Sewanee: School of Theology at University of the South

So while in Tennessee yesterday, my family and I visited the University of the South which is located in Sewanee and home to a prominent School of Theology.

This particular school has a special place in my heart, because its where my Grandfather went to seminary, and my grandmother along with my step-grandfather founded EFM there in addition to him teaching there. And so it connects me back to the circle that drew me into seeking to become a priest in the first place.

The campus is beautiful and secluded on a mountain plateau in Tennessee. "The School of Theology at the University of the South was founded in 1878. Originally it was known as "St. Luke's" because it was housed in St. Luke's Hall, which was given by Charlotte Morris Manigault to the University specifically for a School of Theology. Following the merger of the Sewanee Military Academy with the St. Andrew's School, located a few miles from UTS, in 1981, the School of Theology moved to the former SMA campus. Because this new location was a mile away from St. Luke's Chapel (west of the UTS campus proper), seminarians worshiped in a converted classroom until a new chapel was constructed adjacent to the school in 2000."

"The School of Theology is one of the eleven seminaries officially connected with the Episcopal Church. Further, it is the only one located within the Southeastern U.S. proper, the only other Southern seminaries being located at geographical fringes of the region, Virginia Theological Seminary near Washington, D.C. and the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Historically, its position within Anglicanism is generally considered to fall within the parameters of the High Church tradition, whereas Virginia was seen as the seminary in the Low Church tradition."

The University has the feel of an older school like Yale or Harvard, since most of the buildings have been around for so long-although I've never been to either I've seen pictures, watched Gilmore Girls, and know someone who recently went to Yale-and you get the feeling that the campus is simply brimming with traditions mixed with the new technologies.

I truly enjoyed the brief time I spent on campus. The pictures included are: (above) All Saints' Chapel (below) the newer dining hall McClurg.

"Alma Mater, Sewanee:

My Glorious Mother ever be.
I will give my All to Thee
God Bless Thee to Eternity.

Thou canst make me worth the while
O Guide and Shelter me.
And all my life, through Storm and Strife,
My Star Thou'lt be."