Worship

A Vision for Worship

Worship is the wellspring of life in community. In daily corporate worship, we unite with others to glorify God and to receive God’s grace, which flows from our worship to guide us in everything we do. Daily corporate worship grows out of and contributes to the whole of life together as we seek to know the truth as it is in Jesus Christ. Or, as the informal VTS Rule of Life puts it, “Go to class, go to chapel, go to lunch.”

Worship is at the center of life at Virginia Seminary, which is why each student and faculty member is expected to attend one service of corporate worship daily. One of the great benefits of residential theological education is the opportunity to worship together daily, and thus to regularly bring oneself back to the living God whom we study and seek to serve. This rhythm between classroom and chapel allows for a relationship with God to become the core of studies and ministry.

Worship on Campus

You are invited to join us for Community Worship at Virginia Theological Seminary. The Seminary community gathers to worship regularly, usually in Immanuel Chapel. All visitors to the campus are invited to join us in the Chapel.

The campus also offers many quiet, beautiful spaces for private worship, reflection, or meditation.

The campus also offers many quiet, beautiful spaces for private worship, reflection, or meditation.

Immanuel Chapel

Completed in 2015, Immanuel Chapel sits at the entrance to Virginia Theological Seminary, within a “Worship and Welcome Quad.” Worship at Virginia Seminary is first and foremost a communal act of thanksgiving and praise of the God who has created and redeemed humankind through Jesus Christ. It is at the heart of what we do, central to understanding that theological education flows out of worship. The VTS community shares this holy space with the parishioners of Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill and Church of the Redeemer.

Chapel Garden

The garden sits on the site of the Seminary’s 1881 chapel that was destroyed by fire in 2010 and is enclosed by the remains of the chapel’s walls. The brick cap along the ground of the garden is to indicate the walls of the old chapel. The garden has become a favorite site for students, faculty, staff, and neighborhood friends allowing gathering and reflection. The Chapel Garden is also used for worship, baptisms, weddings, funerals, and other gatherings. A few of the remaining artifacts of the 1881 Chapel were incorporated into the Immanuel Chapel, including several stained glass windows on display in the Chapel Oratory. The Chapel Garden also serves as a columbarium for those who lived or served this community.