Good morning. 
 

Welcome to the 2025-2026 school year at St. Christopher’s School. What a perfect morning it is for us to gather as one community to officially commence a new school year together. I want to welcome all of you—students, faculty, staff, and parents—to this beautiful campus, to this joyful worship service, and to this celebration of a united Saints community, one that shares a mission to know, love, and celebrate boys—all types of boys, and especially each of the 1,039 unique ones under our care this school year.
 

Let’s take a moment and recognize our Senior and Kindergarten classes, the Class of 2026 and the Class of 2038, respectively, who just processed in together, following tradition while demonstrating the remarkable growth that takes place on our campus over 13 or even 14 years. Will you please join me in recognizing our Senior and Kindergarten boys and their families?
 

I want to thank our three chaplains and Mrs. Court for their service this morning, as well as our student leaders Elisha, Matt, and Jackson, and I want to welcome the president of Church Schools in the Diocese of Virginia, Mr. Henry Broaddus, who is here with us this morning. Will you please join me in thanking all of these individuals for their service and leadership?
 

Seniors, this is your year to lead the St. Christopher’s community. Some of you have been part of this community for over a decade, watching other classes lead before you, while others joined us more recently in the Middle or Upper School. Regardless of when you came to this community, it is yours now and you are a vital part of it. 
 

One thing I have learned during my time at St. Christopher’s is that the caliber of any school year is directly related to the caliber, leadership, and level of investment from our senior class. Seniors, what kind of a school year do you want this to be? Do you want it simply to happen, because it will, or do you want to make things happen, intentionally, as a result of your leadership and influence? It is entirely your choice.
 

Gentlemen, I urge you to choose the latter. Lean into your leadership role on campus, embrace it and this community, just as Elisha said, and we will follow your lead and make this both an enjoyable and enriching year together, filled with honor and integrity, excellence, community, and brotherhood. Do this, and I promise you that nine months from now, when so many of us will gather right here to celebrate your Commencement, you and we will feel a sense of pride that is hard to put into words but that will sustain you and us for years to come.
 
I mentioned that we have 1,039 boys in our care this year—the most in School history. We should all be proud of the growth and strength of the Saints Nation, with students from nearly 60 different zip codes throughout the Richmond region, boys and families from all backgrounds and perspectives, a student body that has nearly doubled in racial diversity over the past decade. We are a better and stronger Saints community for this variety, for this diversity, for this strength.
 

Included in our 1,039 students are 141 new boys, the largest group of new students in the history of our school. We also welcome 23 new employees, faculty and staff who bring their own gifts and perspective, all of which will make us stronger in the months to come. If you are a new student, a new parent, or a new employee, please place your hand high into the air so we can see you and properly welcome you to the Saints community. 

Episcopal churches and schools like St. Christopher’s are known to practice something called “radical hospitality,” which is a way of extending ourselves, over-extending ourselves, really, to make these new students, families, and employees feel seen and welcome on our campus and in our community. 

To the veterans of this community, we have a job to do—to help welcome these newest Saints. Let us do it together, with sincerity, compassion, and purpose.
 

To all Saints, we have another job to do together this school year—And that is to heed the scripture reading this morning to build our house, our home here at St. Christopher’s, on a firm and lasting foundation. We can do that, authentically, through our aptly named Pillars, our Community Pillars, which provide clarity as to what we value most as a school community.
 

Veterans, you have heard them plenty of times before. For our newest Saints, our Community Pillars, the things we care most about, are Honor & Integrity, the Pursuit of Excellence, and Community & Brotherhood.

What do these words mean, in practice, both on and off our campus? Here is what they mean to me.

Honor and Integrity—Tell the truth, be kind, consider and act upon the needs of others, choose the hard right over the easy wrong, even and especially when no one is watching.
 

Pursuit of Excellence—Whatever it is you are doing here at St. Christopher’s, whether it’s core academic work, practicing a musical instrument, competing on a sports or robotics team, or offering community service, perform that activity to the utmost of your ability. Don’t accept mediocrity or “good enough.” Most importantly, enjoy the journey, the pursuit of that excellence, over any particular moment of attainment. Embrace the challenges of school and life every day.
 

Finally, Community and Brotherhood—Be your brother’s keeper, look out for the guy to your left and to your right. Take care of every member in this community, particularly the guy who may be lonely, who may be having a hard time, or who could use a helping hand. Embrace our Episcopal identity and our call to radical hospitality, radical kindness, radical inclusion. 
 

Know that each of you is part of a much bigger community, a Saints Nation that extends throughout Richmond, the state of Virginia, in every state of our country, and all over the world. St. Christopher’s is bigger than any one of us, and we are all fortunate to be part of it. Let’s pay our good fortune forward by getting out of our comfort zone here on St. Christopher’s Road and interacting with the broader Richmond community. Build bridges both within the Saints Nation and beyond it.
 
I will close with the words of the Baptismal Covenant of the Book of Common Prayer, which calls on us to “strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being.”
 

If we can do that, gentlemen, strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being here on our campus and well beyond it, we will surely live into our Community Pillars and fulfill our mission as a school. Moreover, we will reflect God’s love for each of us and our love for one another. God bless you all, and let’s have a great year together. Amen.