It is my privilege to welcome you to this first issue of our digital newsletter.

Changes in technology have offered us new opportunities for communication and online collaboration. Where once prospective students at St George’s College Jerusalem would write to the secretary of their regional committee and request a brochure to be sent to them by mail, now anyone with an Internet account can find all the information they need on the College web site.

Until now the College’s communication strategy has centered on people coming to our site, but now we are able to bring highlights from the web site direct to your digital mailbox.

The ‘push’ technologies that harvest our web site and prepare this digital newsletter, are supplemented by the diverse web of social media as we each share this news and information within our own circles of influence. By clicking on the share options at the bottom of each story you can multiply the impact of our communications, and assist us in making the College much better known.

The annual Christmas letter from the Dean will still be sent to those people who have attended a program at the College during the previous calendar year. Your regional committee will continue to mail out a printed magazine two or three times a year. When possible we shall offer regional events so that people can meet other alumni as well as the leadership team from the College. These traditional channels for communication will continue, but now we can reach out from Jerusalem with all the latest news and information on a more regular basis—and with greater immediacy.

The newsletter will be published just once each month. This will limit the electronic clutter that may otherwise overwhelm your email account. In between times you can always check the latest posts on our College blog site, join the conversations on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

We have some exciting times ahead of us at the College, and we want to share these developments with you so you can share the excitement and celebrate our success.

In this first issue we have a taste of the diverse developments already taking place in the life of the College:

• We have welcomed our first Associate Dean, the Rev. Dr. Susan Lukens
• We are preparing to farewell our Course Director, the Rev. Dr. Rodney Aist
• We are honouring the passing of the late Canon John Emerton
• We have a story about the many reasons why you might choose St George’s College Jerusalem for your next pilgrimage to the Holy Land
• We have details of programs in the summer of 2016 and throughout 2017
• We have the launch of SGC Online, our online learning center at St George’s College
• We have news of a 10 year grant from the Porter Foundation to create a new partnership with Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University
• We have an update on our arrangements for personal security and group safety
• And we have a story about the Benshoof Cistern Museum with its wonderful collection of artefacts from the Tel Dothan excavations on the West Bank

I hope you enjoy this first issue of our newsletter, and that you will share it with family and friends.

Blessings from Jerusalem, the Holy!

Greg Jenks

Dean
St George’s College Jerusalem