Date: August 7, 2026
Here I am on this Wednesday morning writing this commentary after the momentous news of two giants in theological education: Lisa Kimball and Ruthanna Hooke. On July 31st, Lisa Kimball retired from her position as Vice President of Lifelong Learning after serving at VTS since 2009. On August 4th, Seminary of the Southwest and VTS jointly announced Ruthanna Hooke’s election as SSW’s 10th Dean and President. These two women have had a lasting impact on me personally, on VTS, and on the wider church.
I love to say that Lisa and I started our VTS journey together. Her first semester as a faculty member was my first semester as a student — she was my formation group advisor that first year, along with the Rev. Joseph Constant. Both Lisa and Ruthanna taught me in courses I remember to this day, and both invited me to stretch and grow in uncomfortable but necessary ways. Their warmth and pastoral presence created the space for me to do that work. Each of them has affirmed and supported me at every stage of my time at VTS. And most importantly, I call them friend!
Both Ruthanna and Lisa opened doors for me and many others at VTS. As the first openly queer-identified faculty member at VTS, Ruthanna faced real challenges early in her vocation that paved the way for me and other queer-identified students and faculty to find not just token acceptance but real affirmation in our vocations at VTS. That Spirit-filled, transformative work would not have been possible without her courageous “Yes.” Lisa has never let us forget that ministry begins at baptism — a clarion call for a community often focused (perhaps too focused at times?) on the formation of presbyteral identity.
Not only did these amazing women pave the way for so many of us in our vocational journeys at VTS, they have also been leaders in theological education across the church. Ruthanna’s commitment to forming faithful preachers extends far beyond the Holy Hill through Deep Calls to Deep and The Preaching Congregation Initiative, and her book Sacramental Presence: An Embodied Theology of Preaching fills a real lacuna in homiletical theology. Through that work, she has shaped how a generation of preachers across the Episcopal Church — and beyond it — understand their craft. Lisa’s work in Lifelong Learning is legendary — she leaves a department administering over $13 million in grants, robust continuing education programming, and the ever-innovative TryTank.
Transition surrounds us. Lifelong Learning enters a period of transition with Lisa’s “retirement.” (We all know the inadequacy of that word when it comes to her!) I’m grateful — and a little daunted — to be serving as Interim Associate Dean of Lifelong Learning as we find our footing. VTS also says goodbye to a beloved colleague as Ruthanna begins a new chapter at Seminary of the Southwest; our loss is unmistakably their gain. And VTS and GTS have begun our own search for a Dean and President to lead us further into this historic partnership.
Transitions involve challenges. But they also invite opportunities. They remind us that God is always at work among us, and that we do not stand alone but, rather, “on the shoulders of giants.”
The Rev. Shawn Strout, Ph.D.
Interim Associate Dean of Lifelong Learning, Associate Dean of Chapel, Associate Professor of Worship