2025: Year in Review

The Rev. Kevin Laskowski, priest-in-charge of St. John’s Centreville, reflected on curiosity and certainty after his three-day dominance on Jeopardy! Before bowing out in the Tournament of Champions on this date, he wore his clerical collar and demonstrated surprising knowledge of rap music.

Abingdon Episcopal Church, established near Yorktown, marked its 375th anniversary by celebrating current growth and looking to the future. History was barely mentioned as the focus stayed on the 14 people confirmed.

At The Rt. Rev. Channing Moore Williams’s gravesite in Richmond’s Hollywood Cemetery, 48 students and teachers from Tokyo ended their 7,000-mile pilgrimage to honor the missionary bishop who founded their school.

Pace Center, an interfaith hub at Virginia Commonwealth University and ministry partner of the Diocese of Virginia, received one of 19 grants from The Episcopal Church Executive Council to develop young adult and campus ministries. The $4,000 grant will sponsor Community Meals.

Diocese of Virginia clergy poured themselves into sensory learning about joyful resistance and belonging—and they also danced at their annual retreat at Shrine Mont.

Christchurch School opened in 1921 as one of five Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia and occupies roughly 79 rural acres on the Rappahannock River in Middlesex County.

Assistant Bishop Mark A. Bourlakas, Canon for Discipleship Ricardo Sheppard, and new administrative staff joined the Diocese to increase capacity to love Jesus, embody justice, and be disciples.

Pride observances carried greater political meaning this year for Episcopalians like The Very Rev. Burl Salmon of The Falls Church, who blessed throngs while marching 1.8 miles in the nation’s capital.

With deep experience in youth programming and camp directing in several dioceses, Greg Randall began his ministry at Shrine Mont Camps. The Rev. Richard Blackburn leads the Shrine Mont Camps Reconciliation seeking divine guidance through listening, sharing, and prayer.

Padre Lee Gandiya finished bicycling 1,177 miles across the Commonwealth of Virginia to raise more than $20,000 for a new roof at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in King George, built in 1766.

People with strong ties to the Diocese’s conference center packed the Shrine of the Transfiguration for a luminous centennial service. Five former bishops, current Bishop E. Mark Stevenson, and former Presiding Bishop Michael Curry took part.

Appointed this day, 17 dedicated people who bring diverse experiences and perspectives to this sacred work will help guide the Diocese in its continued journey toward racial justice, healing, and repair.

The 28 participants in the 2025 Racial Justice and Healing Pilgrimage moved among historic sites in and around Richmond, confronting more than 400 years of injustice toward Indigenous peoples and kidnapped and enslaved Africans.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on this day, killing dozens of people and prompting St. Peter’s in Port Royal to gather food and financial contributions for its mission partner, Victoria Primary School near Linstead.

Youth from across the Diocese started a new chapter in leadership to connect peers from each parish. Before the pandemic, knowledge like this was typically passed down and hyped up among diocesan youth.

Deeper connections were made, and distortions of the gospel condemned, at the 231st Annual Convention at the Convention Center in Fredericksburg. College delegates successfully lobbied for passage of a resolution to stand with immigrants.

As Trinity Episcopal Church in Charlottesville prepared 40 cots for unhoused men during freezing temperatures, one died overnight in a nearby park. Rector Cass Bailey implored the Diocese to offer shelter no matter how disruptive.

Nearly 20 congregations are interviewing for five spots in the first cohort of Pathways to Prayer and Practice, which seeks to deepen children’s worship, try new approaches, and grow in helping young people fall in love with Jesus. Tyler Henderson began leading this program in 2025.