Date: October 2, 2024
One of the privileges of being in a seminary community with a world-class theological library, comfortable guest housing, and a lively body of students and faculty, is that we are able to welcome visitors from across the Anglican Communion to spend their sabbatical with us.
Our first sabbatical visitor this semester is the Rt. Rev. Emily Onyango, Ph.D, Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Bondo, and the first woman ordained bishop in the Anglican Church of Kenya. She will be with us from early October until November 1 when she will be participating in the work of the Science Commission of the Anglican Communion here on our campus.
Bishop Onyango’s ministry is focused on the training of lay and clergy leaders for the church, especially women, as well as the triple threat of gender-based violence, teenage pregnancy and HIV/AIDS in Kenya. She will be giving a presentation on Tuesday, October 8 from 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. in the Lettie Pate Evans Room on her work in these areas. You can register for the event here.
Then, a week later, we will be blessed by Bishop Onyango’s presence in the pulpit of Immanuel Chapel as she preaches at our service of Holy Eucharist at Convocation on October 15 at 8:15 a.m.
Do show your support for our sabbatical visitor and attend both of these.
Hospitality is one of the key Christian virtues we seek to cultivate at Virginia Theological Seminary. Please extend a warm welcome to Bishop Onyango when you see her on campus and take the opportunity for conversation over breakfast or lunch with a trailblazer in the Kenyan church.
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary and President of The General Theological Seminary