[Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Bloy House press release] Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) and Bloy House, the Episcopal Theological School at Claremont, announced today that they have established a new partnership.

Beginning in 2015, Bloy House students will be able to earn a master of divinity degree at CDSP while completing much of their study at Bloy House. Following their first year, students will study online at CDSP and over the course of thirteen months will visit campus in Berkeley for one or two weeks in January and two weeks in June while continuing their course work at Bloy House.

“We are delighted at the prospect of welcoming Bloy House students to CDSP next year,” said the Very Rev. Dr. Mark Richardson, CDSP’s dean and president. “This new partnership celebrates our shared history and demonstrates CDSP’s commitment to working with dioceses that want to provide high-quality, flexible local ministry training.”

The Very Rev. Dr. Sylvia Sweeney, Bloy House dean and president, also celebrated this new step. “Our two seminaries have had a long and mutually beneficial relationship since the 1950’s.  I am delighted that we have entered a new phase of that relationship at a time when many across the church are exploring what it means to offer quality theological education through new and changing platforms.  I think all of our students will be enriched by this wonderful opportunity for cross-fertilization and dialog.”

Bloy House was founded in 1958 as an extension program of CDSP in the Diocese of Los Angeles. That partnership continued until 1962, when the diocese assumed full administrative and academic responsibility for the school. In 1970, Bloy House developed a relationship with  Claremont School of Theology and moved to Claremont.

Under the terms of the new program, Bloy House MDiv students will join CDSP’s on-campus and online students for regular semester-long academic courses and will also be eligible to take online courses through the Graduate Theological Union, of which CDSP is a founding member. In addition, students will participate in intensive on-campus weeklong courses in January and June and in field education, which will be conducted in their home dioceses and supervised by CDSP faculty.

“Earning an MDiv through the flexible Bloy House-CDSP partnership allows students to prepare for ministry with the support and guidance of innovative and creative faculty from both institutions. By working together, we can ensure that students receive rigorous academic preparation, support in personal Christian formation and spiritual growth, and training to lead the 21st century church,” said the Rev. Dr. Ruth Meyers, academic dean at CDSP.
Prospective students can apply to Bloy House by August 1 or December 15 and to CDSP by March 15 of the year in which they intend to begin the CDSP portion of the program. Learn more at www.cdsp.edu/academics/degrees and www.bloyhouse.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.

Bloy House the Episcopal Theological School at Claremont, the seminary of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, provides graduate level weekend theological formation programs with the express purpose of forming Christian leaders for lay, diaconal, and priestly ministry in the church. Learn more at www.bloyhouse.org.