Cancel the image of seminarian students as reclusive men, clutching their G.K. Chesterton books to shield them from the outside world.
It was a rainy Wednesday night and students at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria had gathered on the campus lawn to toss a disc and drink beer. Students talked about a soccer game earlier in the semester against Catholic University when they dressed up in their cassocks to storm the field.
“There aren’t many academic recluses here,” senior Meredith Holt said.
VTS is the largest accredited Anglican seminary in the United States, with more than 200 enrolled students. It was founded in 1823 and the “ivory towers” are historic red brick buildings still comprising the Alexandria campus.
Students say there is no mold for the ideal VTS student, nor does the school attempt to shape a certain brand of Christian.
“The ideal is to make the best Christian leader possible, but the school is very accepting of all kinds of students,” said Ms. Holt. “It’s really diverse. They want you to grow more holy into who you are.”
VTS welcomes homosexual students and students from faith traditions outside the Anglican Church.
“All of the spiritual life here is really voluntary,” said Charles Browning. “I’ve been to other Christian schools, and there is a freedom of expression here unlike anywhere else I’ve been. I think that’s what makes it feel so genuine.”
Mr. Browning said he has wanted to be a pastor since age 6, but “there were times in my life when I tried to run away from that call.” It was always his late grandmother’s vision for him to be in the church; her last wishes were for her grandson to lead her funeral ceremonies.
“It was right after the funeral that I knew I needed to follow this call and become a priest. It felt natural giving the sermon, like something I was born to do.”
Norman Whitmire knows the call well. He was a Yale-educated doctor practicing internal medicine for 14 years before he decided to become a priest.
“One day I evaluated my life and saw that I had accomplished all the goals I’d set for myself. I was living the life I wanted, and could not deny that there was still something missing,” Mr. Whitmire said.
He left behind that other life and enrolled in VTS to become ordained. “This is where I’m supposed to be,” said Mr. Whitmire. “I’m glad that I had this path, because I wouldn’t have been ready right after college.”
There are two main tracks of study at Virginia Theological: a master’s degree in theological studies and a master’s in divinity, which leads to ordination. Students say graduates are from every spectrum of religious views, from liberal to conservative.
There is a preaching class, where students are required to prepare three sermons to deliver to the class. Mr. Browning described the class as “kind of like a writer’s workshop,” where students listen and critique each other’s sermon and delivery. The class encourages students to also preach at an area parish.
Seminarian Mike Angell made his Sunday morning preaching debut at St. John’s Church in Lafayette Square across from the White House, and President Obama and the first family walked in. Mr. Angell spoke about the consequences of Christianity and accepting these challenges boldly as a community.
VTS is also making strides to encourage interfaith relations and introduce students to wider faith traditions. Along with core classes of Old and New Testament, there are requirements in world religions and global Christianity.
As a member of the Washington Theological Consortium, VTS allows its students to take classes at theological schools around the D.C. area. A class last year, called “Christianity and Islam,” was partnered with an Islamic theological college. Half the students in the class were Muslim and the other half were Christian.
It’s not your typical graduate program, either. The goal is to immerse students in not just a bookish perception of God but hands-on interaction within a community of believers. Professors live on campus and everyone joins together Wednesday afternoon after chapel for lunch.
VTS provides students with a holistic training for a life in ministry within their course work as well. The Clinical Pastoral Education class has the goal of getting students comfortable with death — they must complete 600 hours as a chaplain in a hospital and nursing homes, holding the hands of the dying.
“It stretched me in every way possible, but it was so powerful,” said Ms. Holt. “When you are seeing someone die before you, you realize this is not just graduate school, we are learning to go out and be a part of people’s lives.”
But it’s not all pray, no play. Always on the invite list to campus parties are the students of the White Horse Brewing Group, which is known for its specialty beers.
Mr. Browning said the students and other people at Virginia Theological Seminary have surprised him the most.
“I thought there would be a lot of introverted nerds,” he said, “but people here are really cool, outgoing and young.”
“OK,” he added. “I guess we’re all a little nerdy in our own ways, though.”
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