Date: August 19, 2024
About a year ago, I was packing my bags and mapping out my route down the Mountain (aka Sewanee, TN) to the Holy Hill (aka VTS, Alexandria, VA). I had been researching continuing education programs at other seminaries and trying to better understand the various ministries of Lifelong Learning. “Connect, nurture, and highlight communities of faithful practice” was playing on repeat so I could begin to internalize the mission statement of my new department. It has been a wonderful year of learning, trying new things, and developing new partnerships on and beyond campus. We, Lifelong Learning staff, cannot wait to work with you and your faith communities to help activate your baptismal calls through theological education, intentional partnerships, and faithful innovation. Keep an eye on this space each day this week to hear from some of our staff members about some of the initiatives and programs in this far reaching and impactful department whose home base is here on campus.
The Department of Lifelong Learning begins the new 2024-2025 school year with an exciting slate of programs and ideas in addition to our ever-growing library of on-demand offerings. Leading off our fall programming is a webinar on August 22nd called “Empowering Latino Ministry: Essential Resources for Congregations” hosted by Rev. Dr. Lorenzo Lebrija. It will be in English with optional live Spanish interpretation, and will offer practical tools and resources to enhance ministry for Latino communities. Please register on our Eventbrite sales page.
Believe it or not, we have already started planning our Spring programming. If there is a topic or specific program you would like to suggest, please email lifelonglearning@vts.edu. We want our programming to be engaging, relevant, and meet people where they are on their spiritual journey. Lastly, students, staff, and faculty, we want to invite you to all our programs, whether synchronous or asynchronous. We have discount codes to help offset the cost. If you are interested in one of our programs, please let us know.
Wallace Benton
Associate Director of Lifelong Learning