Life at Nashotah House
Life at Nashotah House
Nashotah House Theological Seminary was founded in 1842 as a mission to the western frontier. Incorporated as a seminary in 1847, Nashotah House trains seminarians in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. The Anglo-Catholic tradition, as practiced in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, teaches orthodox, traditional views on the Bible and the primacy of Holy Scripture, and teaches a sacramental, traditional piety in its worship.
Please click here for more history on Nashotah House.
Nashotah House places a primary focus on worship, and the Chapel is the central building on campus. All other activities of the campus ultimately revolve around the chapel. Since worship is the primary thing we do in Christianity, it makes sense that the chapel should be the center of life at Nashotah House. Nashotah offer three worship service per day (Morning Prayer, Holy Eucharist, and Evening Prayer) and attendance at every service is required of all seminarians.
Nashotah House is shared both by single students and families. The single students live in apartments located above the cloisters. Married students live in one of two family housing facilities, the Peaks, or the Flats. The flats are older, yet newly renovated, one-story apartments. The Peaks are newer, multi-story apartments, also available for families. The family housing area also houses the Tender Hearts daycare center for the children of the seminarians.
Community Life
As mentioned before, the life of the seminary revolves around the chapel, and the seminarians and their families gather on Thursday nights for the community Holy Eucharist service. This service is usually a solemn mass complete with hymns and performances by Nashotah's chorister program. Once a month, after the community Eucharist, the seminary offers a community dinner at the refectory, and all seminarians and their families are invited.
The refectory is also a social center of the campus. After morning prayer, the seminarians eat breakfast together. After classes, the seminarians eat lunch together.
The seminary also hosts several other activities, such as trips to England, mission trips, and the annual Lavabo Bowl, a football game against archrival Seabury-Western Seminary.
Service
Service is an intergral part of the seminary. Since Jesus Christ came among us as one who served, students at Nashotah House are required to do service projects around the campus.
In addition, seminarians are also asked to serve in different capacities at parishes in the Milwaukee area. For this reason, Nashotah House does not a regular Sunday morning worship service.