Rule of Life

A RULE OF LIFE
FOR THE
BERKELEY DIVINITY SCHOOL AT YALE
 
CONTENTS
 
Preamble: On a Rule of Life in a Theological Seminary
 
 
Epilogue: On Living into the Rule of Life
Appendices
 
A. The Mission Statement of Berkeley Divinity School
 
B. The School Hymn
 
C. Policy on Non-discrimination
 
D. A Statement of the Board of Trustees on Theological Diversity
 
Summary
 
 
© The President and Trustees of Berkeley Divinity School, 2009
 
PREAMBLE:
On a Rule of Life in a Theological Seminary
 
Your hands have made me and fashioned me; 
give me understanding, that I may learn your commandments. (Ps. 119:73)
 
From the time of its founding in 1854, Berkeley Divinity School has embraced rigorous intellectual inquiry and deliberate spiritual formation as the core elements of its educational mission to form new priests and lay leadership for the church. Since 1971, the seminary has carried out this mission as an affiliate of Yale Divinity School, with all of the ecumenical breadth offered thereby, as well as the extraordinary educational resources of Yale University.
 
Given this rich and complex environment, the Dean encouraged students and faculty in the spring of 2008 to begin a series of conversations aimed at offering greater definition to the intellectual and spiritual patterns of life that shape the School’s work. As an affiliate of Yale Divinity School, Berkeley Divinity School has a distinctive opportunity to form students with the broadest possible knowledge of the Christian faith, while as a seminary of both the Episcopal Church and the wider Anglican Communion, it also grounds them deeply in their own ecclesial tradition. Moreover, the university setting affords the possibility for students to engage in a lively interaction with the world in which they are preparing to minister, making them especially articulate and compelling advocates for the gospel as well as effective leaders of the church’s various institutions.
 
The Rule of Life that follows is intended to give substance and shape to the fulfillment of these ambitions, not by establishing an inflexible regula, but rather by describing a normative pattern that can be adapted to individual circumstances as necessary. While this rule draws on the classic spiritual practices of the Christian tradition - especially the Benedictine life - the particular challenge for a seminary-based rule is to take into account both the diversity of our individual situations, as well as the very complexity of the university divinity school environment in which we live and work. This complexity mitigates against a fixed and uniform rule: what we seek instead is a set of guideposts that will foster a deepening sense of personal responsibility and maturation according to the particular Anglican ìpursuit of holinessî that will sustain students not only while they are in school, but also as they move into positions of pastoral leadership in the church. So like every aspect of seminary life, individual adaptation of what is contained in the rule must ultimately be shaped through oneís experience of life in the academic and spiritual dimensions of the community itself: through mentoring by faculty and other advisors, through mutual accountability to oneís peers, and in conversation with those to whom one is responsible in the church.
 
Because we consider the depth of the resources available to us through Yale University to be our most distinguishing characteristic as a seminary of the Episcopal Church, the rule deliberately embraces these resources the sine qua non of Berkeleyís particular pattern of forming priests and lay persons for leadership in today’s church, even while the School also maintains the essential contours of a traditional seminary formation. Each chapter of the rule holds up a particular element of the Schoolís Anglican Studies program, relating it first to a verse of the psalter (which not only forms the basis for our daily prayers, but also reminds us of the priority of scripture in the Anglican tradition, giving voice to the thirst for God which motivates the entire rule). The chapters go on to place the various topics in the context of the gospel imperatives which are their motivation; to the received wisdom of the spiritual fathers and mothers of the church; and to the concrete realities of the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale. Our indebtedness in these efforts to the recently revised rule of the Society of St. John the Evangelist (with whom the School has a close relationship) should be immediately apparent, but if it is not, then we wish to make explicit and grateful recognition of that fact here. 
 
To be considered a student of the Berkeley Divinity School (and therefore subject to this rule), a student must be a matriculated student at the Yale Divinity School or Institute of Sacred Music, and in addition be formally enrolled in either the Certificate or Diploma in Anglican Studies program. Enrollment in either of these programs is understood to be subscription to this rule, for the rule describes what Berkeley Divinity School understands authentic spiritual formation in an ìAnglican Studiesî program to be. In addition, the formal academic requirements of these programs are described in the Anglican Studies Advising Customary, which should be read in tandem with the Rule of Life. 
 
Other members of the YDS community are invited and welcome to participate in BDS activities (including Episcopalians who may have vocational interests not served by the Certificate or Diploma programs), but are not strictly speaking Berkeley students in the sense of being enrolled in its academic program. Yet while the rule is specifically intended to describe the ‘pattern of life of those who are formally part of the Berkeley Divinity School, it need not be unique to only that portion of Yale Divinity School, and other members of that wider community including faculty, staff, spouses and partners are invited to enter into the patterns of study and prayer to which the rule gives shape. This invitation is especially extended to participants in the Berkeley sponsored Educational Leadership and Ministry program who are not otherwise enrolled in Anglican Studies.
 
Finally, it is our hope that the Rule of Life will be useful not only for shaping the current life of the School, but also as a bond which will draw together alumni, trustees, and friends in a common commitment to the life in Christ.
 
18 October 2009
The Feast of St. Luke
New Haven, Connecticut
 
 
AnchorI.
 
OUR FOUNDERS AND SCHOOL IDENTITY
 
Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to another. (Ps. 90:1)
 
In founding the Berkeley Divinity School in Middletown, Connecticut, Bishop John Williams intended to establish ìa mediating seminary at a time of internal controversy in the Episcopal Church.î Moreover, in naming it for the eighteenth-century philosopher and bishop George Berkeley (whose vision it was to found a seminary in the ìNew Worldî), Bishop Williams intended to signify the School’s commitment to rigorous academic study as a cornerstone of ministerial formation. These intentions set in place a clear institutional identity for the seminary: it was not to be partisan in character, but to embrace and represent the whole spectrum of Anglican worship and theology. Our community life continues to be grounded in this comprehensive identity. 
 
Moreover, by adopting as its motto in illa quae ultra sunt (ìinto the regions beyondî [II Cor. 10:16]), the School set a mission-oriented course that has always drawn its faculty and students beyond the confines of the familiar and predictable into the daring and courageous. At its best, this liminality sets Berkeley Divinity School apart from the type of denominational seminary that is primarily focused on replicating a particular church’s institutional culture. Such a large-minded catholicity was especially characteristic of Dean William Ladd, for example, who moved the seminary to New Haven in 1928 to be near Yale University with the explicit purpose of exposing the students to the widest possible intellectual and personal formation.
 
