Yesterday as snow fell over the campus, I took the opportunity to view the interview between Dr. Marty Burnett and the Very Rev. J. Michael A. Wright, the Rector of Grace Church Cathedral, in Charleston, SC. Michael Wright is an accomplished hymn writer. To mark our Bicentennial, we commissioned him to write us a hymn. […]
I am delighted to serve as the Acting Associate Dean of Chapel this spring while Bishop Jim Mathes enjoys a well-deserved sabbatical. As we begin a new semester, I am writing to share our plans for worship. For the first half of the semester, worship will continue to be online. This is the safest option […]
Yesterday I was in the Chapel recording the start of the semester service. This is going to be a special service. We are launching the Bicentennial Hymn, which has been composed by Michael Wright. My task was to preach a sermon. It was lovely being back in the space; I appreciated its beauty and charm […]
As Lent looms, plenty of rectors will be thinking about what resources they might want to offer to their parish. So yesterday, I was delighted to receive in the mail a copy of A Path to Wholeness: A Lenten Companion by the Rev. Russell J. Levenson, Jr. ’92. I want to recommend this book to […]
As we did in the fall, we are doing some reentry testing. To facilitate different arrival times, we are using LetsGetChecked. For all students and their families on campus, proctors will be distributing the test boxes. The directions are all enclosed in the box. Register your sample by creating an online account at LetsGetChecked. Follow […]
Last night, the faculty started to gather for their annual January retreat. The agenda of our two-day meeting includes deep reflection on our shared life together. We had agreed to read After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging by Willie James Jennings. This reflection on “belonging” ran parallel with a need to explore some of the […]
Join me in celebrating the appointment of the Rev. Altagracia Pérez-Bullard, Ph.D. as academic co-chair to the House of Bishops Committee on Theology. Her role as academic co-chair is to support the Rt. Rev. Allen Shin, bishop suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of New York and the newly appointed chair of the committee. The House […]
I remember, when I went on sabbatical in 2016, worrying that perhaps the institution would discover that I am not needed. It is true VTS functioned well in the year that I was away. I did make an important discovery that VTS can operate without me. This is healthy. No one should imagine that they […]
One joy of our proximity to the District of Columbia is that we can both attend and enjoy the spectacle of the traditional peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next, to witness history in the making. Sadly, our experience this year is much more complicated. Presence is discouraged; the country is divided; […]
The Rev. Dr. Katharine Grieb was the first person to be vaccinated. I understand that Dr. Stephen Cook has had his first shot. I did mine on Wednesday. So slowly employees of the Seminary are getting the vaccine. This is good. The Commonwealth of Virginia is eager to see institutions of higher education to open. […]