Seminary Network Meting, Austin Day 2, and recap

The amazing thing about large institutions like churches and governments is their inescapable ability to alienate those inside and out.  However, conveniently this is matched by the realization that those organizations are simply individuals within a system.  Connections can be remade and relationships can be fostered even when ideals are at odds.

The seminary network meeting allows for connection and reconnection.  Drawing students from across the country discussed how each school works to make Episcopal Relief & Development a common name on campus.  We explored how seminaries might be able to frame the work of Episcopal Relief & Development as ethics and christian formation case studies.  We even looked at how domestic disaster relief can be helped by seminarians in search of mission trips.

Behind all of these discussions was the underlying idea that these ideas should be implemented together.  If just one of our seminaries opts to have a social ethics class which is framed in public policy, there should be some recognition of this across the other schools.  If we want to have a domestic mission trip to a disaster area, it would be not only larger, but better to do it if multiple schools entered into the project together.

Some tangible outcomes of the weekend were a decision to take on two projects this spring.  First, a seminary devotional for the first week of Lent.  This week long daily devotional will be written, or produced by seminarians who are responding to the theme of relief and development.  The devotional will culminate in the second project, another multimedia endeavor that explores morning prayer in each seminary across the country - more details to come.



Empowering seminarians isn't hard.  Each seminary is a school full of leaders.  Sometimes learning to lead also requires that you take a deep breath and step away from the reigns.  This principle is also constituent with the fact that we must all recognize that when we work together our work is farther reaching and more productive.  These are the principles behind Episcopal Relief & Development and the principles that should drive seminary education across the nation today.  We are all working toward a greater good and we should bring our hands, heads and hearts together for that work.

-Jonathan Potter

2011 Seminary Network Meeting Day 1 - Austin

One of the areas of church engagement of Episcopal Relief & Development is their Abundant Life Garden Project.  Brian Sellers-Peterson uses this program to illustrate how much a community garden in America looks like a community garden in the developing world.  As a suggestion he told us that we could grow vegetables at every parish, convent, monastery, and seminary.  Even if these vegetables are grown in container gardens, it is still plausible that we could produce food.

Right now, CDSP is trying to re-imagine what community looks like, how we can make on campus student meals more affordable, and how to better use the physical resources and real estate.  It should be no surprise that I think we should frame these imaginings within a framework of incarnating our baptismal covenant through stewardship of the environment.  With that in mind I would ask CDSP doesn't dig up our the grass on campus?  Can't we rid ourselves of the lawnmowers and take up spades.  Why can't the community build itself around growing our life together through the soil.  We have the distinct pleasure of living an area where the weather is conducive to growing all year long.

Perhaps we can integrate the kitchen area, already present in the common area, into a sustainable cafe.  A business project that would draw people from the campus and neighborhood.  We can display our dedication to humanitarian work of environmental justice by using food grown on campus and locally, compostable flat ware, taking serious advantage of the resources that faith provides us in an immense love of food.  As an aside, even Texas A&M has a sustainable cafe - if the Texans can commit to that, why can't we in the heart of Berkeley commit to it?

Maybe it is time to make a radical change in how we imagine ourselves in community.  Cancel our contract with PSR food services and make it a student responsibility.  We could hire a full time gardener who can also provide permaculture education.  We could be a model of urban eco-justice work and provide more than just meeting and classroom space for the community.  We can provide insights into how our faith informs relationships with the environment and our neighbors.



We can even raise awareness of Episcopal Relief & Development by integrating their educational curriculum.  Is it that easy?  No, of course not.  However, I think the work is worth the effort.

-Jonathan Potter

Seminary Representative Visits Eco-Justice Immersion Leadership Conference

I love the opportunity to explain the work of Episcopal Relief & Development to my non-churchy friends. They are often surprised to hear a faith based organization mobilizes people within their local community to empower development around the world. I am often reminded of the bumper sticker: think globally, act locally. When Episcopal Relief & Development asked me, a seminary representative from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, to attend the Episcopal Leadership Institute's Eco-Justice Immersion I was excited but confused. I saw only a tenuous connection between international development and eco-justice.

The event drew participants from around the nation.
L-R, Leanne Gehrig, IL. Caleb Richmond, WA. Ashley
Graham-Wilcox, CA. Christy Dargas, AZ. Rick Richards, MA.

The realization that community gardens look the same in Honduras as in Huston was not lost on me. That, however, was not really the focus of the week. While, yes, it is important to recognize that, as Brian Sellers-Peterson says, all you need to know about the Christian faith you can learn from a garden, the event delved deeper. Local community is like a metaphor for events happening globally. The worker injustices that happen at home are often mirrored and amplified in developing countries. Ecological injustices found on American soil can often be seen in new and horrifying fashions overseas.