The three trajectories of comprehensiveness, academic rigor, and engagement with the world established by such visionary leaders as Deans Williams and Ladd continue to shape the institutional life of the seminary. Unique among Episcopal seminaries because of its university affiliation, Berkeley Divinity School values the opportunity given to its students to enrich their experience through interaction with other professional schools and departments, even while going deeply into the traditional theological disciplines and the unique history and spirit of Anglicanism. 
 
Yet Berkeley Divinity School is also fundamentally a seminary, and so the classic concept of ìformationî for religious life lies at the heart of its mission. By formation, we mean a program of education and training which seeks to equip students not only with a body of knowledge and set of practical skills, but which also molds their personal character as it is shaped through their relationship to God. In this sense, formation turns one’s attention from a preoccupation with the self to a commitment to the other - first to the absolute otherness of God, and then to the impinging otherness of human beings, and indeed all of creation. It is here in a vocation to serve that our dual identities as both a professional school and seminary intersect: the practice of a professional vocation, like the practice of a religious calling, equally requires an absolute commitment to orient one’s life to the service to others. The cultivation of this orientation is a critical outcome of seminary education, and students should anticipate that they will be constantly challenged in this regard by their teachers, mentors and peers. We therefore understand formation to be something that can happen only in community, for it is there that we encounter not only the otherness of human beings different and distinct from ourselves, but also the radical mystery of God calling us into a life that is compatible with the divine presence.
 
As one of Yale University’s professional schools, the Divinity School has a mission of providing a specific course of instruction suitable to the task of educating future professional leaders for the church. Through its affiliation with Yale Divinity School, Berkeley Divinity School shares this identity, growing out of its own historical commitment to educate clergy and lay leadership for the church, and so expects from its students the requisite high quality of work, vocational commitment, and personal engagement appropriate to being professionals-in-training. As members of the Yale University community, students are expected as a part of their education to make full advantage of the curricular and other opportunities available, understanding themselves to be citizens not only of Berkeley and Yale Divinity Schools, but also of the wider university.
 
 
 
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II.
 
CORPORATE PRAYER
 
I was glad when they said to me, ìLet us go to the house of the Lord.î (Ps. 122:1)
 
The foundation of the seminary’s life is prayer. Prayer is what orients both the individual and community to God, and the knowledge of God is our common purpose and desire. It is out of an active awareness of God’s presence as experienced in prayer that every other aspect of the School’s life takes shape. Moreover, we understand our daily prayer together to be the cornerstone of personal and vocational integrity, for not only is such prayer enjoined upon us by the tradition of the Book of Common Prayer, but its practice gives credence to our promise to remember one another ìin our prayers.î
 
Setting this prayerful context for the community’s life and work is a task for which each and every member bears responsibility, and so the expectation for each student is daily attendance at worship. Individual circumstances such as family responsibilities or commuting from a distance may require a variety of patterns among the student body. Yet common worship is where we most overtly demonstrate our concern for community by holding one another in prayer, relying upon the Holy Spirit to establish those relationships of communion which are the defining characteristic of Christian life. Here also is where we are daily immersed in scripture so that our life becomes permeated by its witness to God’s love. Thus we cannot meaningfully speak of a commitment to ecclesial community without also implying a commitment to regular prayer in common.
 
The richness of worship offerings available at Yale Divinity School, however, also means that some balance must be struck. On one hand, Episcopal and Anglican students need to have the language of the Book of Common Prayer as their ìmother tongue,î regularly joining in the recitation of the Daily Office; yet we also encourage students to have the ecumenical worship of Yale Divinity School’s Marquand Chapel as a ìsecond language.î Students should seek the counsel of the Dean, Director of Studies, and other spiritual advisors in establishing a regular pattern of daily prayer which holds these opportunities in creative tension.
 
Historically, Berkeley Divinity School has partaken of a wide breadth of worship within the Anglican tradition, and has had no particular ìusageî which defines its own liturgical expression. This flexibility allows for a great deal of creativity and exploration, which will inevitably challenge the practices to which each of us has previously been accustomed. We enter into this diversity of experience with open minds and hearts, however, and in a divinity school environment we should also be ready and eager to receive constructive assessment and critique of our own efforts in liturgical leadership. We regard the freedom to explore both traditional and emerging forms of worship as an opportunity to hold what might be called a workshop on the future of the church, more than a retrospective on its past, and we value this broadening experience as an important preparation for the effective proclamation of the gospel. 
The discipline of daily corporate prayer is also significant to a seminary community because of the way in which it shapes the sense of professional accountability and responsibility as we fulfill the various liturgical duties to which we are assigned. To be appointed as a worship leader of any sort is a sacred responsibility, and therefore it is not to be overlooked, forgotten, or left unfulfilled. 
 
Moreover, corporate prayer is the context in which we hear the gospel preached, and where we as students of the gospel refine our own homiletical skills. We believe therefore that hearing one another preach, and offering comment, critique and encouragement, is a responsibility which each of us bears in the joint project of preparation for ministry. Indeed, this dedication to good preaching has long been a part of the School’s ethos, and represents one of the fruits of all our other efforts in study and prayer. 
 
Finally, we fervently hope, for the good of the church, that our commitment to the principle of daily prayer will extend beyond the seminary boundaries to the parishes, schools and other institutions where our graduates serve. We understand seminary to be a place for fostering habits of heart and mind that are not isolated to its own particular life, but form the foundation for a lifetime of service in the church. 
 
Given our commitment to prayer in community, we affirm that the normative pattern for each member of the School is daily, public, corporate prayer, with a predominance of that in the Anglican tradition. At the same time, we fully embrace the ecumenical community to which we also belong, and encourage student and faculty participation in the variety of worship offerings it provides. In Berkeley’s own chapel services, the community embraces a wide spectrum of liturgical practices and traditions, and self-consciously seeks to incorporate emerging patterns of worship within an authentic Anglican voice.
 
 
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III.
 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST
 
We give you thanks, O God, we give you thanks;
calling upon your Name and declaring all your wonderful deeds. (Ps. 75:1)
 
Unique among the denominational groups at Yale Divinity School, the Berkeley community maintains daily celebration of the Holy Eucharist as the keystone of its spiritual life. Though many patterns of Eucharistic devotion exist across the Christian tradition (and even within Anglicanism), Berkeley Divinity School has for many years valued the daily celebration of Christ’s sacramental presence as vital to the sustenance of effective ministry in the church. While a eucharistically-centered life is characteristic of Anglican spirituality in general, for those who are preparing for priestly ministry a close connection to the Eucharist is especially formative of their vocational identity. Moreover, this pattern is reflective of our intent to form in all students an intense and personal commitment to the life in Christ as the bedrock of any meaningful ministry in the church. In times of controversy within the church, the daily celebration of the Eucharist reaffirms the relationships of communion that transcend whatever partisan issues threaten to divide us. 
 
