Yesterday evening, we celebrated the affiliation between Virginia Theological Seminary and The General Theological Seminary. It was a lovely evening. We were joined by James Kellerhouse from Vanderbilt University, along with all the key participants in the affiliation. It was an opportunity for the Board to pause and recognize this milestone. The temptation, of course, […]
Yesterday, the Board was in retreat. We had the privilege of hearing from Dr. Dan Aleshire, the retired head of the Association of Theological Schools. He was very helpful, exploring with the Board the challenge of members navigating two seminaries and some of the factors that are important in a Dean and President search. Today, […]
Many Board members arrived last night, and others will join us this morning. This is the Fall Board meeting, as required by the Bylaws (yes, even the date is stipulated!). Today serves as our retreat day—an additional day added to the regular two-day Board meeting. It offers a space for the Board to reflect together […]
I need the Rev. Bob Flanagan to give me a lesson. “When Dean Horne was here,” he explained, “we would present the Luther Bowl trophy at lunch.” I was grateful for the lesson. Although this moment has never occurred during my tenure, today we will have the captain of the Friars present the trophy to […]
Virginia Theological Seminary encourages those eligible to vote to exercise their right to vote. We take the view that this basic involvement in civic life is important. A vote has as much value as anyone else’s vote. A vote is an opportunity to ensure that candidates reflect the values of the Church. We encourage people […]
Perhaps Mr. Denton Waits can tell us, but certainly since 2007, Virginia Theological Seminary has not won the Luther Bowl. The Luther Bowl is an annual competition among regional seminaries in flag football. Each year we do well, but we never win. As the horizon of my retirement comes ever closer, I had resigned myself […]
The Rev. Canon C.K. “Chuck” Robertson is both a good personal friend of mine and a valued friend of Virginia Theological Seminary. One of the joys of life at VTS is the chance to make and sustain remarkable connections—and Chuck is one of those. An alumnus of the Seminary, he has served the wider Episcopal […]
In the next few days, Ms. Taryn Habberley will circulate the employee questionnaire on Seminary leadership. The first section focuses on me; the second focuses on the Senior Staff. Many of our internal evaluation mechanisms—those that help us assess how well we are doing—dissipated during the trauma of the COVID pandemic. This gap was identified […]