Ms. Via Preaches the Good Word

Ten years ago, Ms. Mary Via was the chaplain of the Lower School and also the religion teacher for 4th and 5th grade. Now she’s back to doing what she loves.

Ms. Via got her degree in Cultural Anthropology and Religion at Duke University, and then went to work at a boys school not too different from our own up in New York. While there, she fell in love with the Episcopal school culture and teaching boys. After a year, she attended Yale Divinity School to get her Master’s in Religion, a prerequisite for most jobs in the field of religion. Following her graduation, she came to St. Christopher’s and taught and preached until 10 years ago, when she moved to Washington, D.C., to work at St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes Upper School in Alexandria. After that, she moved to San Diego with her growing family, where she worked as a children’s youth and family minister at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.

Ms. Via is glad to be back. She feels “a deep sense of call around working [in] Episcopal schools.” She feels that it’s the future of the church, as a regular church community is far too “insular.” Differing from Episcopal spaces, where there is room to “meet people where they are” and still spread God’s word. Outside of school life, Ms. Via enjoys traveling with her family, watching college basketball and catching up with friends. She is also an avid biker, having biked across the nation from Virginia Beach to Cannon Beach, Oregon. Today, she serves as the Lower School Religion Teacher and Chaplain at St. Catherine’s.