Speaking of eco-things, it is worth taking a moment to examine this as a paradigmatic term. The prefix eco- has come a long way since its origins. We now associate it with the Prius, Recovery Act job creation, and expensive household products. The Greek origin, oikos roughly means household or home. When we think of ecology or economy we are thinking of ways in which we relate to and structure home. In thinking of justice issues surrounding these eco- words we must both look outside and within ourselves to fully realize our connection with home; justice, then, emerges as the recognition that through our structure of oikos we are drawn into relationship with all creation.

Jessie Dye of Earth Ministries talking about advocacy

After the week of conversation, led by Mike Schut and Jason Sierra, both of the Episcopal Church Offices in Seattle, I gained not only a better understanding of how to relate to my local communities concerns but also how to recognize a need for radical change on a systemic level. Episcopal Relief & Development works much the same way: local community action based within a world of radical systemic change. Our relationship with home and our neighbors requires us to be responsible stewards of a global community. Theologian Cynthia Moe Lobeda suggests that in this time of ecological crisis that if we, as people of faith, find God in all things, are we crucifying him once again? I would suggest that recognizing the local injustice against our neighbor is the same as recognizing global injustice against our home.

ActOut Youth Event @ CDSP September 16-17, 2011

•  Spring 2012 Church Divinity School of the Pacific and Episcopal Relief & Development are excited to invite you to an overnight event.  
• An exciting opportunity to equip and empower young people to engage in the Church’s call to stand against hunger and poverty by exploring water cleanliness and sanitation on a global scale.  We will travel around the global communion as well as investigate what we can do to help from our own home.  This is an exciting chance for youth and youthful seminarians to share in a journey around the world and learn together.

• Spring 2012 at Church Divinity School of the Pacific
• An overnight event for 6-12th graders
• Sign-up by ... TBA!
• Starts at 7pm Friday
• Ends at 4pm Saturday
• Schedule for event
• Cost of Attendance, $25 
• Parishes will provide an adult for each five youth sent
• On site, “lock-in” style sleeping arrangements
• Bring a sleeping bag, appropriate sleeping attire, and comfortable clothes for Saturday
• Light evening snack provided Friday as well as breakfast and lunch on Saturday
• On Site Parking will be available
• Map location of CDSP  
• Parking lot entrance on LeConte side
• Event Poster
• For questions and more information contact:
• Jessica Abell (jabell@ses.cdsp.edu) 312-217-7558
• Lauren Lenoski (llenoski@ses.cdsp.edu) 480-204-1433

Want to register?

March 3rd Forum a Success!

I am pleased to announce that the March 3rd forum with former board member Carol Anne Brown was a successful exchange of ideas and information.  Following the CDSP Thursday evening community night Eucharist Hannah Cornthwaite and Carol Anne Brown facilitated a discussion revolving around bringing Episcopal Relief & Development back into the parish after leaving seminary.  The open discussion touched on aspects of constituent buy in, how Episcopal Relief & Development fits in with other NGO projects that parishes work with and much more.  Ideas and projects posited by Dean Mark Richardson and Senior Erin Kirby made for thought provoking ways to involve parish life more fully with the goal of Episcopal Relief & Development.

The short video below is only a snipped of the nearly hour of conversation and idea exchange.

I would like to extend thanks to all those who helped make this evening possible.  As well as a special thanks to Kristin Krantz of All Souls Parish, who preached at our community night eucharist, and Carol Anne Brown as well as Hannah Cornthwaite for putting together such a great discussion.

2011 Lenten Soup Dinner Series

I am excited to announce that we will, again, be doing the Lenten Soup Dinner series.  The theme for 2011 is eat, talk, connect.  We are hoping that you will take on the lenten practice of joining in community for a meal once a week.  All proceeds go directly to Episcopal Relief & Development.

Please RSVP by clicking here on the link on the left side of the page.  That way we can know how many people to expect.

Holiday Gift Cards

I am proud to announce that CDSP will be selling gift cards again this year in support of Episcopal Relief and Development. In years past we have supported the Nets for Life campaign, and this year the focus will be on clean water and health projects. The cards were designed for us by the wonderful Mrs. Natalie McGuire who has put together a lovely concept for us. In an effort to be better stewards of our environment we have decided to save paper by having post-cards made this year, no more envelope to throw out. Additionally we are experimenting this year with some online sales, and the online sales page can be found to the left - as yet the credit card processor is not set up, but all the information is there if you want to pre-order a card. Cards will be on hand at CDSP community nights and coffee hours starting November 18th.