Date: March 13, 2026
It will be a joy for members of the Virginia Theological Seminary community to partner with The Falls Church to celebrate the ordination to the sacred order of deacons of Nonhlanhla Gugulethu Precious Shezi (Noni to most of us) tomorrow morning at 10 o’clock AM in the Seminary Chapel. We are especially grateful to the Right Reverend Doctor Dalcy Dlamini, Bishop of Eswatini who will be both preaching and presiding at the ordination. Bishop Dlamini graciously agreed to perform this ministry as part of her sabbatical time with us when the Right Reverend Nkosinathi Ndwandwe, Noni’s own bishop of the Diocese of Natal in the Province of Southern Africa, was unable to obtain a visa to come here. We are also grateful to the Very Reverend Burl Salmon OStJ , the choristers and other musicians of the Falls Church, and our organist Jason Abel for providing the music. Everyone is cordially invited to attend the ordination.
Whenever the Church ordains a deacon, all of us are reminded that it is the work of all baptized Christians to seek and serve the most vulnerable members of society and to proclaim God’s love, both in word and in deed, to everyone we meet. It is particularly appropriate for those of us involved in theological education, in whatever capacity, to ponder what it means to serve in the great variety of contexts in which we find ourselves. Deacons proclaim the Gospel during the liturgy of the Eucharist, set the table, often lead the prayers of the people and call us to repentance, and send us out into the world to enact our faith in our speech and in our actions. We are blessed by so many capable and talented seminarians becoming deacons this year and tomorrow’s ordination is no exception.
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary and President of The General Theological Seminary