Seminarian Update: Christian Basel

Incoming VTS students and family members, including Christian Basel (back row near left altar candle), on a visit to nearby Washington National Cathedral.

Christian Basel on the campus of Virginia Theological Seminary.

​The Episcopal Church in South Carolina has three seminarians attending schools of theology this fall as they prepare themselves on the path toward Holy Orders in The Episcopal Church: Christan Basel, Lauren Kay, and Charles Jenkins. This month we are sharing an update on each of them, along with their contact information. Please keep our seminarians in your prayers!

Christian Basel is at the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, VA. He writes: 

I arrived at VTS to start my junior year just two short days after my last Sunday at Grace and began intensive classes in Biblical Greek that same week. The summer term at VTS was relatively quiet and allowed me to meet all my classmates and many of the faculty and staff around campus, as well as to get acclimated with the area and the rhythm of life at seminary. Now that the fall semester has started, things have picked up considerably with the rest of the students returning, a full worship and class schedule, and many activities.

For the first quarter this fall, I have been taking classes on the Old Testament, New Testament, and Liturgics, in addition to continuing Greek. In the second quarter of this fall, I will pick up Church History, Intermediate Musicianship, and a class on Iconography & Spirituality, along with Old and New Testament classes.

VTS is a place that reflects the whole Anglican Communion, with students from around the United States and several other countries. I have enjoyed the rhythm of daily worship with my peers in a variety of forms and am on one of the student worship planning teams for the fall. An important part of my first year is exploring the many local Episcopal churches on Sunday mornings. I have been to several different parishes, each with their own unique traditions and customs, and am thankful to see the full breadth of the Episcopal Church and its worship practices. There is such a great feeling of excitement and expectation in visiting so many different parishes, as I will be interning in one of these parishes next year.

Although I miss Charleston and South Carolina deeply, Alexandria is a wonderful city with so much to offer and even has its very own King Street. Being so near to Washington, D.C., is truly a blessing. It is such an enriching experience to be close to so many wonderful sights and opportunities, and there is always something guaranteed to see or do on Sunday afternoons after church.

South Carolina is always in my prayers and I look forward to sharing with all of you my experiences at VTS and all that I will learn and grow in to.
Peace!

Christian Basel
​[email protected]
Virginia Theological Seminary
3737 Seminary Road, Box 207
Alexandria, VA 22304

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