It is important that our students develop a rich and reliable prayer life. This means providing the opportunity to pray in community day in and day out, year after year.
Being an Episcopalian, being an Anglican, means different things to different people. There are regional differences, not only in the United States, but around the world. We all share some threads of common life and belief, and across the Anglican Communion we center ourselves around one version or another of the Book of Common Prayer. Here in Sewanee, as an Episcopal seminary, nothing is more central to our life together than the two books of the tradition—the Holy Scriptures and the Book of Common Prayer.
At Sewanee, we believe that our students should be exposed to the entire breadth of the Prayer Book, the Hymnal, and the auxiliary resources that go with them. We are not interested in familiarity, but fluency. Knowing how they work and how to use them transforms them from texts to tools for ministry whether one is in a parish setting, on a university campus, in prison ministry, or a chaplaincy of any sort.
It is important that our students develop a rich and reliable prayer life. This means providing the opportunity to pray in community day in and day out, year after year. It is a high priority to encourage each other’s capacity to pray, to pray more deeply, and to form the discipline to pray more faithfully. It’s absolutely a critical part of the spiritual formation for ministry. Whatever the context of one’s ministry, a reliable, disciplined prayer life is critical for survival and the foundation of thriving in ministry. Seminary is the time to get that discipline well in place.
Rule of Life:
A rule of life is a pattern that is consciously adopted to support one’s commitment to live as God calls us. Rather than a burdensome obligation, it is a means of creating balance and harmony in one’s life, establishing practices that nurture one’s life in Christ. All seminarians will develop a rule of life at the beginning of each year. Click here to read more about the Sewanee Rule of Life.
Groups:
Under the guidance of their advisor, every student meets biweekly in a group format to discuss their Rule of Life, what’s working (and what needs some work!). These groups provide guidance, accountability, and stability in the spiritual life of all students—especially as they develop the habits of the heart necessary for a deeper discipleship.
Spiritual Direction:
If the primary purpose of seminary is reorienting one's life around prayer, study, and service, then by definition there is a period of being "disoriented." Every seminarian is provided, at no cost ot them, a spiritual director to suppor personal and spiritual development. Click here to read more abour spiritual direction.
Quiet Days:
Twice a year the School of Theology community–students, faculty, and staff–gather for a quiet day to pray and reflect on topics facilitated by an invited guest.
Chapel:
The Book of Common Prayer is the center of our common life here and the rhythem of our day is structured around the rhythm of the chapel bell. Click here to see our sample chapel schedule and read more about life in the Chapel of the Apostles.
Church Music:
Music can shape and nurture the soul in a powerful and profound way and the School of Theology has a commitment to church music second to none. Students will have access to a variety of courses, the chapel choir, weekly choral even song sung by the seminary chamber ensemble, as well as various offerings from the music department at the College of Arts & Sciences. Click here to read more about church music.
