VTS magazine

Dr. Lisa Kimball brings some magic to every room she walks into. People cannot help but smile when they are with her. She has such positive energy, she always has a smile, and she goes out of her way to linger in conversation with the person that others are not noticing. She has a remarkable presence.

Dr. Lisa Kimball retired in July after 17 years of service at Virginia Theological Seminary (VTS). She was the Vice President for Lifelong Learning and the James Maxwell Professor of Lifelong Christian Formation. Her tenure has been extraordinary. Building on the work of those who had gone before, she took the Center for the Ministry of Teaching and the continuing education programming and built them into a nationally recognized resource for continuing education, research, innovation, and leadership development for lay and ordained leaders across The Episcopal Church and beyond. Under her leadership, the Lifelong Learning team secured more than $13 million in grants from Lilly Endowment, Inc. It was an extraordinary achievement. The result was a whole host of innovative work.

Lisa has a deep faith. As Patricia Lyons, her wife, noted at the retirement celebration for her ministry at VTS, Lisa made a decision always to attend chapel because it is much easier to decide once to go to Chapel everyday than to decide every morning whether or not to go to Chapel. Lisa Kimball is a person who loves the Lord Jesus and loves being in the presence of God.

A primary theme for Lisa was that every Christian, by virtue of baptism, has a vocation and a ministry. She thought it a deeply misguided theology to imagine that you only have a call when you choose to become either a deacon or priest. She insisted that every Christian should be seeking to discern their call. The ministry of the baptized was the primary theme of her work at VTS.

She was the most sought-after advisor for a thesis by the students. She was often on the road delivering a talk at a diocesan convention, and she brought exceptional organizational skills to any challenge or project. She blended theological theory with a real insight into the best possible application. She was especially interested in persons on the edge of church  – perhaps those who had been hurt by church. She was an idea generating agent, people loved to have her as a conversation partner.

One senses that Lisa will seize countless opportunities in the future for service to the Church. Indeed, she will continue to serve as a consultant to VTS. So, this is not the end of her labor in the Kingdom, instead it is a transition moment to the next place where God needs her to serve.

My personal debt to Lisa is significant. She has been a wise counsellor on many occasions. But the moment I would like to highlight was her willingness to get behind the crazy idea from this still relatively new Dean for a Christian Rock Concert. This is not the normal Episcopal Church style. There was understandable nervousness. But she helped me make it happen, and it was good. We had more than 1,100 guests on the campus that day. This was the moment when I really understood Lisa. She is more than happy to be in the background helping others realize their crazy ideas, and it is precisely because she is in the background that something unfolds that is really good.

Thank you, Lisa. Thank you for being embodied witness to the values of Gospel. I appreciate so much everything you have done.