Adapted from an announcement by Virginia Theological Seminary:
The Rev. Shannon Preston, who finishes her studies at Virginia Theological Seminary this year, will join the first class of the Community St. Anselm in September.
The Community of St. Anselm, an initiative of the Archbishop of Canterbury, invites young people from across the world to join a monastic community for one year at Lambeth Palace.
“I see immense potential in the vision for this community,” Preston said. “Within the structure of the community there seems to be ample space in which the Holy Spirit might move and work. The Way of Life [part of the community’s rule] is one that will be challenging and, largely because of that, fruitful.
“I am eager to meet the other community members and to live, pray, and serve with people from around the world and with very different stories and experiences than my own,” she said.
“I am absolutely thrilled for Shannon,” said the Rev. Robert S. Heaney, director of the seminary’s Center for Anglican Communion Studies. “CACS exists to promote and practice deeper community for the Communion. It is wonderful, therefore, that a VTS graduate will be at the praying heart of the Anglican Communion.”
“At the center of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s vision for the Communion is prayer, and that reflects the center of our community and our work at VTS,” said the Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, dean and president. “We are very proud that, from many applications, Shannon was one of a few selected to join the community at Lambeth. We pray that God will continue to work in and through her in this incoming year.”
