Category: Dean’s Commentary

The Presiding Bishop, the King, and I

On Wednesday I commended the transparency of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. He has shared every detail of his medical procedures. While commending this practice, I was more modest. Then the day I was undergoing the surgery, I learned that King Charles announced that he would have surgery for the same condition next week. The King […]

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Copies of The Atlantic magazine available

From time to time, the Dean’s office receives a book or a magazine, intended for distribution, that promotes a particular platform or set of ideas. Around national elections, some of the items sent are overtly political. Back in 2012, Mitt Romney’s biography was sent to the Seminary; and I let people interested have a copy. […]

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A medical procedure

I do admire the Presiding Bishop in so many ways. And part of the Most Rev. Michael Curry’s witness in this season of hospitalization is to be completely transparent about his medical condition. We have all known the details: we have all be able to pray deeply and intentionally for his recovery. I am not […]

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Snow arrives

Today is a delayed opening. We have snow. We seek to make safety a priority. Normally, we strive to keep classes open: after all, we are a residential community, where professors and students are living on the campus. Please will those commuter students who cannot get to the campus ask a friend to record the […]

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The message of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Monday is the annual observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The message of justice and non-violence seems especially poignant as we watch death, war, and injustice shape our country and the world. For the King Center, the strategic theme for 2024 is “Shifting the Cultural Climate through the Study and Practice of Kingian […]

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Theological Education in the Episcopal Church

This has been an eventful week. I spent most of the week in Austin, Texas. We had two days exploring the challenges of theological education in the Episcopal Church. It is a complicated picture. We have eight or so Episcopal seminaries; there are probably forty or so non-Episcopal universities or seminaries training future priests in […]

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Welcome to the GTS students to Alexandria

I am looking forward to returning to Alexandria. We are delighted that the VTS campus is hosting the GTS students this January. This is one of the joys of the affiliation. There are resources available to enhance the student experience. It is lovely to have the students from the GTS hybrid degree enjoying the campus. […]

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Going green at VTS

I am not sure if anyone knows. But the next time you are walking past the new Welcome Center, do please look up. The Board of Trustees did not let us “value engineer” out the solar panels. So, there they are. The first building on the campus to lock in the power of the sun […]

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Council of Deans in Austin Texas

It is a joy to be here in Austin Texas. Once a year all the Deans of the Episcopal seminaries gather. It is an opportunity to reflect on the state of theological education, to share trends in our respective institutions, and to enjoy some fellowship together. This year, the agenda is supplemented by the presence […]

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Let us go to the movies

Our fundamentalist friends have shown us the way. If you want to impact culture, then you release a movie. Back in 2014, God’s Not Dead was made: a $2 million budget and it grossed over $62 million. A key theme was the academy is anti-God; Christians have a hard time at university. It was a […]

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