In the winter of 2025, Beth Lewis, the Bishop Payne Library’s Rare Book Conservator, was given a small book to repair. As she was assessing the issues with the book–detached cover, detached spine, and loose text block–she noticed the book was handwritten on skin parchment and in medieval Latin. Recognizing there was something extremely special […]
He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses that the Lord the God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was upon him. ~ Ezra 7:6 (NRSVue) Archiving is not merely about preserving dusty old documents to meet legal […]
That’s right! The library is for you. For students and faculty, we offer an inviting context for theological exploration. Our collection, both digital and print, contains over a million expertly curated resources, and empowers users to engage with the church’s heritage and contemporary witness. In partnership with our main vendors, we have just released a […]
It gives me great joy to introduce the Bishop Payne Library’s newest staff members, Bianca C. Farmer and Jenna Patterson! Jenna Patterson, JD, MLIS is the new Discovery and Technology Services Librarian, providing oversight of all of the library’s electronic and technical services. She earned a B.S. from New College at the University of Alabama […]
I love being the Seminary Librarian for many reasons. Serving as the chief curator of the rich theological perspectives expressed in the Bishop Payne Library’s wide variety of resources –from several papyrus fragments to circulating print books (approx. 200,000) to archival holdings (approx. 4000 linear feet) to rare books (approx. 16,000) to electronic books (approx. […]
We are at, or slightly beyond the halfway mark of our summer break from our educational programs at Virginia Theological Seminary, and our Fall semester is around the corner. Exciting as that sounds, the feeling of the clock ticking, summer running out, can certainly create anxiety, and that the race to stillness, is very much […]
This year, VTS has yet another bicentenary to celebrate—that of the Mission Society. Founded in 1824, the mission of the Mission Society is to partner with leaders worldwide to discern and bear witness to God through conversations and relationships. We engage in this witness by raising money for grants to support communities working to reveal […]
Summer is free of classes, homework, and exams. But returning students know better. We’re juggling CPE shifts, parish placements, and side jobs. Add holidays, family commitments, and long-delayed oil changes, and July can feel like finals week in flip-flops. All that work is necessary to our training. Yet just as with gym training, those gains […]
Between chapel, class, and lunch, I have come to see how formation doesn’t just happen in lectures or liturgy, but in the ordinary, unscripted moments in between. There is the collaboration among chapel worship teams, the sharing of heart and mind over a London Fog in the Flamingo, and the laughs and snacks over a […]
One of the greatest strengths of VTS and values of our residential education is formation in community. We help each other over the ups and downs of growing as lay and ordained leaders in the church, through our Rule of Life of class, chapel and lunch. During my first visit to Alexandria as a prospective […]