Given the variety of worship services at Yale Divinity School, it may not be feasible for every student to participate daily in the Holy Eucharist and also in other ecumenical worship, yet we should all be aware of this underlying rhythm of sacramental worship. Moreover, when the Berkeley Divinity School commitment to daily Eucharist intersects with community celebrations of the Eucharist at Yale Divinity School, it is our practice to defer to the larger community with the intention of affirming our commitment to the Christian unity for which Jesus himself prayed. As a part of this commitment to the ecumenical life of the Sterling Divinity Quadrangle, it is the custom of Berkeley students and faculty to hold in abeyance any reservation that might represent our church’s official position about the full validity of some such celebrations. We are therefore able to enter into these services joyfully, expectantly, and whole-heartedly, and to receive gratefully the grace that our Lord offers to us therein.
 
The heart of Berkeley Divinity School’s worship life is daily celebration of the Eucharist, culminating in the weekly Community Eucharist. Unless otherwise prevented, every student is expected to be present at this service, joining in this communal ‘sabbath’ of worship and the gathering for fellowship thereafter. It is also our joy to be full participants in the sacraments as they are celebrated at Yale Divinity School, learning from these diverse expressions of Christian worship. 
 
 
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IV.
 
SPIRITUAL FORMATION AND INDIVIDUAL PRAYER
 
For God alone my soul in silence waits; from him comes my salvation. (Ps. 62:1)
 
In a seminary context, attention to the spiritual life is best understood as the corollary to formal academic study. We understand the two to be reinforcing of one another: it is through our love of God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - that our minds are prepared to enter more deeply into the knowledge of God, and it is only by the intellectual discipline of study and reflection that our thinking is sufficiently enlarged to enter into the ineffable mystery of God more fully.
 
As described in Chapters II and III, the core of spiritual formation at Berkeley Divinity School is daily, public, corporate prayer and celebration of the Eucharist. The seminary’s spiritual life radiates out from these foundational experiences to other formative programs such as individual and small group spiritual direction, class retreats, house churches, and quiet days. These programs are offered with the express intention that students should have prayerful, reflective opportunities to ponder and incorporate their other learning and experience as seminarians into their spiritual life. 
 
Through the Annand Program for Spiritual Formation, we are committed to providing every student with a spiritual director to serve as a mentor in the development of his or her life of prayer, spiritual maturity, and vocational discernment. These mentors are drawn from a variety of denominational and professional contexts, and are not part of any assessment of students’ preparedness for ministry. In regular meetings, mentor and student listen together for the Spirit in the student’s life and faith journey.
 
Within the context of private reflection and prayer we come to recognize both our spiritual gifts and failings. It is especially incumbent upon persons charged with leadership roles in the church to develop relationships and structures for honest self-reflection - such as private confession, spiritual direction and consultation - as ways of upholding the spirit of servanthood which undergirds all Christian ministry. 
 
Periods of both individual and group retreat can be especially conducive to this type of deep spiritual recollection. When taken in monastic settings, these retreats also help to enliven students’ awareness of the great spiritual traditions to which we are all heir. To that end, the School offers a variety of retreats and quiet days - including a required annual class retreat - in which each student should eagerly participate as a key element in his or her own spiritual development. Students are also encouraged to make their own private retreats in monastic settings with the School’s financial support. 
 
The spiritual life is ultimately dependent upon private prayer and other personal spiritual disciplines, and each member of the community should be committed to some pattern of individual devotion that can provide the sustenance that is needed for a deep interior life. In this regard, reading in the classic texts of Christian spirituality is an important part of personal spiritual growth and development, and students should work toward a connection with these authors that makes them seem like close spiritual friends. While no one formula can fit the variety of individuals in the seminary, each person should find (perhaps with guidance from a spiritual director) regular opportunity for private meditation and study, building a pattern that can sustain them not only while in seminary but in future ministry as well. With this goal in mind, students are urged to consider establishing a relationship with some monastic order as means of securing long-term stability and focus for their life of prayer.
 
Because we understand study and prayer to be inextricably intertwined in our efforts to know God more truly, spiritual formation is foundational to Berkeley Divinity School’s educational mission. Each student is expected to be in some form of spiritual direction, developing the qualities of interiority that come from an established pattern of private prayer and self-reflection. Students also participate in an annual class retreat sponsored by the School, and are encouraged to make advantage of other offerings such as quiet days, house churches, and prayer groups. Likewise, they would do well to begin forming a network of spiritual resources and mentors to help sustain their spiritual life once they graduate.
 
 
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V.
 
ACADEMIC LIFE AND INTELLECTUAL INTEGRITY
 
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
those who act accordingly have a good understanding;
his praise endures for ever. (Ps. 111:10)
 
Unlike a parish church, Berkeley Divinity School is fundamentally an educational institution with all of the standards for individual performance and assessment implied thereby. As a seminary, it is closely related to the ecclesial life of the church, but it does not function as, nor can it fulfill students’ need for, a church community. Valuing the importance of an educated leadership for the church as critical to the proclamation of the gospel, Berkeley understands academic life to be integral to the training of effective ecclesial leaders. We work from the assumption that in every class, from the most practical to the most theoretical, one is engaged in the pursuit of the knowledge of God, seeking above all ‘to understand God more truly’ (as one faculty member once put it).* Reading, study, and the preparation of papers and exams should therefore be regarded as a great gift for learning, and at all times the question to be held in mind is this: how does what we are learning at this moment draw us more deeply into the mystery of God and prepare us more ably to speak of God to others?
 
As an affiliate of Yale University, Berkeley Divinity School adheres strictly to the established policies related to intellectual honesty and academic integrity. Moreover, Berkeley’s Anglican heritage makes it especially amenable to the university’s explicit defense of an environment of free speech and inquiry. As affirmed by the Board of Trustees, and consonant with its mission and history, Berkeley Divinity School is a seminary where a wide range of theological and liturgical perspectives within the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion can be expressed, studied, and debated in a community committed to faithful intellectual inquiry and mutual respect. We rejoice in our call to be a community in which all students, faculty and other members can explore and express their respective, and sometimes divergent, opinions and beliefs regarding the issues and debates of the day. In this regard, the School bears witness to the whole university of the distinctive Anglican tradition of reasoned reflection within the faith as we have received it through the English experience.
 
