About the Seminary

ALMIGHTY God, who hast committed to the hands of men the ministry of reconciliation; We humbly beseech thee, by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, to put it into the hearts of many to offer themselves for this ministry; that thereby mankind may be drawn to thy blessed kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

St. Joseph of Arimathea Anglican Theological College, in Berkeley, California, is the seminary of the Anglican Province of Christ the King, a nationwide body of Christian Churches dedicated to maintaining traditional Episcopalian faith and practice in the United States. Founded in 1979 to serve the Anglican Province of Christ the King, Saint Joseph's serves the need of the Province to educate men for the priesthood and otherwise prepare them to serve the church's growing number of parishes and missions.

The Anglican Province of Christ the King has chosen the name of St Joseph of Arimathea for its national seminary. Tradition holds that St Joseph of Arimathea brought the Holy Grail to England founding English Christianity. Good Friday in the Eastern Church is called the Liturgy of Saint Joseph of Arimathea because St. Joseph gave his own tomb for Our Lord's body. He, therefore, is a link between the Eastern and Western Church.

The chapel is the heart of student life at St. Joseph of Arimathea. It is here that a sense of vocation is tested, the religious experience deepened, and the discipline of prayer observed. As the twenty-first century commences, we believe it is imperative to renew and rebuild Western Christian civilization through the education and training of future Christian leaders.

The College holds that intellectual understanding coupled with the direct experience of the timeless faith, one is able to better understand contemporary science and society. This awareness is essential for clergy to provide direction to their parishioners.

St. Joseph of Arimathea believes that a sound theological education must be built upon the following three pillars:

• academic preparation based upon Holy Scripture, the apostolic Creeds and Sacraments, liturgical heritage, and a thorough knowledge of Church history and theology;
• worship in the Seminary chapel, where the Scholar deepens his faith through encountering the infinite mystery of Our Lord Jesus Christ in meditation, prayer, and offering the Eucharist;
• internship in a parochial ministry or chaplaincy, where the Scholar prepares to minister to the faithful and to evangelize for the Faith.

The Archbishop of Paris has written, "The West was born of Christianity. The crisis of the West is that it is no longer Christian." In response to this reality, St. Joseph of Arimathea Theological College has in its short history educated and sent to ordination an outstanding class of committed clergy. It is preparing men who know that the vocation of a priest is to personalize the Gospel and restore to our confused world a vision of God.