VTS magazine

When our beloved Immanuel Chapel (1881) burned to the ground on October 22, 2010, little did we know the significance of such a day of sadness and tears. Out of the ashes emerged a Chapel Garden and a new Chapel which was consecrated in 2015. The landscape of the campus changed with an exquisite walled garden; a traditional, yet modern, and flexible Chapel “for the ages;” and a new Welcome Center. Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) recovered from loss and opened itself, by the Grace of God, to a bright future of service.

All these dramatic alterations in the “gritty physical reality” were part of the “continuous creation” that flowed from destruction and heartbreak. VTS made a pilgrimage from the familiar and known Chapel (1881) to a new, very different Chapel (2015). This was not a pilgrimage of choice. It was, however, a pilgrimage both life-giving and full of hope, a pilgrimage which continues to find VTS serving in new and exciting ways.

Other changes have helped VTS become a more vital, hospitable institution. Let me name three new ways of being which came from a season of institutional construction.

First, our embrace of Reparations was like a new spiritual “Welcome Center,” as the past with its flaws was acknowledged in the present for a future more truthful and wholesome. Reparations can only begin healing the scars of the descendants of enslaved persons who unwillingly “endowed” the Seminary with their very lives.

Second, VTS boldly reached out to begin a new pilgrimage with a sister seminary. The Affiliation with The General Theological Seminary reflects the willingness to find a way forward which characterized the Chapel Pilgrimage. Daunting odds and an uncertain future have proven to be no obstacles for VTS. A certain entrepreneurial faithfulness can characterize VTS’ demeanor as the largest seminary affiliated with the oldest of The Episcopal Church.

Third, out of our Chapel pilgrimage has come a season of pilgrimages in search of the Holy One of “thin places” in England, France, Israel/Jordan and Turkey. From the Shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, to the glories of Chartres, to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, to Cappadocia with its ancient caves, countless pilgrims have marveled at the places made holy by the prayers of the faithful.

VTS Pilgrimages are a ministry to all who seek to deepen their faith; to leave home and hearth for new adventures; and who seek the company of others as we confront the loneliness and isolation which mark our modern age of celebrated connectivity. Pilgrims who travel together become themselves a “thin place” of love and caring.

As VTS continues on its pilgrimage, please join us on one of our VTS pilgrimages in 2027.  As Dean Markham retires, “new occasions will teach new duties,” new ways of marking the moment of VTS. For now, join us for a pilgrimage!

See here for full details on the VTS Pilgrimages being offered: