The Rhythm of Virginia Theological Seminary

The flow of studies at VTS is much different than what I experienced in college or law school.  (Admittedly, that was 1974-1981, so things may have changed significantly in that time.)  During the normal seminary calendar, instead of the Mon-Wed-Fri and Tues-Thurs schedule, classes meet once a week.  Some courses also have one hour “section meetings” during the week.  But that is not the “flow” that has my attention.  Rather, what is quite new, and very uplifting, is the flow of community life that revolves around worship and prayer. 

Every class begins with a prayer led by the professor. While that may seem like a “duh” thing since this is a seminary, it really is a new and wonderful experience.  Think about it for a moment—we’ve all been to Sunday School or similar situations and opened with prayer, but that never happens in an academic setting.  Seminary is nothing like Sunday School.  Every class is in a college-like classroom and the students are all busy taking notes in preparation for an upcoming quiz or exam.  So the scene is familiar, the prayer is a new and welcomed variation.

Most important to the flow of life at VTS is how intertwined worship is on a daily basis.  Every student is required to attend at least one worship service per day Monday through Friday.  (It is an honor system, no one signs in and no one is taking roll.)  There are a number of opportunities each day.  Morning Prayer takes place at 8:15 each day except Thursday.  Each Thursday, the day begins with a Formation Group meeting where I meet with the same group of six classmates and a professor at the professor’s home.  The Formation group opens with a prayer service led by one of the students on a rotating basis.  On Wednesday at noon, there is a full Eucharist (the Episcopal equivalent of the Sunday service) with a full choir, a sermon, etc.  It is the centerpiece of worship at VTS and almost everyone makes it to that service.  Every other day of the week there is a shorter worship service at noon and a prayer service at 5:15.

While I always attend the Wednesday Eucharist and occasionally attend other noon services and evening prayer, my personal worship discipline is to attend the morning prayer service (and Formation Group) every day.  So far, I have been able to be faithful to that commitment and it has proven to be a great blessing.  It may surprise some, but I have found that beginning each day in corporate prayer is more spiritually uplifting than sitting down at a desk to check the email that arrived overnight.

The Morning Prayer sets a tone that helps keep me mindful throughout the day about why I am at this seminary.  It reminds me that while I want to do well scholastically and while there are stressors to be faced, the ability to study the Word of God and Christian Theology is a privilege and blessing. 

I hope and pray that each of you are well and wish you God’s Peace.

Randy