Date: November 2, 2025
Perhaps Mr. Denton Waits can tell us, but certainly since 2007, Virginia Theological Seminary has not won the Luther Bowl. The Luther Bowl is an annual competition among regional seminaries in flag football. Each year we do well, but we never win.
As the horizon of my retirement comes ever closer, I had resigned myself to the reality that this would not be part of my legacy. We seemed destined to be the team that came close but never made it. Then, on Saturday, the text arrived: the Rev. Bob Flanagan sent me a photo with the simple message, “We won,” showing Kevin Criley holding the appropriate trophies in triumph.
Later that evening, Brother Jason Peter called to invite me to the Community Garden for a “cider and a cheer” to celebrate the achievement. Unfortunately, I was in Asheville, NC, preparing to preach at Trinity Church Asheville. But though far away, I raised a glass. VTS had done it—finally, the Luther Bowl was ours.
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary and the President of The General Theological Seminary.