The SEI community gathered at St Mary’s Monastery, Kinnoull, Perth, from Monday 28 August to Sunday 3 September for its Orientation Week 2023. Orientation Week marks the start of the academic and formational year. Orientation Week is a time for the community to worship, to learn and to relax. It includes the intake of new students as well as the return of continuing students to their formal Initial Ministerial Education. The Opening Service of the Word took place on Monday 28 August. It was a joy-filled and celebratory event to thank God for the grace and gift that is preparation for ministry in community. The Service included the ‘Principal’s Charge’, which is the opportunity for the Principal to lay out a vision for the upcoming year. In his first Charge, the Revd Dr Michael Hull, who assumed the principalship on Saturday 1 July 2023, based his thoughts on the passage from St Luke’s Gospel we often refer to as ‘On the Road to Emmaus’ (Luke 24.13–35).
Dr Hull asked the Community to underscore what he sees as four fundamentals of theological education and formation: (1) Christian community where SEI gathers and discusses the significance of the Redemption wrought in Jesus; (2) openness to Jesus as SEI walks along together only to find Him walking in their midst; (3) receptivity to the talents and gifts of the members of SEI, both students and staff; (4) and easiness, that is, travelling lightly on the journey to the heavenly Jerusalem. With these, he hopes, the hearts of students and staff in SEI will burn as the disciples’ hearts burned On the Road to Emmaus. The Service was recorded and is available here for the wider church.
Photo courtesy of Eilidh Proudfoot