The ethos of comprehensiveness permeates the classroom in particular, where the teaching of worship, history and theology is done with an appreciation for the divergences of opinion and practice which have characterized Anglicanism from its beginnings. Indeed, a valued ability for students and faculty alike is to be able to give accurate and appreciative articulation of other points of view before stating one’s own, much like the pattern of the medieval disputation.
 
Within the curriculum of the academic degree programs, it is the commitment of Berkeley Divinity School that its students should pursue as broad and rigorous a program as possible. This means, for example, the encouragement to study biblical languages; to seek out internships that are as broadening of previous experiences as possible; to take courses in other schools and departments of the university; and to study broadly each of the foundational theological disciplines (equivalent to the Episcopal Church’s own canonical requirements) as described in the School’s Advising Customary. Given the opportunities for learning outside the classroom at Yale, students will make fullest advantage of being part of the university by seeking out lectures, exhibitions, cultural events, and faculty contacts that can enrich the divinity school curriculum and experience. 
 
As an educational institution, Berkeley Divinity School embraces the academic life as a gift through which we come to know God more truly. Students and faculty alike are called upon to maintain not only an ethos of the highest intellectual honesty, but also the spirit of forbearance and respect in word and deed that is especially characteristic of Anglicanism’s own tradition of reasoned reflection. Both students and faculty should feel free to assert their own perspectives and convictions energetically, but also be equally ready to hear, receive and evaluate the perspectives and convictions of others. In charting a course of study, students should strive to utilize the opportunities available to them throughout the university to the fullest extent possible.
 
 
 
* David Kelsey, To Understand God Truly: What’s Theological About a Theological School (Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992).
 
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VI.
 
PERSONAL CHARACTER AND RELATIONSHIPS
 
Set a watch before my mouth, O Lord, and guard the door of my lips;
let not my heart incline to any evil thing. (Ps. 141:3)
 
Recognizing our responsibility as a seminary to inculcate the highest standards of personal behavior in future generations of church leaders, we are committed to modeling by our own community those patterns of holiness, honesty, forthrightness, healthful living, integrity, and restraint that should characterize any Christian ministry.
 
Even as a community of persons closely related to one another by context and vocational intention, it is important to maintain a respect for one another’s rightful privacy and individuality. We specifically expect appropriate confidentiality to be kept around issues not suitable for public discussion, but also expect individuals to take responsibility for the opinions and criticisms they put forward by not invoking an artificial and obstructive claim of confidentiality. As a group of individuals in collegial relationships, we encourage appropriate concern and care for one another, but also discourage intrusive curiosity and gossip. In particular, we urge caution and restraint in using electronic communications, given the distortion and potential for hurt to which these forms lend themselves. 
 
Establishing the critically important patterns of self-care and wellness is a significant dimension to professional training, especially given the expectation that religious leaders will model wholesome living for the communities in which they serve. Regular exercise, moderate consumption of food and drink, and other healthful living habits should therefore be a part of each person’s daily routine. While the School can offer necessary advising and mentoring within its educational program, students must also take responsibility for their own care by making use of the myriad resources available to them throughout the university for aesthetic inspiration, counseling, health care, physical exercise, and recreation. 
 
As with academic integrity, the School’s expectations regarding interpersonal relationships are governed by the policies and procedures of Yale Divinity School and the wider university, especially policies against any kind of discrimination. As a Christian institution, however, the School also affirms the wholeness of relationships that are governed by the principles of mutuality and sacrificial love. Within the student body, there will necessarily be a variety of relationships and sexual orientations represented, with some married students, some parents, some single students, and some in long-term partnerships. In all cases, we seek to encourage a spirit of stability and steadfastness, which is the foundation not only for successful relationships, but for a godly flourishing in every aspect of our human life.
 
 
Healthful living habits, personal integrity, and respectful, supportive relationships with one’s peers and family are expected of every member of the community. The School seeks to facilitate these practices, but also places the duty upon each individual to take responsibility in a mature way for his or her own conduct and well-being, making advantage of the myriad resources available throughout the university. 
 
 
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VII.
 
LIFE IN COMMUNITY
 
Unless the Lord builds the house, their labor is in vain who build it. (Ps. 127:1)
 
Those who are part of Berkeley Divinity School have both the privilege and the challenge of being members of several overlapping communities at once. On one hand, they are a part of a specific denominational seminary, but they are also members of the ecumenical Yale Divinity School, as well as the extraordinarily diverse community of Yale University. As residents of New Haven (and other towns), faculty and students are also citizens of civic communities that have a particular claim upon their attention and involvement. Moreover, while the School is most directly related to The Episcopal Church in the United States, it is also a part of the global Anglican Communion and thus inextricably related to all of the contrasting cultural settings where Anglicanism is found. 
 
We understand ‘community life’ to incorporate all of these dimensions, and therefore realize that each of us will be pulled in many directions at once. The consequence of this multiplicity is that none of us can look to Berkeley Divinity School or even Yale Divinity School to be the sole source of our communal identity, but must rather learn to take that identity from several interlocking sources. Yet to be a member of the Berkeley community implies certain commitments and values held in common (as defined in this rule) that are distinctive within these other contexts. We regard this situation as a strongly positive dimension of our life together, for we believe that it most fully prepares us as Anglicans for the complex realities of ministry in a secularized, pluralistic world - and even for the contemporary reality of life in the church which is far less segregated into distinct denominational groups than it once was.
 
In regards to our specific involvement in the Berkeley Divinity School community, we are aware that we are bound together in a relationship of communion both by our baptismal identity and our Anglican heritage. While this is most fully embodied in our Eucharistic fellowship, we are also mutually committed to be active participants in those social and educational events that form the core of our distinctive association with one another as Anglican and Episcopal members of Yale Divinity School. While not every student will be able to attend every scheduled event, regular attendance at these occasions is at the heart of what it means to be enrolled in the Anglican Studies program. In order for such participation to be meaningful, it necessarily requires attention, and so we must each learn to reserve time for one another that is not hurried or rushed, but deliberate and intentional. In this regard, we are also committed to a deliberate forthrightness in the commitments we make, enabling others to count on our word as ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’ (Matt. 5:37). 
 
