Professional examinations are not uncommon. The examinations to be a lawyer or a tax accountant are serious. And so, the Episcopal Church has its own process. The General Ordination Examinations are designed as the mechanism to determine whether the postulant has sufficient knowledge of the canonical areas. Three-hour examinations in such topics as Church History, […]
It was early afternoon on January 2 that I learned that the weather forecast for Alexandria was snow. It was still warm. Christmas Day had almost been shorts weather. The prospect of snow sounded utterly implausible. But thanks to the hard work of the Associate Dean of Students, the Rev. Dr. Ruthanna Hooke, and the […]
I will be honest with you, I expected 2022 to be easier. I was expecting vaccinations to have held COVID at bay; I was expecting even greater normality in terms of travel and presence, and I was expecting a Seminary community ready to focus on the hard work of formation for the sake of the […]
Today, Virginia Theological Seminary honors the memory of the Most Rev. Desmond Tutu D.D. '98 (H).
Life is puzzling. Here we all are – persons with the remarkable gift of consciousness who are able to laugh and love – living in this vast cosmos. The question at the heart of faith is this: why does all this exist? The Christian claim is that this universe is a result of intention and […]
Today I wish to address the staff. I want to start by expressing my gratitude for everything you do. While students come and go, you are the people who stay and keep everything going. You are the ones who make your way to the campus every day; you are the ones who take care of […]
Strangely a sign of institutional health is the annual report on giving. The 2020-2021 (an entire COVID year) annual report is called “Impact.” It runs to forty pages. It documents both annual fund giving and capital campaign gifts. The result is a report that really captures the deep affection in which the Seminary is held. […]
If you make your way to Bicentennial Hall, then you will find, nestled around the Assyrian Reliefs, a delightful exhibit honoring the life, witness, and impact of the world’s most famous saint – St. Nicholas. St. Nicholas is the saint from Patara (now southern Turkey) from the third century. He took everything he had and […]
Last Monday, the faculty had a day-long faculty meeting. It was rich in conversation and deliberation. Topics as far-ranging as the ATS accreditation visit, to requests for students to transfer from the M.A. to the M.Div. program, were considered. The day culminated in singing Christmas carols (and yes, Dr. Farwell and Dr. Strout did agree, […]
One of the biggest impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic has been financial: many families have lost their income, jobs, and homes. Millions of Americans have fallen on hard times. Some who had little to begin with now have even less, and are struggling every day just to make it through until tomorrow. They wonder how […]