Emmaus: Exploring Theological Education

Emmaus welcomes applications from young adults age 20-29 from communities that have been underrepresented in Catholic theological education including but not limited to race, gender, sexuality, class, and ability. 

Participants are welcome, to the extent they feel comfortable, to identify themselves how they wish, but at no point in the application process or the program itself will they be required to self-disclose communities with which they identify. 

The application process for Emmaus will, in a shortened way, mirror the application to graduate studies. This is to help participants gain familiarity with the process. All application components can be found at the bottom of this page.

This application lives in the same system as our application for degree programs, which means that if you apply to Boston College in the future, much of the information will be pre-filled (saving you future time!).

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us: cstmapply@bc.edu or 617-552-6506.

There is no cost to participate in Emmaus. We will pay for participants' hotel and travel (from within the United States).

As a school of theology and ministry, we are particularly interested in the ways that the study of theology is oriented outward in service to the church and world. We recognize that this service comes in many forms, and affirm the many pathways that lead students to CSTM and the ones they take after graduating. With this in mind, we offer the following as our understanding of ministry:

Ministry is service rooted in faith and marked by a sense of vocation/calling. God has endowed each of us with particular gifts and desires, which are to be channeled through a life of service to God’s vision of love and justice, which is nurtured, cultivated, handed down, and practiced in the context of an ecclesial community (i.e., church). This can manifest in ways we might traditionally understand ministry: working at a parish, teaching theology/religion, or serving as a chaplain in schools or hospitals. At the Clough School of Theology and Ministry, our understanding of ministry certainly includes these paths, but also extends beyond them. Ministry is as diverse as the backgrounds and experiences of our students and their gifts. To us, ministry includes the academy, social services, non-profit work, and even digital media. These diverse paths represent each person’s unique vocation, oriented toward our ultimate vocation to love and serve God, neighbor, and self. 

Emmaus takes its name from the resurrected Jesus' encounter with two disciples on the road to Emmaus:

Luke 24:13-35

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.