Together we make The Episcopal Church stronger
We were delighted to welcome more than 200 descendants and their families to campus in July for the 2024 Descendants Gala.
The two-day event started on Friday July 19, with a black tie dinner and the chance for Descendants to see the latest genealogical research compiled as part of the program. It was followed on Saturday morning by a brunch and guided historical walking tour of the campus to visit various sites connected to their ancestor’s labor at the Seminary.
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D., dean and president of VTS, said: “The Gala is a moment when the families of those who literally built VTS are honored. This year was especially poignant as we celebrated the hard work of the Rev. Dr. Joseph Thompson who started the Reparations Program with Ms. Ebonee Davis, and is moving across to become the Seminary Librarian.”
VTS created the Reparations Program in 2019 as part of the Seminary’s commitment to recognizing its participation in oppression in the past and working towards healing and justice in the future. The program offers cash payments to the descendants of Black people, both enslaved and free, who labored at the Seminary during slavery and the segregation era, in recognition of the fact that they were either not compensated, or were not compensated fairly, for their labor.
Photos: Rashid Mahdi, Six Half Dozen
Mitzi Budde, D.Min, Head Librarian and the Arthur Carl Lichtenberger Chair for Theological Research, retires after 33 years. The Rev. A. Katherine Grieb, Ph.D., ’83, reflects on the profound impact she has had on VTS.
The Thomas Dix Bowers Preaching Fellowship Fund was established at Virginia Theological Seminary on May 6, 2008, by family and friends of the Rev. Dr. Thomas Dix Bowers, VTS ’56.
The Rev, Rode Molla, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, and the first Berryman Family Chair for Children’s Spirituality and Nurture at Virginia Theological Seminary, reflects on the legacy of the Rev. Jerome Berryman, D.Min.
Virginia Theological Seminary was honored to confer the Dean’s Cross for Servant Leadership on Ellen Wofford Hawkins in recognition of her deep faith and ability to bring sunshine into the lives of others.
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