Category: Dean’s Commentary

Start of Holy Week

It is hard to observe Holy Week at Seminary. Classes need to continue. Contextual Ministry sites make certain demands. The space to pause and walk the week with Jesus is difficult to find. Yet it is Holy Week. It is the week when the ministry of Jesus reaches its climax. When the forces of sinfulness […]

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Evensong, Sermon, and an amazing anthem

I am not sure precisely why I found Evensong last night so moving. Perhaps the busyness of the day had caught up with me and the pause was precisely what I needed. Perhaps it was the season and there is almost a sense of relief that this late and interminable Lent is finally coming to […]

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A memorable evening

There are many moments that linger in my mind. I think one memorable moment was when the Rev. Dr. Vandiver draw our attention to the Latin for God in Imago Dei is of course D-E-I. I won’t forget that. And last night, listening to our esteemed alumnus navigate the complexity of moment with wisdom and […]

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Amazing guests to VTS

Tonight we will have the Mollegen Forum. There will be Evening Prayer at 5.15pm. Then the Mollegen Forum will start at 6.10pm. The list of recent Mollegen Forum speakers is impressive. In 2023, we had Bishop Poggo, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion; in 2022, it was Archbishop Justin Welby; in 2018, it was Senator […]

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Ending well

The fourth quarter normally has a bounce. The pattern of the academic year is that we enjoy the Fall – after all, we are all coming back from a summer away, pleased to see each other, and then flow into Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then January through March is harder – the weather is difficult and […]

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Welcome Presiding Bishop Sean W. Rowe

I speak for the entire staff and faculty when I say that it’s always a delight to see former students return to Virginia Theological Seminary. Some return to us as lay leaders in the church, others as priests and pastors, and some even as bishops. This week we are thrilled to welcome the Most Rev. […]

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VOICE Faith and Labor Summit

This week we commemorate the martyrdom of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. King was assassinated while participating in a campaign to support sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968. The Civil Rights Movement, including the Poor People’s Campaign that VTS supported by offering two of our dorms for hospitality to participants the same […]

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MLK Events

Perhaps now more than any other time in recent American history, the events marking the Commemoration of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are especially important. However, frustrating some find DEI, it remains true that racism is a reality within the American experience both past and present. And as Christians committed to the Imago […]

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Episcopal Evangelism Society Visits Campus

Ever dream of helping shape an Episcopal Church that looks and acts like Jesus? Learn more about the work of the Episcopal Evangelism Society (EES). Since 1862, EES has financially supported members of Episcopal seminary communities in their exploration to serve the church and the world in thoughtful and innovative ways. Although the mission and […]

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In God’s Grip

The Rev. Dr. Russell J. Levenson Jr. is a good personal friend, an important colleague in ministry, and an alumnus of VTS. He is also the recently retired Rector of the largest Episcopal Church in the country – St. Martin’s in Houston. Retirement is not the end of ministry; and it is good to see […]

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