The Berkeley Divinity School community carefully resists any tendency toward exclusivity, welcoming guests as a matter of custom and expectation to its worship and social events. We also seek to invite a wide diversity of visitors to the seminary as speakers, preachers, and celebrants. The spirit of inclusion and forbearance which this intention deliberately seeks to foster is something for which each member of the community bears responsibility. The embrace of persons and traditions different from our own is made especially manifest in the close friendship we have with those colleagues who are members of ecclesial bodies with which the Episcopal Church shares close ecumenical relationships or even full communion, in particular the United Methodist Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
 
Berkeley Divinity School is also keenly aware of the role our community life has in shaping our way of living in relationship to the rest of creation. Habits of sustainable environmental stewardship can be modeled and integrated into our lives in seminary as we seek to learn together how to place less stress on a fragile planet by our patterns of consumption. As part of formation for ministry, these experiences can serve as effective practices for the parish, school and other organizations our graduates go on to serve.
 
Students, faculty and staff alike at Berkeley Divinity School are active participants in communal and social events at the School, yet are also part of activities and associations in the larger contexts of the Divinity School, Yale University, and the city of New Haven. Each member of the School is asked to contribute actively to fostering a rich sense of community, founded in our common pursuit of the Christian life, and to embodying the values of hospitality, forbearance, intellectual curiosity, sustainable living and charitable fellowship that the School seeks to promote. 
 
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VIII.
 
MISSION AND SERVICE
 
The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
the world and all who dwell therein. (Ps. 24:1)
 
We are mindful of the fact that as members of the Yale University community, we live and work in one of the most privileged institutions in the world. Yet ironically, as residents of New Haven we also live in one of the poorest communities in the nation. The ‘Great Commission’ reminds us that through Jesus Christ, we are called in every time and place, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to participate in God’s mission ‘of reconciling all people to God and to one another.’ So while much of the seminary experience is spent in inward growth and exploration, we are also called to make becoming more aware of our Christian duty to respond to the spiritual and material needs of others a part of our personal spiritual transformation. 
 
Mindful of the particular urban setting in which we live and work, therefore, and of the responsibility to train future leaders of our own denomination in the use of its human and financial resources to ameliorate the needs of others, Berkeley Divinity School is committed to engaging in practical, concrete ministries of service in the city. Following the lead of many other parts of the University, this commitment reflects a long tradition at the School of concern for social justice issues, however variously those may be understood in the diversity of perspective represented by the student body and faculty.
 
We are also aware, however, that in a globalized society, the world is at our doorstep. Nowhere is this more apparent than in our relations with fellow Anglicans throughout the Communion. These relationships must stretch across the cultural and economic divides that sometimes strain our ability to recognize faithful patterns of Christian living in other contexts, much less understand fully other Anglicans’ experience and perspective. Cognizant of the unity into which we are called by God, however, we commit ourselves to the principle that each student should serve if possible in some global context during seminary as a vital step toward learning to build bridges across the divides that sometimes separate us. While the School can facilitate and sponsor many such exchanges, a burden also rests upon each individual student to seek out and plan such cross-cultural exchange and service opportunities.
 
The School envisions that as a part of students’ formation, they will take part in some social outreach ministry, with a particular emphasis on the urban environment in which we live and work. In addition, students should make every effort to participate in global exchange programs, mission trips, and international study, making advantage when possible of the School’s own network of connections and resources.
 
 
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IX.
 
RECONCILIATION
 
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. (Ps. 51:11)
 
Berkeley Divinity School is a designated center of the Community of the Cross of Nails, centered at Coventry Cathedral, and so prays each Friday the Litany of Reconciliation as designated by that fellowship. This continual awareness of the consequences of the violence that destroys human freedom and dignity calls us into a deep contemplation of the work of reconciliation wrought for us by Christ on the cross, which it is now our task to embody in the world. 
 
Our commitment to reconciliation, however, must go beyond a generalized desire for peace and justice, to a concrete realization of it in the health and well-being of our own community. Of particular importance is a recognition that Christ calls whom he will into the community, and so it is our mutual obligation to one another to accept both the strengths and weaknesses of each person, even while seeking to grow together in maturity and faithfulness. In this respect, each member of the community must be regarded as a full equal, without regard for age, background, personality, individual piety, or other personal characteristic.
 
Since conflict and disagreement are inevitable in any community, and by definition are an integral part of an academic environment, we must be reticent to take offense at what others say or do even when we might have personally chosen different words or actions. While we strive in all things not to give offense, the unreserved expression of offense can have the undesirable effect of silencing discussion and blocking authentic reconciliation. As we are reminded by the Litany of Reconciliation, ìBe kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.î
 
When serious conflicts do arise, however, recognition and understanding of the unique experience of others is vital to the implementation of any process of reconciliation. Scripture enjoins upon us the importance of resolving interpersonal conflicts, advising direct conversation as the first recourse. In such moments, the pattern of sincere repentance and genuine forgiveness modeled in the rite of reconciliation naturally pertains. Should such conflicts not thereby be resolved, however, the Dean or Director of Studies should be consulted so that disagreements not spiral downward into animosity or unresolved grievances. As appropriate, opportunities for private, small group, or community discussions may be advisable as a means of achieving understanding, forgiveness, and restoration. 
 
Identifying with communities of reconciliation around the world, Berkeley Divinity School places a high priority on the health of the seminary community as an instantiation of Christ’s reconciling work among all people. As we seek to live into the demands of the gospel, we embrace our differences as creative and valuable rather than confrontational and divisive. Authentic disagreement is encouraged, and individuals should be slow to take offense at what others may say or do in good faith. Disagreements should be addressed openly and forthrightly, and differences of experience and perception respected. More personal conflicts should be resolved directly between those involved, or if necessary with appropriate mediation and discussion. 
 
Anchor
X.
 
VOCATION AND LEADERSHIP
 
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your Name give glory;
because of your love and because of your faithfulness. (Ps. 115:1)
 
Vocation - God’s call to us to become fully who we were created to be through our life’s work and relationships - is something common to all people. The question is not whether one has a vocation, but rather which vocation it is ours to pursue. Seminary is a time both to explore and to prepare for a variety of vocations that are specific to the church, whether those vocations are exercised in congregations, hospitals, schools, colleges and universities, or other institutions and ministries. In the process of vocational exploration, we understand a sign that an individual may be called to a specific vocation to be a desire and enthusiasm for doing the work that such a vocation implies. 
 
