VTS magazine

Five additional faculty members have joined The General Theological Seminary  through joint appointments with Virginia Theological Seminary. The new faculty members, who bring expertise in areas including church music, ethics, and preaching, reflect the growing collaboration between the two seminaries.

Marty Wheeler Burnett, D.Min., Professor of Church Music; the Rev. Ruthanna Hooke, Ph.D., Professor of Homiletics; and Kyle Lambelet, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Ethics, have all been appointed to the GTS faculty for three-year terms.

In addition, the Rev. Joseph Thompson, Ph.D., Seminary Librarian, and John Allan Knight, J.D., Ph.D., Director of Faculty Research, have been appointed to the GTS faculty ex officio.

These appointments increase the size of the GTS faculty to 12, augmenting the work of the four faculty members who teach exclusively at GTS and the three who already hold joint appointments. The expanded faculty reflects the continued development of the Affiliation Agreement, providing GTS students with access to a broader range of expertise while maintaining General’s distinctive approach to theological education and formation.

The Rev. Michael DeLashmutt, Ph.D., dean of the Chapel of the Good Shepherd; and the Rev. April Stace, Ph.D., director of Contextual Ministry, have also been granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor. Tenure track appointments were re-introduced at GTS following the Affiliation Agreement with VTS.

VTS and GTS entered into an Affiliation Agreement in November 2022, under which the two seminaries operate as separate institutions with their own distinct identities, traditions, and ethos. They maintain independent governance, finances, and accreditation, but share a senior management team. In addition, VTS provides services for GTS, including library and research support, as well as admissions and academic administration.

Meanwhile, Vanderbilt University has completed the first round of its renovations on GTS’ campus, the Close, in New York. Under the terms of the lease agreement, Vanderbilt has taken on all the deferred maintenance on the Close, as well as covering its annual running costs and paying GTS an index-linked rent.

GTS continues to maintain a year-round presence on the Close, with offices and apartments there. Hybrid Master of Divinity students return to the Close for intensives weeks in May and August, and alumni programming takes place in June.

The first phase of renovations has seen new accessible ramps installed at several buildings, while the Seabury Auditorium and first-floor Welcome Center have been completely refreshed, along with the classrooms in Sherred. The next phase will include structural repairs to the Chapel Tower. Around 90 Vanderbilt undergraduates arrived in September to participate in a variety of semester-away programs in New York.

The hybrid MDiv at GTS continues to grow. In August, GTS welcomed 17 new MDiv students for the 2026-27 academic year. The students, who come from 15 dioceses ranging from the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California to the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont, are the fifth cohort to enroll in the hybrid MDiv program.

The formal entry of the new students was marked with GTS’ traditional Matriculation Ceremony in the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, during which students signed their names in the Seminary’s more than 200-year-old Matriculation Book. Every student at General since 1822 has signed their name in the book to affirm their commitment to the Seminary’s values.

The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D., dean and president of VTS and president of GTS, said: “It was wonderful to welcome our fifth cohort of hybrid MDiv students to General and watch them sign the Matriculation Book that generations of GTS students have signed before them. Demand for the hybrid program continues to be strong. General is growing. It is an exciting moment.”