Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS) has welcomed 45 new students for the 2025-26 academic year.
The entering class includes students from 26 dioceses across the United States, as well as from Burundi and South Korea. It is made up of 21 Master of Divinity students, seven Master of Arts students, seven Anglican Studies students, eight Pathway to Ministry students, and two Diploma in Theology students.
VTS was also excited to receive seven students from denominations outside of The Episcopal Church, including members of the Methodist Church, African Methodist Episcopal Church and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
In addition to the new students, the Seminary welcomed two visiting professors this fall. Hannah Black, Ph.D., joins VTS as Visiting Professor of History and Theology for a two-year appointment through the Louisville Institute. The Rev. Janiece Renee Williams, a Ph.D. candidate in the Graduate Department of Religion at Vanderbilt University, will serve as Visiting Lecturer in Homiletics for one year. The Rev. Kevin Vandiver, Ph.D., Senior Pastor at Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Washington D.C., also returned for a second year as the Martha Horne Visiting Professor for the 2024-25 academic year.
The academic year began with the traditional Opening Eucharist with Academic Procession. It included a Matriculation Rite, which was introduced two years ago, during which members of the entering class affirm their commitment to the VTS community.
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D., Dean and President of VTS, said: “Each fall is a moment of hopefulness. A new class enters Virginia Theological Seminary to learn the tradition, to serve the Church and to bear witness to the Gospel in the world. This group of students is diverse in many ways, and we are honored to play our part in their formation.”
In his sermon at today’s Opening Eucharist, Dean Markham reaffirmed the Seminary’s commitment to LGBTQIA+ inclusion, pointing out that such inclusion was not a concession to culture, but rather an expression of our deepest theological commitments because it is what we have learned of God through Christ. He added that this principle extended beyond sexuality to other pressing issues of our time.
He said: “Students, as you begin this academic year, let me remind you: your studies are not a distraction from the urgent questions of our day. They are the means by which you learn to interpret those questions rightly and to discern faithful responses grounded in the Christian tradition. We are all students – lifelong students – who learn of God, live as disciples, and bear witness to others and to our time. This is the work of VTS. May God grant us grace to do it faithfully.”
The start of the new academic year follows the successful conclusion of August Term, during which the incoming class spent time on campus for orientation, learning and worship.
VTS’ three-year, residential Master of Divinity (M.Div.) is designed to meet the educational and formational needs of students in the ordination process in The Episcopal Church or in an equivalent process in another denomination.
The Seminary also offers three specialized Master of Arts (M.A.) degrees in the areas of Biblical Studies, Church and Witness, and Christian Formation, and several one-year master’s-level programs. The Diploma in Anglican Studies provides students who already have an M.Div. degree the opportunity to dive deeply into the Anglican tradition in preparation for ordination. The Pathway to Ministry program enables students to begin a one-year course of studies and graduate with a Diploma in Theology or continue into the M.A. or M.Div. programs.
Full-time residential students on all Master’s-level programs are covered by full scholarship funding, covering their tuition, housing and meal plans.