If, for example, one senses a priestly vocation, one should naturally be inclined toward and find a profound joy in the disciplines of daily corporate prayer, the challenge of articulate preaching and teaching, the task of pastoral care and of institutional leadership, and the focused practice of sacramental worship. For such a priestly vocation to mature, an individual must make the transition from a focus on how one’s own spiritual journey is sustained, to a realization that one has become responsible for sustaining in love the spiritual life of the ecclesial community as a whole. Berkeley Divinity School understands its mission as largely focused on helping students to make this very transition, fully realizing that students may experience this process as disorienting and not fulfilling of their personal ‘needs.’ This orientation toward servanthood is a process which happens through the very formative elements described in this rule: disciplined prayer and worship, communal commitments, attentive study, and reflective evaluation.
 
Moreover, the call to leadership extended to each Berkeley student is to understand him or herself as having a leadership role not only within a local congregation or other ministry, but in society at large. We believe that religious leaders must have a voice in the public square, and therefore need to be conversant with the worlds of politics, business, and the arts. To this end, the School seeks to offer students constant opportunities to encounter religious and other leaders, advocating that students integrate these experiences into their own capacity for leadership throughout their seminary career. 
 
The School endeavors to enable students to find and develop within a sense of vocation their own capacity for leadership, both in church and society, and urges them to make formation for leadership a central goal of their seminary education. Similarly, students should expect that a central challenge of their theological education will be making the vocational transition from a concern for one’s own needs to an awareness of what one is called to do and to be as a servant leader on behalf of the Christian community. 
 
 
Anchor
XI.
 
EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT
 
For you, O God, have proved us; you have tried us just as silver is tried. (Ps. 66)
 
Both the church and the School’s formal accrediting bodies expect that evaluation and assessment of students should be an on-going and integral part of theological education. The seminary takes seriously this responsibility to monitor and evaluate students’ progress, and to make appropriate recommendations as required. We understand these processes to be more than a simple judgment upon students’ readiness for ministry, but also as an important opportunity for fostering personal growth and discovery, cultivating each individual’s unique gifts and abilities. 
 
Assessment is not based upon any one set of standards, but rather is a comprehensive look at what a student has achieved academically; their faithfulness in living into the spirit of this rule; the maturity of their interpersonal interactions and relationships; and their overall contribution to the life of the community. Students should not, therefore, feel anxious that they will be judged either positively or negatively for a particular opinion held or style of worship practice: rather, it is the manner in which one conducts oneself and the degree of awareness of its impact upon the community that is most significant.
 
As a laboratory for future ministry, the seminary must be an environment in which there is a constant drive to sharpen and improve one’s own skills, both through self-reflection and outside evaluation. As a matter of policy, the School does not teach to any one standard, such as the General Ordination Examination of the Episcopal Church, but seeks to deliver a wide-ranging formation for ministry that emphasizes freedom for students to pursue their own passions. This freedom requires a personal maturity and self-motivation, and also requires an atmosphere of regular comment and critique, freely given and willingly received. While such comment should be charitable and constructive, no one should be surprised or off-put that their preaching, liturgical leadership, academic writing, or any other activity is carefully reviewed and evaluated. 
 
In a professional school environment, students should expect regular critique and evaluation. Students are asked to enter into the School’s processes for assessment with a desire to learn, and to fulfill their responsibilities in these processes willingly and enthusiastically. Moreover, within the relatively open curriculum of Yale Divinity School, students themselves must take responsibility - with the guidance of their academic advisor and the Director of Studies - for charting an ambitious, challenging, and substantive course of study. 
 
 
 
Anchor
XII.
 
FROM SEMINARY TO THE REGIONS BEYOND
 
Your love, O Lord, for ever will I sing;
from age to age my mouth will proclaim your faithfulness.
For I am persuaded that your love is established for ever;
you have set your faithfulness firmly in the heavens. (Ps. 89:1-2)
 
The celebration of the Eucharist is built around a circle of giving and receiving, through which the gift of grace is communicated and our thanks returned. Out of the Eucharistic fellowship that is created during seminary, a spirit of friendship and collegiality emerges among students that can constitute a network of support and encouragement throughout their life. Graduates of Berkeley Divinity School have historically been especially inclined to maintain close ties with one another, and this is a custom that the School celebrates and encourages. 
 
The maintenance of such ties among alumni is especially important because of the great stresses of ministry, particularly for those just making the transition from seminary into their first call. Thus, through its Graduate Society, the School seeks to connect recent graduates with local alumni who can be mentors in the transition years. Moreover, through its graduates the seminary exerts a significant leadership role in the Episcopal Church, which these connections are meant to promote and sustain.
 
To exercise leadership in the church necessarily includes modeling a lifestyle of generosity and gratitude. We trust that this pattern will be reflected in graduates’ on-going relationship with the School, and we invite alumni to intersect with the life of the seminary in six specific ways. 
 
First, graduates are invited to carry the patterns established by this rule beyond the seminary to wherever they are called to serve. While some sections naturally apply only in the seminary environment, others may serve as a stimulus and resource for the Christian life in community in other contexts.
 
Second, to support its graduates the School offers both opportunities for continuing education and for renewing seminary friendships at reunions. These occasions are intended to be a regular part of graduates’ professional life, upholding and amplifying their ministry. Alumni are warmly invited to participate regularly in these opportunities, especially the annual alumni Convocation.
 
Third, Berkeley Divinity School depends upon the financial support of its graduates and their respective congregations and other institutions, receiving no tuition income from its students. An annual theological education gift to the seminary from parishes throughout the church is its very lifeblood (defined by General Convention as 1% of a parish’s operating income), and we ask alumni to facilitate such a gift wherever they serve. In addition, an annual personal gift to the School is a strong affirmation of the sense of gratitude that ought to characterize Christian living.
 
Fourth, every institution relies upon the legacy bequeathed from one generation to another, both in terms of vision and support. We invite every graduate therefore to consider becoming a member of the Bishop Berkeley Society by including the seminary in his or her will or other estate plans, thereby making an effectual sign of a long-term loyalty to its mission. 
 
Fifth, the School needs its graduates to be its representatives in the church, encouraging promising prospective students to apply for admission, and advocating for the School with bishops, commissions on ministry, and other persons in leadership positions.
 
Finally, the School’s ongoing vitality is strongly supported by the participation of its alumni in its own governance structures, including the Graduate Society, National Advisory Council, and Board of Trustees. It is our hope that graduates will consider serving as a part of one or more of these bodies, helping to provide for the support of the School and to relate its theological education program to the on-going life of the institutions and ministries in which they serve. 
 
