DMin program

5 pm deadline

DMin program

DMin program

DMin program

On Saturday August 7th, seminarians, children, spouses, faculty and staff worked together on a campus clean up. The clean-up part of a very hot day began at 9 a.m. outside the North Dorm where a crowd gathered to collect tools and receive instructions.

The first task was laying new mulch in the playground. Everyone was involved. Some hauled mulch in wheelbarrows. Children used their wagons. Others attacked “mulch mountains” with rakes and hoes. David Wagschal, who is joining the seminary faculty to teach Church History, showed his skills on the SVOTS tractor.

While most were working in the playground, Fr. Chad Hatfield, our Chancellor and a keen gardener, was working to tidy the flowerbeds and trees in the front of the Rangos Building. Once the playground flooring was in place, the crew moved on to tidy the shoreline alongside the Lakeside married-student apartments, collecting bags full of debris.

Some enthusiastic seminarians took garbage bags down to the base of the waterfall and collected the litter that had swept down from Central Ave. through Crestwood Lake. Our Dean, Fr. John Behr, and his family collected glass, bottles, and assorted other refuse from the Seminary’s border with Scarsdale Road.

Many filled refuse bags and blistered hands later, the community happily ate vegetarian pizza together on the veranda of the Germack Building.

“I was really impressed by the commitment to the Seminary that the community showed today,” said Fr. Chad. “Just about everyone on campus showed up cheerfully and worked extremely hard.”

Job well done!

Thursday August 26th was warm but not too hot — a perfect day for a SVOTS picnic! New students, their families, some faculty and their families, with other seminarians and families already on campus enjoyed a cook-out on the porch of the Germack Building after Vespers.

Adults sat on steps, on grass, on stone walls, and ate and talked and laughed. The children were in constant motion, attracted by the brook, the ball game on the front lawn, and Professor Bouteneff’s very well-behaved dog.

SVOTS students and spouses are determined to stay active in mind and body this year. Two distinct exercise groups have already formed thanks to the enthusiasm and initiative of Mat. Ashley Foster:

Mat. Ashley has organized and hosted a women’s exercise group that will be meeting regularly during the semester. The first meeting was a resounding success with many women from the SVOTS community coming together to flex their muscles and encourage each other.

Exercise is not just for the women, however! Mat. Ashley is also starting a running group intended to nurture beginners from unathletic couch potatoes to enthused runners capable of running a 5K event. The runners will meet three times a week, beginning on Tuesday, Sept 7th.