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Nine new students matriculate at Episcopal Divinity School
The students are enrolling in EDS' Master of Divinity degree program through the Distributive Learning option, which allows them to complete most of their course work during EDS' intensive January and June terms. This permits students to earn their degree without having to relocate to EDS' Cambridge, Massachusetts campus. The new students represent the Episcopal, Unitarian Universalist, United Church of Christ, and Metropolitan Community Churches.
Matriculation is a medieval academic ceremony which has its roots in the 12th and 13th century, when cathedrals and founding universities were becoming centers of education, debate, and discussion.
"The students of earlier centuries registered their names in ink in the scroll called the Matricula, which gave them the status of a student, much as the matriculating students at Episcopal Divinity School signed the official Matriculation Book, signifying their formal commitment to this present day matrix of learning," said the Rev. Dr. Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook, academic dean and Suzanne Radley Hiatt professor of Pastoral Theology and Church History.
In delivering the matriculation address, the Rev. Karen Montagno, dean of Students and Community Life, spoke of the call that brought these new students to the Episcopal Divinity School. "What we want you to consider this morning is one small word. It is a small word, but it is powerful. This small word is 'call'. It is the drum beat in your life that gets your attention. It follows you. It guides you. It is like a heartbeat. It will drive you. Call is the reason that we are all here. Each one of us is called by name. We are participating in this moment because each one of us is answering a call."
Montagno continued to reflect on three interpretations of the 'call', three forms in which we interpret this nagging feeling, this message that is felt "in our bones". She invited those in attendance to share their own experiences with and understanding of this word "call" in the Christian faith. In closing, she encouraged students to continue to reflect on and examine their own call, and how it will affect their time at EDS and later ministry. She ended asking the students to consider, "What does God want from you? How will you comply?"
EDS, formed in 1974 with the merger of Philadelphia Divinity School (founded in 1857) and the Episcopal Theological School (founded in 1867), is a respected center of study and spiritual formation for lay and ordained leaders with a strong commitment to justice, compassion, and reconciliation. It offers doctor of ministry and master's degrees, as well as certificates in theological studies.
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