Together we make The Episcopal Church stronger
It was Paddy Cavanaugh (Class of 2023) who spotted a remarkable find at an antique store in Easton, MD. At the top of this framed ledger, we find the words “Monthly Report of Sick and Wounded Soldiers in U.S. Army General Hospital, at Fairfax Seminary, Va., for the week ending October 31, 1862, at 6 A.M.”
Some 110 persons are listed; 13 returned to duty, seven were discharged, and eight died. The conditions include typhoid malarial fever, diarrhea, acute rheumatism, and ptyalism. The handwriting is careful, precise, and elegant. Although faded, it is still readable. All these people were on the campus in 1862. It is a beautiful, although poignant, record of the past.
Such a record today would be electronic. It would be a patient portal where details of your medical history are instantly available to any medical professional. In every area of our lives, we have moved on from paper. It is a relatively recent development. After all, when I arrived in 2007 at Virginia Theological Seminary, I subscribed to The New York Times, and a newspaper would appear in the yard of the Deanery. The paper would leave newsprint on my fingers and, more often than not, was left half read on the kitchen counter. Most of the major records were still on paper. Filing was always an issue; manuscripts, letters, and contracts all needed to be carefully filed away. We had a fax machine in the office, a marvel of science that enabled swift exchange of correspondence.
The 1862 U.S. Army General Hospital.
Descendants at the 2024 Gala. Photo: Rashid Mahdi, Six Half Dozen
Now I subscribe to three national newspapers, the Economist, and several religious magazines. Only one comes through the mail. All the rest, I access through an app, which I can use on my phone or iPad or computer.
I come to this new world with some nostalgia. I still love books (although I confess increasingly, I am reading e-books). I miss the newspaper. But there is something liberating about scrolling an app while waiting for your dentist appointment. (I stopped picking up a magazine at the dentist’s office during the pandemic.) The world has come a long way since 1862.
Today you have an option with the VTS Magazine too. You can enjoy an electronic version of the magazine, or you can request a paper copy, which we will be delighted to send to you. The electronic version of the magazine makes it easier for you to carry it around with you; if you have your phone, then you have your magazine. You can save your favorite articles, show your friends the photos, and think a little about faith in a changing world through the magazine.
The future is always calling. The future is always an opportunity. So, the option of a new format for this magazine is part of the future which we are called to inhabit.
This is a special and hopeful issue. It includes aspects of the Historic Bicentenary. So, the distinguished artist Leo Twiggs, Ed.D., is featured; and the Rev. William Bradley Roberts, DMA, shares the back story behind his masterful Mass setting. Then we have several events that occurred over the past year, including the Senator Warnock lecture and the Forma conference, as well as the 20th Anniversary Symposium of the African American Episcopal Historical Collection. Then we have some forward-looking pieces; for example, the Rev. Dr. Katherine Grieb, Ph.D., has written a very compelling sketch on her vision for the Center of Anglican Communion Studies, and the TryTank Research Institute has created our very own Episcopal Church artificial intelligence tool – AskCathy!
Ellen Wofford Hawkins receiving the Dean’s Cross. Photo: Rashid Mahdi, Six Half Dozen
There is so much to enjoy in this issue, I hesitate to identify anything as more significant than anything else. But I confess two pieces did speak to my heart. The first was the Descendants Gala. It is this Gala that most truly embodies the work of reparations. Once a year, we invite Descendants participating in the Reparations Program to enjoy dinner in the Coffield Refectory (in addition to the daily lunch that every Descendant is invited to enjoy). It is a deeply significant moment. Their ancestors literally built this place yet were never so honored in their day. The second was the conferral of the Dean’s Cross on Ms. Ellen Hawkins. Ellen has achieved more in her life than I will ever accomplish; she has lived and loved and continues to do so every single day. She was perhaps the most worthy recipient of the Dean’s Cross for Servant Leadership ever.
Thank you for staying in touch with the Seminary. Your interest and love for this place is truly a gift.
Yours in Christ Jesus,
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary
Mitzi Budde, D.Min, Head Librarian and the Arthur Carl Lichtenberger Chair for Theological Research, retires after 33 years. The Rev.
The Thomas Dix Bowers Preaching Fellowship Fund was established at Virginia Theological Seminary on May 6, 2008, by family and
The Rev, Rode Molla, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, and the first Berryman Family Chair for Children’s Spirituality and Nurture at Virginia
Virginia Theological Seminary was honored to confer the Dean’s Cross for Servant Leadership on Ellen Wofford Hawkins in recognition of
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