Today Intercultural Competency Training begins. A fundamental Christian obligation is to challenge racism in all its forms. This should not be controversial, but strangely, we are in a season when such a claim is considered ‘too woke’. The reaction against DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) has been virulent. White people we are told need protecting […]
The Rev. Christian Anderson was a fabulous student and now he is a compelling and remarkable priest. One of the great questions of the Christian life is deceptively simple: how do we know what God is calling us to do? Tonight, Virginia Theological Seminary has the privilege of hosting Jesus Was Not a Doorman, an […]
Today we have the sculpture dedication, which honours Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, the Bishop of Washington. There will be evening prayer in the chapel, followed by the dedication at the sculpture, and then a reception to which all are invited in the Welcome Center, followed by the launch of a collection of essays entitled “Have […]
Today we welcome a group of Chancellors to the Seminary. These are key people in the church who advise Bishops on all matters legal pertaining to their diocese. We are gathering to think about the concept of a ‘peculiar’. Although this word is not found in the polity of the Episcopal Church, it is often […]
When the Deanery was being renovated, we had a gift for art, and the Deanery now holds a significant art collection. Perhaps the most significant painting is the one by Leo Twiggs called “The Death of George Floyd,” 2020. We had an approach from the Gibbs Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina, for us […]
It almost sounds like a joke. What do a Muslim, a Presbyterian, a member of the Orthodox Churches, and an Evangelical have in common? The answer, however, is a classic VTS answer: they’re all speaking at the conference on interfaith and ecumenical initiatives in theological education today. We’re gathering in Bicentennial Hall, and at 9:00 […]
If you go to the website “Word in Black” you will find a fascinating article on Willie Pearl Mackey King. You can read it here. As you know a version of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail was recently discovered in the African American Episcopal Historical Collection, among the papers of Bishop […]
Cultivate VTS is a wonderful expression of care for creation and community life. This year the apiary grew from two hives to four and produced around 100 pounds of honey—a harvest achieved a full year earlier than expected. The hope is to keep both the Flamingo and Welcome Center stocked with VTS honey throughout the […]
Today, Senior Vice President Nicky Burridge, Chief of Staff Taryn Habberley, and I will make the journey to New York. This is the day when Vanderbilt University formally opens the Close with a view to welcoming a hundred-plus undergraduates to New York next week. Technically, Vanderbilt University is the tenant, and The General Theological Seminary […]
We are living at an extraordinary time in terms of technological options. As I age I am deeply aware of how easy it is to get left behind by technology. We all know people who cannot find Netflix on their smart TV. So I am constantly experimenting with new possibilities. One that I am finding […]