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ART AND THEOLOGY — THE EVENING SCHOOL
 Engaging with our Challenging Past
An Evening School Visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture
The Evening School at VTS arranged a group visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Riley Temple, an Evening School instructor, gathered the group on the 4th floor of the museum, which presents a continually changing diorama of African American accomplishments and contributions to United States history and culture. The first stop was the August Wilson display in the Theater collection, particularly of interest since many students had spent the past semester with Riley Temple exploring the theology of modern playwrights, and especially August Wilson. It was a fitting opening for a journey back hundreds of years to the beginning of slavery and racism in our country. Most people went at their own speed through the rest of the museum.
 The group gathered again the following week to share their reactions to what they had seen and heard. Those visiting for the first time shared a common sense of being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information and artifacts. Many chose to journey only so far, leave, and return later for further exploration before losing all concentration and understanding. Some commented on how the building feels like sacred or holy ground, sharing so much sorrow and so much triumph, almost like the arc of movement from Good Friday to Easter. Who we were mattered less than how we responded to the power of the story told in the museum.
 Riley challenged participants to notice where we saw God in the displays, building on August Wilson’s frequently repeated question, “How can the God of the enslaver be the God of the enslaved?” One person saw God in the number of things that families preserved from the days of slavery, long before there was any thought that they might be important to the nation. Another commented on a small American flag sewn into the dress of a newly freed slave after the Civil War. The power of resilience, which the museum highlights throughout the exhibits, became its own theme; that human determination to live, thrive, and be free. A first time visitor reported a much clearer sense of the call to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” All of us plan to return for further exploration of this question, and our own thoughts as well.
— Reflection by Christine Crosby, Evening School student
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We recently celebrated 50 years of continuing education programs here at VTS – programs that have nurtured countless faithful lives engaging with the changing landscape of our church, our nation and our world. Through the years, continuing education programs have challenged us to engage scripture deeply, to wrestle with our beliefs and to seek how we are called to be emissaries of God’s love in a world that often seems devoid of love.
Reflect on August Wilson's Play Two Trains Running
Worship Matters — The Art of Psalm-Singing
Worship Matters — The Use of Incense in Worship 
Voices From the Holy Land is an annual film series in the D.C. Metro area that explores the complex, difficult, and emotional issues related to justice, human rights, and peace in the Holy Land. Through award-winning documentaries and post-screening discussions, we examine key historical, ethnic, political, and religious issues through the lives & eyes of the people living in the Holy Land. The Voices From the Holy Land Film Series is supported by an interfaith (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Unitarian) and interdenominational coalition of about thirty-five faith communities. 
