church Divinity School of the Pacific’s mission is to provide the highest quality Christian theological education in an environment of scholarship, reflection and worship, rooted in the Anglican tradition. CDSP is a founding member of the Graduate Theological Union, an ecumenical and interfaith consortium based in Berkeley, CA. Click here for more information about CDSP.