"Preaching is an important part of a student's formation at Virginia Seminary," said the Very Rev. Ian Markham, VTS dean and president. "The training we provide prepares students to follow the Gospel mandate to go out into the world to preach the good news."

Preaching on the 10th chapter of Luke's Gospel, Kinman focused his remarks on God's radical imperative for Christians to connect with and love one another, beginning with, according to Kinman, the simple act of eye contact. "Not making eye contact" said Kinman, "is the mantra of urban living...when we make eye contact with someone, we make a connection. We establish relationship. We invite them into our lives. When we do that, we become vulnerable...and vulnerability compromises safety."

"Christ's call to us to make eye contact," continued Kinman, "is to venture into the neighborhoods of poverty and literally to look the 'we' who live there in the eyes, and listen to them and learn from them...not to drive by or drive around but to gaze on people on society's margins with compassion, to bind their wounds and love them extravagantly."

Established in 1998, the John Hines Preaching Award is named after a former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church and 1933 graduate of VTS. The award is given yearly by the Seminary to the outstanding sermon entry "where prophetic voice is central within the sermon." The award celebrates the ministry of preaching and its importance in our Church by recognizing outstanding sermons that are deeply grounded in scripture and focused on the seen and unseen needs of the worshipping community, the nation and the world.

Members of the John Hines Award Committee selected Kinman's sermon because of its thoughtfulness, attention to text, organization and ability to convey a pointed message in a gentle but straightforward way. "This year's winning sermon," said the Rev. Steve Hines, son of John Hines, "is an eloquent exposition of the story of the Good Samaritan, with the author emphasizing the aspect of 'risk-taking' inherent in God's command to be merciful." The full text of Kinman's sermon is available here.

The current members of the John Hines Committee are: the Rev. Harold Cobb, rector of Grace Church, Norfolk, Virginia; the Rev. Steve Hines, son of John Hines; the Rt. Rev. A. Theodore Eastman, retired bishop of Maryland; the Rev. Dr. Judith M. McDaniel, The Howard Chandler Robbins Professor of Homiletics at VTS; Walker Taylor III, of Wilmington, North Carolina and friend of John Hines; and Betty Wanamaker, active member of Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill in Alexandria, Virginia.

VTS invites all preachers -- bishops, priests, deacons and laity of the Episcopal Church -- to submit sermons. Sermons preached outside the United States by clergy who are canonically resident in a diocese of the Episcopal Church and by lay people who are parishioners in an Episcopal Church congregation are acceptable as well. The deadline for submissions is December 15.