Date: March 19, 2024
On Friday, we will welcome some important guests to the campus. This is our Spring Visit Day. I will have the joy of preaching at the 8.15am opening Eucharist.
Back in the last century, hybrid or distance education was a very solitary and, often, frustrating affair. Perhaps it involved listening to cassette tapes or watching VHS videos (for those born in the 1990s, do google). Now the experience is much richer. Add to this the learning in COVID, around remote working and remote education, we need to work much harder to persuade people that the residential experience is worth the cost and the inconvenience.
For those of us enjoying the privilege of “class, chapel, lunch”, there is a texture to the experience which is very special. The incidental conversations in the Flamingo, the quality of the singing in the Chapel, the opportunity to watch an opera called “American Patriots”, the chance to learn about silent prayer from the Rev. Dr. Sarah Coakley, as well as the sheer depth of connection that emerges in a class are priceless experiences. So, please, do your bit. Let others know how special it is to study at Virginia Theological Seminary, and do consider inviting a friend to attend the Spring Visit Day on Friday.
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary and the President of The General Theological Seminary