The Seminary can bustle with activity on many days. Often, significant events happen, perhaps none more so than the annual suicide prevention campus walk. This Saturday, April 6th, VTS will host its third Out of the Darkness Campus Walk, one of thousands of such events held by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention across the […]
As we ease into the Easter season, I do just want to thank the amazing team coordinating the music in Chapel – Mr. Jason Abel and Mr. Thomas Smith. I have worshiped in many buildings: but it is just true that the singing is just exceptional in our Chapel here on the campus. Back in […]
I admire so much students who embark on complex projects and decide to offer their creativity to the world. On Good Friday, Joshua Duncan (our junior) decided to “drop” an EP containing five songs. On Holy Saturday, I was making the walk from The General Theological Seminary to 31st street to take a train back […]
Finally, Lent comes to an end. We have walked the journey of Holy Week. We have watched as our Savior suffers and dies. And we have finally been given permission again to celebrate in the hope of the resurrection – we can say, once again, Alleluia. It was Rowan Williams who writes challengingly about the […]
Tomorrow is Good Friday. The Seminary will be closed. We will pause and remember the miracle of salvation made possible through the innocent taking of life by empire. The etymology of Good Friday is the same as Goodbye. Goodbye is a contraction of God be with you; Good Friday is actually God’s Friday. This is […]
Yesterday I met with Gabriel (a junior). Gabriel had seen the story about the Diocese of New York opposing the Board of General Theological Seminary over a possible lease of the campus. We talked through the details of exactly what is going on. And thanks to Gabriel’s advocacy, I will hold a forum for the […]
The Eucharist was a powerful start to the week. The Great Litany was followed by a powerful and thoughtful sermon by Lo Selles. I felt as if Holy Week was starting appropriately. The heart of our practice as Christians is to live fully into the church calendar. This is what we will endlessly encourage our […]
Yesterday, I decided as part of Palm Sunday discipline to read a chapter from a t&tclark book called Psalms: My Psalm, My Context, edited by Athalya Brenner-Idan and Gale A. Yee. I went to the chapter by Melody Knowles on “Psalm 132: Livegiving conversations with a Psalm”. It was a beautiful, intimate, and powerful piece of […]
It is a delight to welcome prospective students to the campus this morning. A decision to visit a seminary is the first crucial step in the journey of discernment. It is a major decision. Families will move. People will leave their jobs. The implications of this moment are often difficult and complicated. For our guests, […]
Virginia Theological Seminary is blessed with many donors. Donors come from all sorts of places. Their shared love is the Seminary. It won’t surprise anyone that a donor can support Virginia Theological Seminary from a variety of different political and ethical perspectives. Their politics can be different; they can be “low” or “high”; they might support […]