[Episcopal Divinity School] Earlier this month the Rev. Thomas Eoyang, Jr. and the Rev.
Ada Wong Nagata joined the Episcopal Divinity School community as students in the Doctor of Ministry degree
program through a new partnership with Episcopal Asiamerican Ministries (EAM).
Professors Partrick S. Cheng (far left) and Professor Gale
Yee (far right) welcome the Rev. Thomas Eoyang, Jr. and the Rev. Ada Wong
Nagata to Episcopal Divinity School. Photo/EDS
This project is the result of several years of consultation
between EAM and EDS to develop a contextual, creative, and cost-effective
program in advanced pastoral studies and theological education that addresses
the needs of Episcopal Asian clergy serving in the United States, Episcopal Asian
American clergy, and clergy belonging to the Concordat and ecumenical partners
of the Episcopal Church. The program provides continuing theological education
that equips these individuals for effective leadership ministry through their
participation in the EDS DMin degree program.
EAM will help to recruit students to the program-who will
apply through the regular admissions process-and both EAM and EDS will provide
scholarships to support qualifying participants in the program.
According to the Rev. Dr. Winfred B. Vergara, missioner at
the Episcopal Asiamerica Ministry (EAM) Office of the Episcopal Church, “The
greatest challenge is the raising up of leadership for the next generation.
Both Peter Ng from the Partnership Office for Asia and the Pacific and I are
passionate about developing advanced pastoral studies which help Asian clergy
and lay leaders to become well-rounded working theologians in Asian American
churches and in the larger community. We want them to reconnect to Asian
cultural values and at the same time to minister in the context of
multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-racial America. We want them to become role
models and mentors of the leaders for the next generation.”
The Very Rev. Katherine Ragsdale, president and dean of EDS,
has made partnerships a centerpiece of her administration and strongly
advocated for this collaboration through which EDS is able to help meet some
very specific needs of the Episcopal Church.
“We are honored to have this opportunity to work with our
friends at Episcopal Asiamerica Ministries to provide relevant, effective, and
thoughtful theological education for today’s challenges,” said Ragsdale. “We
welcome Thomas and Ada to EDS and look forward to new students joining our
community through this partnership.”
One of the important attributes of the EDS DMin program is
that students do not need to leave their communities in order to enroll in the
program since it is built around two intensive residential terms, in January
and June, with online simulcast participation in fall and spring courses. EDS
is a leader in hybrid learning-integrating residential intensive studies with
online participation in ongoing courses offered on campus.
Dr. Kwok Pui Lan, William F. Cole Professor of Christian
Theology and Spirituality at EDS, and one of the principal architects of the
partnership shared her excitement that “[t]he EAM partnership enables Episcopal
Divinity School to explore ministry to the fastest growing racial group in the
United States and learn the rich cultures and vibrant church life of the Asian
American community. It will also help generate literature and research that are
culturally relevant and future-oriented for the upcoming generation of
Episcopal Asian American clergy and lay leaders.”
The Rev. Thomas Eoyang, Jr., who received his MDiv at EDS in
2003, was born in New York City as the youngest and only US-born child of a
family that had emigrated from China five years before his birth. He is
currently rector at Grace Epiphany Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and has
a very clear goal for his studies in the DMin program.
“I am interested in taking advantage of the exciting
opportunity offered by the partnership of the Episcopal Asiamerica Ministries
and Episcopal Divinity School to explore the cultural, spiritual, and
organizational experience of people of Chinese descent in the Episcopal Church
in the United States.”
And why EDS? Vergara replied, “We considered various
Episcopal seminaries to have this pilot project and decided on EDS because of
its sterling record on anti-racism training and because they have at least four
Asian faculty members. Asians are relational with regards to the educational
process and we think the presence of Asian faculty members help ensure deeper
reflection and ease in relationship. EDS is also well-equipped with technology
facilities for distance and distributive learning.”
“There is a deep spiritual yearning all over the church to
explore the heights and depths of diversity in all its protean forms and by
having a Doctor of Ministry course that welcomes and affirms Asian
contributions to American theological and pastoral life is a step in that
direction. We look forward to reading the dissertations of our EAM students in
the context of cross-cultural and intercultural studies,” Vergara added.
After the June term concluded, EDS Assistant Professor of
Historical and Systematic Theology the Rev. Dr. Patrick S. Cheng, said the
following: “It was a privilege to spend time with Ada and Thomas, our EAM
doctoral students, during the June term in the classroom, at worship in the
chapel, over dim sum in Boston’s Chinatown, and at the Episcopal Boston Chinese
Ministry. For me, the EAM partnership makes sense in light of EDS’s
long-standing commitment to racial justice and reconciliation, as well as to
cutting-edge theological and ethical reflection with respect to communities of
color. As one of the four Asian and Asian American faculty members at
EDS, I am delighted to have this opportunity to work with the national
leadership of EAM as well as Asian American Episcopal clergy in the coming
years.”
For information about this program, contact the admissions
office at admissions@eds.edu or The Rev. Dr. Winfred B. Vergara at EAM at
wvergara@episcopalchurch.org.
Episcopal Divinity School is a respected and progressive
center for study and spiritual formation for lay and ordained leaders located
in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Committed to a mission of social justice and
inclusive education and grounded in the Anglican tradition, EDS balances a respect
for the past with an orientation of innovation.
