Date: September 10, 2026
One of the great privileges of life at VTS is the presence among us of the Rev’d Professor Sarah Coakley—an exceptional theological pioneer, a remarkable scholar, and one of the leading Anglican theologians in the world. Beginning on Wednesday, September 16, Sarah will once again lead our weekly practice of Quiet Prayer in the Oratory, from 5:15–6:00 p.m.
Quiet Prayer is wonderfully simple: an opportunity to pray together and to learn the discipline of silence. Over the past several years, this practice has quietly deepened and become a real blessing to many—VTS seminarians, Immanuel parishioners, visitors to the Seminary, people from churches across Alexandria and Washington, and even the occasional visiting bishop. Those new to the practice are especially welcome; Sarah will offer gentle guidance, handouts, and suggestions for further reading.
I warmly encourage students—and indeed anyone in the wider community—to give this a try. In a world crowded with noise, urgency, argument, and distraction, making space for silence before God can be both demanding and deeply renewing. And it is surely rather extraordinary—and very cool—to have the opportunity to learn this discipline with Sarah Coakley. Quiet Prayer runs each Wednesday from September 16 through December 16. Come and discover what can happen when, for forty-five minutes, we simply become still.
The Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary and the President of The General Theological Seminary.