Date: October 13, 2023
I am very indebted to my predecessor. When one has the gift of leading Virginia Theological Seminary – a strong and well run institution – one is acutely aware of just how much one owes those who have come before. The Very Rev. Martha Horne led VTS with skill and wisdom. She left the place with a strong faculty, much loved by alumni, and on a sound fiscal basis.
I am grateful that she will preside at the festive Eucharist tomorrow. I will be honored to serve at the altar with her. She was the first woman to lead an Episcopal Seminary; she is an important part of our history that we honor.
We are very conscious that two dear friends of the Seminary are absent. We were hoping that Presiding Bishop Michael Curry was to be present; however, he is heeding the instructions of his doctors to recover from his surgery. And Archbishop Hosam Naoum would have been at the altar but with the grave situation in Israel and Palestine, he is staying in Jerusalem. We pray for them both. Meanwhile, do please join Martha and me at our festive Eucharist tomorrow morning.
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary and the President of The General Theological Seminary