Dean Ian Markham of Virginia Theological Seminary mentions on his daily "Dean's Commentary" today that the VTS Student Executive Council is proposing a Covenant for Communication for the VTS community to abide by as they engage with one another and work to have dialogue. I applaud this effort, and Dean Markham's support of it. I found VTS to be a place where I learned a good deal about how to listen to and be in communion with those with whom I disagree in some key areas and while I was there, it became a project of several of us to strive to be in communion with one another while also affirming the unique aspects of our positions on several issues. By no means was it some utopian paradise of divergent views, but at least there was a divergence of views on several key issues (unlike some communities - parishes, seminaries), and I think that we all benefited from the variety of persons in that place.
Finding a way to come together at the Altar and at the Foot of the Cross seems to me to be the call of all Christians, it is not easy, and effective communication and an understanding that Christ binds and connects us one to another are vitally important.
I applaud Dean Markham, Student Body President Robin Gulick, the Executive Council and the student body - well done ...
You can read Dean Markham's post below:
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Wednesday, February 27, 2008
2/27/2008
At a Student Body meeting today, the Student Executive Council will be presenting a Covenant for Communication at Virginia Theological Seminary. Partly inspired by the hard work of the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, this is the student response to the need to commit to disagreeing with others in the Church in ways that are grounded in our core theological principles.
Robin Gulick explained to the community the vision that created this covenant statement: “Conversations at VTS and ongoing conversations in the Episcopal Church (especially as they occurred online) prompted the Executive Council to address the need for healthy communication in our community. The Executive Council decided to draft a covenant to guide our communication. We believe that a community filled with Christ’s love is in large part based on Christian principles of communication as guided by our Baptismal Covenant in the Book of Common Prayer. In order to foster a community based on mutual love and respect, we pledge ourselves to follow the principles set forth in the Covenant for Communication. We commit ourselves to these principles in order to set an example for the VTS community, and we call upon the students, staff, and faculty of VTS to commit themselves to this covenant as well. We do this so that we, together, might make Virginia Theological Seminary a place where all people can feel part of a community that truly shares the love of Christ.”
We thank the Executive Council for the hard work. And as Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary, I commit myself to this covenant. This world is not good at handling disagreement; and we need to make sure that we witness to Gospel values and live constructively disagreement.
The Very Rev Ian Markham
Dean and President
