A welcome from the Dean of Berkeley Divinity School, Rev. Andrew B. McGowan…
Welcome and greetings to incoming students from Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. BDS is the Anglican/Episcopal community within Yale Divinity School. Originally founded in Middletown, CT, BDS moved to New Haven in the 1920s, and has been working as part of Yale Divinity School since 1971.
As an accredited Episcopal seminary, our historic mission has been to form clergy and lay leaders for work in the Episcopal Church and the wider Anglican Communion. YDS students who are also members of Berkeley take part in a specific set of experiences inside and beside the curriculum to discern and prepare for their ministry. If you’re interested in knowing more about these possibilities, please feel free to contact Dean Cathy George.
Berkeley is also a resource for the wider Yale community regardless of affiliation or denomination, both in offering a pattern of prayer and worship in the Anglican tradition that is open to all, and in other specific programs in which all at YDS are invited to participate.
Morning Prayer (with Eucharist most days) takes place at the Berkeley Center at 363 Saint Ronan St (corner of Canner St, towards Whitney Ave) at 7:30am every Monday-Friday morning during term (8:00 during BTFO!), followed by coffee. Evening Prayer is offered on Mondays at 5:30pm. On Wednesday evenings at 6pm, BDS also has its Community Eucharist in Marquand Chapel, followed by a community meal at the Berkeley Center. A special version of this will be offered this BTFO; during the year the food is lovingly prepared by the group of Berkeley students living at the Center, and again, everyone is invited.
Berkeley also offers the Annand Program for Spiritual Formation, a School-wide program that provides spiritual direction for groups and individuals throughout the year. If you would like to be part of a group dedicated to spiritual discernment and mutual formation, are interested in retreats, or if you seek individual spiritual direction, then be sure to get involved—all these things can be invaluable. Coordinator, the Rev’d Lynda Tyson, and student worker Patrick Keyser can provide more information.
Last but not least, Berkeley offers the Education Leadership and Ministry program - ELM - which provides a certificate for those interested in school and other educational ministries. Mr Jere Wells, the Director, will be happy to answer questions about the ELM certificate and its components.
There are opportunities to take part or learn about all of these during BTFO. Berkeley’s offices are on the main Sterling Divinity Quadrangle, in the Bacon pavilion on the South side of the Quad. Feel free to drop by, introduce yourself, and learn more.
Dean Andrew McGowan