A Letter for Leaders in the Virginia Conference of The United Methodist Church

 

It is good to greet you during this blessed season of Advent. 

As many of you know, each spring, in partnership with the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church, Virginia Wesleyan College hosts a workshop for UMC pastors that yields continuing education units. The College is proud of its affiliation with the United Methodist Church. Our College is a community of faith, learning and service. VWC is both historically a United Methodist college and in vivo a United Methodist college.

To prepare for this year's workshop, Chaplain Greg West and I have been meeting with a variety of United Methodist pastors and leaders to seek their wisdom on how to make the workshop even more helpful to our pastors. One thing we are certain of already is that we should more intentionally integrate participants of the workshop into the other programs of the College, like the Center for Sacred Music, the Center for the Study of Religious Freedom, and Marlin Ministries.

Toward that end, we will expand its scope from "workshop" to "Institute" and from one event to a series of events. We will name this new entity the Robert F. Boyd Institute after a co-founding member of our Board of Trustees. It is a fitting and proper way to recognize Bob's commitment to Virginia Wesleyan College and our affiliated denomination.

We look forward to hosting this year's Institute and welcoming Virginia Conference pastors and church leaders to our campus on March 28-29, 2016 for "The Future Identity and Mission of the Church" with Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker. We will mail an informational brochure about this event early in the new year. We hope to see everyone in March!

Sincerely,