T4 Welcome Back Festivities

The NDS community welcomed back the theology four class with Solemn Vespers and a banquet. The T4 seminarians participate in 5 month internship as deacons or those preparing for diaconate ordination from May until mid-October. NDS is the only seminary in the United States that provides this extended pastoral internship evaluating and assessing pastoral skills as the men prepare for ordination in the last year of seminary formation. The evening began with Solemn Vespers with the rector exhorting the community to “give what belongs to God” drawing the Sunday gospel that day. Anything less is nothing more than mediocrity, Father Wehner noted. Following prayer, the community enjoyed an outdoor reception before going into the main auditorium for a banquet which features toasts, addresses, and prime rib. The evening closed out with the traditional “welcome back video” humorously tracing the events of the past months since the T4 men have been away. Boasting a healthy enrollment of nearly 140 men, we are grateful for the blessings of this upcoming year.