The patterns established by this rule are offered to graduates of the School as a stimulus and resource to support their life in community wherever they may be called to serve. Through regular continuing education offerings and reunion gatherings, graduates of the School are invited to continue learning from the friendships begun during seminary. Alumni are also asked, as an act of gratitude, to be financially supportive of Berkeley Divinity School both individually and through the institutions they serve. Moreover, the School relies upon its graduates to be its strongest advocates in the church, and welcomes their continued involvement as members of its various governance structures. 
 
EPILOGUE:
On Living into the Rule of Life
 
 
This Rule of Life, having received input from many constituencies as well as the endorsement of the Board of Trustees, now forms the basis for the common life of the entire Berkeley Divinity School community. It thereby establishes a part of the context in which the evaluation and assessment of each student’s preparedness for ministry takes place. In this regard, while the rule is most directly applicable to expectations the School has of students, it also shapes the contours by which faculty, staff, alumni and friends relate to the Berkeley community. 
 
To integrate the rule into the daily life of the seminary, there will be a regular pattern of reading and reflection on the document in colloquia, chapel, retreats, and community conversations. Individual reading and meditation on the text is also suggested as a valuable way of integrating its meaning into the intellectual and spiritual life of the seminary.
 
Not intended as a fixed or static document, the Rule of Life is open to on-going discussion, exploration and revision as times and circumstances suggest. In fact, following the Benedictine model, the rule seeks to facilitate what Benedict himself understood as the continual act of listening for God in one another’s individual experience, heeding the urgent desire expressed in one of Morning Prayer’s invitatory psalms: ìOh, that today [we] would hearken to God’s voice!î (The Venite, Psalm 95). As the School evolves, therefore, the Dean may find it advisable from time to time to propose revisions of the document, in conversation with the wider Berkeley community
 
As is the case with any communal ideal, we fully expect that as a community and as individuals we will fall short of what this rule invites us to do and to be. We trust that it makes adequate acknowledgement of the need for reconciliation and renewal in such times. Yet we also know that the pursuit of holiness is more easily done in community than as isolated individuals, for the church as the body of Christ is able to compensate for our own lapses through the longer tradition of its own faith and prayer. Following from that conviction, the ultimate intent of the pattern of life described in these chapters is to enable the cultivation of a disposition toward godliness that will equip each of us, trusting in the mercies of God, for the service of Christ in the world as we are empowered by the Holy Spirit. 
 
May the Lord who has given us the will to do these things,
give us the grace and power to perform them.
 
APPENDICES
 
 
A. MISSION STATEMENT of the BERKELEY DIVINITY SCHOOL at YALE
 
As a seminary of the Episcopal Church, Berkeley Divinity School’s mission is to inspire in its students the depth of personal character, the committed love and knowledge of God, and the vocational ability to serve as faithful and imaginative leaders and educators (lay and ordained) in the church. Its Episcopal identity within an ecumenical divinity school, at the heart of a great secular university, uniquely calls it to this ministry of leadership formation. We believe the exercise of this gift and the capacities it develops in Berkeley’s graduates are crucial to the future mission of the Episcopal Church as it affirms its unity within the Anglican Communion, and enhances its distinctive expression of the Christian faith in contemporary American and global society. Berkeley provides this formation in six essential ways:
 
1. Daily communal worship according to the Book of Common Prayer.
2. A program of theological study shaped by traditions of Anglican Christianity.
3. Attention to the development of the spiritual life through the Annand Program in Spiritual Formation.
4. Supervised ministry in local parishes and other religious settings, as well as Clinical Pastoral Education.
5. Colloquia focused on the acquisition of the necessary vocational skills for the practice of ministry.
6. Continuing education specializing in leadership development.
 
Adopted by the Berkeley Divinity School Board of Trustees, July 2004, as part of ‘Going Beyond,’ its strategic long-range plan.
 
B. THE SCHOOL HYMN
 
Come, Holy Spirit, by whose grace
this school each day has run its race,
and make us, with your gifts outpoured,
a temple of the risen Lord;
where prayer and praise alike ring true,
and bread and wine make all things new.
 
Come, Source of wisdom and of light,
and fill our studies with delight;
as searching minds the truth discern,
may all for that blest outcome yearn
where faith and reason both believe
the one true God our minds perceive.
 
 
Come, gracious Advocate and Friend,
whose patience knows no bounds, no end,
and train us with humility 
to share in Christ’s own ministry
where love and mercy stand revealed, 
and all life’s griefs and pains are healed.
 
Come, Pentecostal Fire of old,
and make this timid flock so bold
that lips and lives will speed the birth
of a renewed and hallowed earth
where peace and justice, long foretold,
the dignity of all uphold.
 
Come, Holy Spirit, be our guide
and for our daily needs provide;
like those before, may we respond
and seek the realms which lie beyond
where hope and promise meet at last
to seal with joy a treasured past.
 
 
The School Hymn was written for Berkeley’s Sesquicentennial in 2004, with words by Bishop Jeffery Rowthorn ‘87 DD, Associate Professor (Adjunct) of Pastoral Theology and Worship, and music by Alan Murchie ‘07. In the final stanza, line four recalls the school motto, In illa quae ultra sunt (into the regions beyond).
 
C. POLICY ON NON-DISCRIMINATION
 
The School does have as its policy, and shall continue in the future to have as its policy, the admission of students without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, or physical ability to all rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded to and made available to students at said School. The School does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, ethnicity, color or age in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and other School administered programs.
 
This policy is excerpted from the By-Laws of the Berkeley Divinity School, Article XIII.
 
D. A STATEMENT OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 
ON THEOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
 
Bishop John Williams of Connecticut founded Berkeley Divinity School in 1854 ‘to be a mediating influence during a time of theological division in the Episcopal Church.’ Since its founding over 150 years ago, Berkeley has prepared clergy, educators, and other leaders to serve throughout the whole church as part of its mission of ‘restoring all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.’
 
Our mission statement articulates that our purpose is ‘to inspire in students the depth of personal character, the committed love and knowledge of God, and the vocational ability to serve as faithful and imaginative leaders and educators (lay and ordained) in the Church.’
 
Consonant with this mission and history, we affirm that Berkeley Divinity School is a seminary in which the rich diversity of theological perspectives and liturgical practices within the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion are experienced, studied, and debated in a community committed to faithful intellectual inquiry and mutual respect.
 
