On Tuesday, January 17th, nearly three hundred Christian formation professionals from across the country will be on campus participating in the first day of the annual Forma Conference. Forma, which began as the National Association for Episcopal Christian Education Directors, is a Network for Christian Formation for the Episcopal Church and beyond. In 2022, Forma became a ministry […]
I am going to try to write a commentary for this year that can apply to both institutions that are part of this affiliation. Virginia Theological Seminary and General Theological Seminary are in an affiliation. So, each day, I will attempt to post the same message on both websites. How exactly I structure this combined […]
This is the commentary made up of two confessions. First, I confess that I am not a fan of the General Ordination Examinations. The ordeal of sitting for six papers over the course of three days cannot be a condition for effective congregational leadership and a good vehicle for judging healthy formation. My preference would […]
I confess I don’t get to the theatre as much as I would like. However, when the ticket was purchased for Lesley and me to go the Round House Theatre, I seized the moment. Now the Round House Theatre is about forty minutes away by car. The show was William Shakespeare’s Tempest. Now for those […]
For readers of the VTS commentary, the subject line of this commentary will be a surprise. But this is the moment we are in. Our affiliation has a practical application: we want our friends, students, and faculty to add GTS to their giving priorities. Last night, I had the privilege of making the case for […]
So, we say farewell to 2022. We now embark on the journey of 2023. For Virginia Theological Seminary, this is an important year. This is our 200th year of service for the Church. And there will be an array of opportunities to reflect and pray on the significance of the moment. On a personal level, […]
We are expecting almost seventy people for lunch at the Deanery today. Employees and their families are invited to come to lunch. It is a lovely occasion. It is my chance to wish everyone the best of the season as we head out for a much deserved and needed break. It is our practice to […]
On the whole, discretion around one’s giving habits is appropriate. Giving is done to help an institution or person thrive; it is not done to generate the perception with others that one is a “good person” deserving of praise. While this is all true, it is worth sharing our different practices with each other. We […]
Yesterday I explained that I had found ChatGPT. So I asked the program to write a Christmas message for an Episcopal Seminary community in 300 words. Today’s commentary comes to you via Artificial Intelligence. As we approach the end of another year, I wanted to take a moment to wish you all a very Merry […]
AI (Artificial Intelligent) is a key development of our time. So, when I learned about ChatGPT, I was curious to see how good the AI really was. So, I signed up for the program. And I made my first request: I asked ChatGPT to “Write a Christian Liturgy for a funeral of a pet.” In […]