Opening Service Kicks Off Year

The first day of classes began with St. Albans students, faculty, and parents gathered in Washington National Cathedral for an Opening Day Service. As is custom, seniors and C Formers processed into the Cathedral together — “a symbol of the type of brotherhood we aspire to cultivate here at St. Albans,” noted Headmaster Robinson.

By 7:30 a.m., seniors were lined up, awaiting the arrival of their C Former partner for the service. As they arrived, there was no shortage of banter and wisdom being passed down — with conversations spanning anything from the tooth fairy to whether or not it was hard to get an A in the Upper School.

After processing into the Cathedral through a crowd of eager parent photographers, the service began, led by the Rev. Brooks Hundley. The reading was delivered by Senior Warden Nelson Dorsey ’24.

In his homily, Robinson acknowledged the impact of social media, technology, and artificial intelligence on the lives of our students, and encouraged them to seek relevance in the enduring and eternal. “Wisdom requires time,” said Robinson. “It requires getting our heads and hearts into a place that is fundamentally different from the logic of the internet and the way digital technology works ... Our most urgent task for our boys is … to help them cultivate the qualities that artificial intelligence cannot teach them: moral intelligence, emotional intelligence, knowledge, compassion, character, and wisdom – the slow wisdom of eternal things.”

As the Opening Day service concluded, the boys hurried off to their first classes and meetings, while parents enjoyed a coffee reception.