We rejoice in our call to be a community which encourages all students, faculty and other members to explore and express their respective, and sometimes divergent, opinions and beliefs regarding the issues and debates of our day.
 
This statement was adopted by the Board of Trustees on 22 January 2009.
 
 
Summary of the Rule of Life
 
 
Preamble
 
It is our hope that the Rule of Life will be useful not only for shaping the current life of the School, but also as a bond which will draw together alumni, trustees, and friends in a common commitment to the life in Christ.
 
I. Our Founders and School Identity
 
As one of Yale University’s professional schools, the Divinity School has a mission of providing a specific course of instruction suitable to the task of educating future professional leaders for the church. Through its affiliation with Yale Divinity School, Berkeley Divinity School shares this identity, growing out of its own historical commitment to educate clergy and lay leadership for the church, and so expects from its students the requisite high quality of work, vocational commitment, and personal engagement appropriate to being professionals-in-training. As members of the Yale University community, students are expected as a part of their education to make full advantage of the curricular and other opportunities available, understanding themselves to be citizens not only of Berkeley and Yale Divinity Schools, but also of the wider university.
 
II. Corporate Prayer
 
Given our commitment to prayer in community, we affirm that the normative pattern for each member of the School is daily, public, corporate prayer, with a predominance of that in the Anglican tradition. At the same time, we fully embrace the ecumenical community to which we also belong, and encourage student and faculty participation in the variety of worship offerings it provides. In Berkeley’s own chapel services, the community embraces a wide spectrum of liturgical practices and traditions, and self-consciously seeks to incorporate emerging patterns of worship within an authentic Anglican voice.
 
III. The Holy Eucharist
 
The heart of Berkeley Divinity School’s worship life is daily celebration of the Eucharist, culminating in the weekly Community Eucharist. Unless otherwise prevented, every student is expected to be present at this service, joining in this communal ‘sabbath’ of worship and the gathering for fellowship thereafter. It is also our joy to be full participants in the sacraments as they are celebrated at Yale Divinity School, learning from these diverse expressions of Christian worship. 
 
IV. Spiritual Formation and Individual Prayer
 
Because we understand study and prayer to be inextricably intertwined in our efforts to know God more truly, spiritual formation is foundational to Berkeley Divinity School’s educational mission. Each student is expected to be in some form of spiritual direction, developing the qualities of interiority that come from an established pattern of private prayer and self-reflection. Students also participate in an annual class retreat sponsored by the School, and are encouraged to make advantage of other offerings such as quiet days, house churches, and prayer groups. Likewise, they would do well to begin forming a network of spiritual resources and mentors to help sustain their spiritual life once they 
graduate.
 
V. Academic Life and Intellectual Integrity
 
As an educational institution, Berkeley Divinity School embraces the academic life as a gift through which we come to know God more truly. Students and faculty alike are called upon to maintain not only an ethos of the highest intellectual honesty, but also the spirit of forbearance and respect in word and deed that is especially characteristic of Anglicanism’s own tradition of reasoned reflection. Both students and faculty should feel free to assert their own perspectives and convictions energetically, but also be equally ready to hear, receive and evaluate the perspectives and convictions of others. In charting a course of study, students should strive to utilize the opportunities available to them throughout the university to the fullest extent possible.
 
VI. Personal Character and Relationships
 
Healthful living habits, personal integrity, and respectful, supportive relationships with one’s peers and family are expected of every member of the community. The School seeks to facilitate these practices, but also places the duty upon each individual to take responsibility in a mature way for his or her own conduct and well-being, making advantage of the myriad resources available throughout the university. 
 
VII. Life in Community
 
Students, faculty and staff alike at Berkeley Divinity School are active participants in communal and social events at the School, yet are also part of activities and associations in the larger contexts of the Divinity School, Yale University, and the city of New Haven. Each member of the School is asked to contribute actively to fostering a rich sense of community, founded in our common pursuit of the Christian life, and to embodying the values of hospitality, forbearance, intellectual curiosity, sustainable living and charitable fellowship that the School seeks to promote. 
 
VIII. Mission and Service
 
The School envisions that as a part of students’ formation, they will take part in some social outreach ministry, with a particular emphasis on the urban environment in which we live and work. In addition, students should make every effort to participate in global exchange programs, mission trips, and international study, making advantage when possible of the School’s own network of connections and resources.
 
 
IX. Reconciliation
 
Identifying with communities of reconciliation around the world, Berkeley Divinity School places a high priority on the health of the seminary community as an instantiation of Christ’s reconciling work among all people. As we seek to live into the demands of the gospel, we embrace our differences as creative and valuable rather than confrontational and divisive. Authentic disagreement is encouraged, and individuals should be slow to take offense at what others may say or do in good faith. Disagreements should be addressed openly and forthrightly, and differences of experience and perception respected. More personal conflicts should be resolved directly between those involved, or if necessary with appropriate mediation and discussion. 
 
X. Vocation and Leadership
 
The School endeavors to enable students to find and develop within a sense of vocation their own capacity for leadership, both in church and society, and urges them to make formation for leadership a central goal of their seminary education. Similarly, students should expect that a central challenge of their theological education will be making the vocational transition from a concern for one’s own needs to an awareness of what one is called to do and to be as a servant leader on behalf of the Christian community. 
 
XI. Evaluation and Assessment
 
In a professional school environment, students should expect regular critique and evaluation. Students are asked to enter into the School’s processes for assessment with a desire to learn, and to fulfill their responsibilities in these processes willingly and enthusiastically. Moreover, within the relatively open curriculum of Yale Divinity School, students themselves must take responsibility - with the guidance of their academic advisor and the Director of Studies - for charting an ambitious, challenging, and substantive course of study. 
 
XII. From Seminary to The Regions Beyond
 
The patterns established by this rule are offered to graduates of the School as a stimulus and resource to support their life in community wherever they may be called to serve. Through regular continuing education offerings and reunion gatherings, graduates of the School are invited to continue learning from the friendships begun during seminary. Alumni are also asked, as an act of gratitude, to be financially supportive of Berkeley Divinity School both individually and through the institutions they serve. Moreover, the School relies upon its graduates to be its strongest advocates in the church, and welcomes their continued involvement as members of its various governance structures. 
 
Epilogue
 
The ultimate intent of the pattern of life described in these chapters is to enable the cultivation of a disposition toward godliness that will equip each of us, trusting in the mercies of God, for the service of Christ in the world as we are empowered by the Holy Spirit.