Follow Friday: VTS Dean's Commentary

My seminary, Virginia Theological Seminary, has a wonderful Dean and President, The Very Rev. Ian Markham and he aims to blog just about every weekday of the year.  He is on sabbatical right now, so one of his assistant deans, the Rev. Melody Knowles, blogs today about my old seminary flag football team, The Fightin' Friars.

Go ahead and follow Dean Markham at "Dean's Commentary"!

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey



Virginia Theological Seminary aims to cultivate a community where wellness thrives. Yoga classes have been offered on campus as well as Zumba and a number of student-led teams. There is also a Weight Watchers group made up of students, faculty, and staff members that will begin meeting on Fridays tomorrow. Many members of the VTS community wear a FitBit to keep track of their steps and "nudge" them to make healthy decisions.



On Saturday, April 2nd, the Fighting Friars were victorious in Union Presbyterian Seminary's Annual Ultimate Frisbee Tournament. Three captains, Michaelene Miller, Scott Parnell, and Darren Steadman, led VTS to victory in three of their four games. They won against the host team of Union Seminary, the only other team to win three games. The tournament included Seminary teams from multiple states and denominations. It is great to see students from many different denominations have a great time together in the context of fun and wellness. 

The Rev. Melody D. Knowles, Ph.D.
Acting Dean and President
Vice President of Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Old Testament

VTS Fightin' Friars Gear for Sale at CafePress

In support of Virginia Theological Seminary, I have launched a "CafePress" store that has all sorts of items with the "Fightin' Friars" Old School Logo on it. The "Fightin' Friars" are the beloved frisbee, soccer, basketball, and flag football "teams" at VTS. All profits will go to the VTS Annual Fund, so buy early, buy often!

Here is the link: http://www.cafepress.com/vtsstuff

And here is some of the gear:

Three years ago this week

Adam P. Goren, RIP

My friend Steve, over at "Draughting Theology" has a post today about our friend and seminary colleague, Adam Goren, who died three years ago this week. Adam was a wonderful person and while I knew him mostly on the Flag Football field, his passion for life and joyful presence was wonderful and contagious. It sounds sorta trivial and not that profound that I knew him mostly from running into each other on the line down on the Trotter Bowl at football practice. He was strong, a good leader, and loved being at seminary and was on his way to be a wonderful priest in the Episcopal Church. As I am about to be ordained to the priesthood next week, I remember Adam and am sad that the church and the world missed out on experiencing more of what might have been a rich and long ministry among us. It was a profoundly sad time three years ago as we mourned the loss of Adam and my heart is heavy still. One of his good friends posted this entry on a blog entry shortly after Adam's death, and it is a fitting tribute.

This isn't a picture of Adam, but we are playing with the kind of intensity that he modeled