A bishop once told me he could identify the health of a congregation he was visiting not by looking at their budgets, average Sunday attendance, or membership levels, but rather by how they sang. A strong singing congregation signaled to him that it was a healthy parish. Congregations with little engagement and enthusiasm while singing […]
Christianity is a singing faith, and embodied worship is one of the things we’ve missed the most during the pandemic. It has been seventeen months since I’ve played a hymn for congregational singing, and I can’t wait! As you saw in Dr. Strout’s commentary yesterday, we are planning a full range of liturgical and musical […]
As we move from a year that has had a profound impact on us all, I want to extend an invitation to Come and Worship! Beginning with the first day of August term, Immanuel Chapel will be open for public worship and private prayer – in person! We will continue our tradition of offering a […]
In Holy Women, Holy Men (Church Publishing, 2010), today is noted as the commemoration of Samuel Ferguson, who was consecrated as the fourth bishop of Liberia in 1885, becoming the first Black member of the Episcopal House of Bishops. Among his many accomplishments, he is remembered as the founder of Cuttington College (now University) in […]
Over the last couple of months, I have been working with Associate Dean of Students Ruthanna Hooke and International Student Proctor Mike Gumulauskas to prepare to welcome our incoming international students through their orientation program. We are excited to welcome Carolyne Adhola ’23 from Kenya, Claire Wang ’24 from Taiwan, and Saleem Kasabreh ’24 from […]
As associate dean of students, I witness first-hand the dedication of staff members in Academic Affairs and Student Life. Those I work most closely with include Derek Greten-Harrison, who coordinates all aspects of admissions and student housing; Rachel Holm, our Registrar, to whom I turned for answers to countless questions this past year; and Elly […]
I have always been fascinated with intentional communities. Earlier in my life, I lived at the Iona Community in Scotland and the Taizé community in France and sojourned in other communities in India, the Netherlands, Italy, and the U.K. Communities fascinate me because they offer the possibility that humans can model a way of life […]
Beginnings are sacred times. We stand on the threshold of the new, and cannot see or predict what lies ahead. If we can stay open amidst the uncertainty, these liminal times can be times when we feel powerfully the presence of God who says, “I am doing a new thing.” It is important to be […]
This coming week, we will have the privilege of welcoming to VTS an extraordinary incoming class of 47 new full-time students, hailing from 24 dioceses across the USA and three countries (Israel, Kenya, and Taiwan). After months of discerning, applying, waiting, reading, packing, and moving, these 31 Master in Divinity, six Master of Arts, four […]