Hello St. Anthony! What a semester! I just completed my final tests and papers for the semester and am preparing to return to Scottsdale later this week. As I start packing up, I wanted to share some reflections from the past few months. First of all, seminary is hard! I was not expecting it to be easy, but the rigor of the classes exceeded what I anticipated. Granted, I probably took one class too many (an error I corrected for next semester), but I can confirm priests in the Episcopal tradition are being formed well! This past semester I took Old Testament, New Testament, Hebrew, Historical Witness of the Church (a combined theology and history course), and an introduction to liturgy class. Each class presented its own challenges, be it memorizing hundreds of identifications in New Testament or translating from Biblical Hebrew to English; every class also had its own graces. I have learned a lot, and I am ready for more! Next semester, I have more Old and New Testament; I
Hello, friends at Saint Anthony! On Saturday, August 5th, my parents moved me into a college dorm for the second time. The first time they dropped me off, I was seventeen years old, thought I wanted to be a speech pathologist, and hoped the other kids on the speech and debate team would like me. Happily, this time around, many things are different. Now, I am forty-two, and thanks to the discernment process, I have some clear direction about my calling: to be an Episcopal priest. And no speech and debate team this time; this time, I am surrounded by fascinating, faith-filled postulants, aspirants, and discerners from around the world. There is an overwhelming feeling among us that God has brought us together to learn from each other and to work together to build God's kingdom. It's pretty cool. Me and Mom outside of Moore Hall Next week will start my first official week of classes. The first term at VTS is an "August term." This means all new students take a c