Ginny Wilder
Dear All Souls Family,
My summer break from Virginia Theological Seminary has ended which means it is time for me head back to Alexandria to begin my final year of seminary. I am taking with me many stories, lessons, smiles and hugs I gained while being an intern within this wonderful church family. Coming “home” and worshipping with you all has really done wonders for my heart and soul. I wish there were more words in our language for the gratitude I feel when I consider your support, prayers and companionship in this journey. Thank you doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface.
This school year will be one that is packed with classes, field education, thesis writing and working as the voice of the student body on various committees. I will also begin the search process for my first job after seminary. This time of search is filled with prayer, discernment, hope and sometimes frustration. I ask for your prayers for us as we transcend the waters of competition while maintaining a commitment to community and loving each other through this rite of passage.
I want to take a moment to share with you some of the activities I will participate in this year. Without your support, none of this would be possible and I am grateful for your presence and witness.
I will be heading to London in September to represent VTS at the Compass Rose Society meeting. We will gather from across the globe as the Anglican Communion to discuss global mission with the Arch Bishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. Our time together will be focused on poverty and injustice. I cannot wait to work towards solution with my Anglican brothers and sisters.
I have been invited to be a mentor in the training of the 2nd year students in their field education. We will gather once a week, talk about their experiences within their individual parishes and do theological reflection regarding the events that they experience. All 2nd year students must participate in this forum which serves as a way of capturing the lessons to be learned through our work within the church. This kind of environment is a wonderful way of getting future clergy to see how working with one another, processing together and sharing our insights not only benefits the group but all those we minister too. I am honored to be invited to help mentor but I also look forward to learning from this group.
As the student body president, I will be working and serving on the VTS Board of Trustees for the next two years. As our school makes decisions regarding the chapel, employing green technologies and future faculty hiring decisions, my job in the process is to be the voice of our students. I have had the pleasure of getting to know several members on the board and I look forward to getting know others while working together to advance the vision of Virginia Theological Seminary.
My studies will be more focused this year on the topics I want to know more about which are Liturgics and Systematic Theology. I have also decided to craft a thesis that will take current organizational development theories and cross reference them with faith development theories while keeping an eye on the emergent church communities. I cannot wait to get started!
I hope you all can hear and read in these lines that I am truly grateful for the opportunity you all have given me to go to school and embrace the call of service in my heart and soul. I have been taught so many wonderful lessons in and out of the classroom by teachers, students, parishioners and people I have met along the way. I am excited about what this final year holds for me but at the same time, saddened by the reality that this is it—one year left before leaving the “bubble” of seminary and going out into the world to preach the Gospel.
Your thoughts, prayers and support have fed me along the way. I am grateful to have had one more summer at All Souls to worship, sing, pray and to continue along this journey together with you. Thank you for all that you are and all the ways you support me.
In peace,
Ginny Wilder
VTS Class of 2012