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For Alumni

Welcome to the VTS virtual alumni community!

As a graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary, you join over 3,300 ordained and lay leaders worldwide. Our alumni serve in over 50 countries around the globe — every day our alumni are making a difference in their communities and in the world.

Below are resources and opportunities for VTS alumni, along with information on alumni leadership and ways to stay connected to the Seminary and with other alumni.

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Monday, October 13
Class Reunions & Class Stewards Reception and Dinner

6:00 pm – Reception

6:30 pm – Dinner

Class Reunion Dinner Registration: Click here

Note: 2025 Convocation requires a separate registration: Click here 

Tuesday, October 14
Alumni Convocation

Pictured above: Professor Ruthanna Hooke and David French

SCHEDULE
(Registration links at the bottom of the schedule.)Monday, October 13, 20256:00 pm  –  Class Reunions Reception – Scott Lounge
6:30 pm  –  Class Reunion Dinner – Coffield Refectory

 Tuesday, October 14, 2025

8:15 am  –  Morning Worship
9:00 am  –  Registration opens – Addison Academic Center Entry Foyer

9:30 am  –  “Reflections on Seminary Life”  –  The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D., Dean and President, Virginia Theological Seminary, and President, The General Theological Seminary
10:25 am  –  Break

10:45 am  –  “Faith in an Age of President Trump”  –  David French, The New York Times columnist

12:15 pm  –  Lunch served

1:45 pm  –  “Taking, Blessing, Breaking, Giving: Sacramental Preaching in Difficult Times”  –  The Rev. Ruthanna Hooke, Ph.D., VTS Professor of Homiletics

3:15 pm  –  Break

3:30-4:30 pm  –  “Preaching the Gospel in Difficult Times”

Panelists: The Rev. Ross Kane, Ph.D., VTS Associate Professor of Theology, Ethics, and Culture and Director of Doctoral Programs

The Rev. April Stace, Ph.D. VTS Assistant Professor of Practical Theology and Director of Contextual Ministry, The General Theological Seminary of The Episcopal Church

The Rev. Kevin Vandiver, Martha Horne Visiting Professor, Homiletics

Moderator: Kyle Lambelet, Ph.D., VTS Associate Professor of Ethics and Director of the Saint Nicholas Center for Faith and Justice

4:30 pm  –  Informal discussion time/Free time

5:15 pm — Convocation Evensong

Dean Ian Markham, Officiant

AAEC President, The Rev. Canon Kathy Walker ’18, Canon Missioner for Black Ministries, Diocese of North Carolina, Preacher

6:30 pm  –  Festive Reception

Registration Information and Hotel Information

Class Reunion Dinner Registration: Click here

Convocation Registration (in-person or online):  Click here  

Questions?:  [email protected]

We look forward to seeing you on campus or online!!

 

The Gospel is political. But it is political in a particular way. Jesus announced a reign with no military, maintained unclear borders, called for mercy and compassion as fundamental ways of living, and turned conventional values upside down. 

Following the lead of VTS graduate Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, “Have Mercy” is a resource of essays and discussion questions from VTS and GTS faculty that speak to the signs of the times.

Each essay takes one core Christian belief or practice, rooted in scripture, and explores its significance for this political moment.

We the community of Virginia Theological Seminary, in response to the love of God in Christ, resolve to embody love, justice, peace, and respect for every child of God on this campus and in the world. We affirm that disciples of Jesus are called to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Staying Connected

Keep up with the news from the Seminary through the monthly Alumni eNews,
daily Dean’s Commentary, the VTS Magazine (3 times/year), Guest and Faculty Sermons, iTunes, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

Class
Stewards

Learn More

Alumni
Directory

Learn More

Regional Chapters

Regional Chapters provide VTS alumni with opportunities to…

  • Stay connected to the life of Virginia Theological Seminary
  • Engage with the Dean and Faculty at regional gatherings
  • Promote the interests of the Seminary and theological education
  • Gather with fellow alums for educational programs, retreats, social events, and other activities
  • Deepen networks with colleagues in the region
  • Help support and maintain the rich heritage that is Virginia Theological Seminary

For further information, contact [email protected].

VTS chapters

Central Gulf Coast, FL
Christie Hord, Mary Alice Mathison

Mid-Georgia area
Jim Said

Atlanta, GA
Kim Jackson

Memphis, TN
Laura Gettys

Winston-Salem, NC
Leon Spencer

Upper South Carolina
Dorian Del Priore

Williamsburg, VA area
Jennifer Andrews-Weckerly

Hampton Roads/Tidewater, VA
Harold Cobb

Richmond, VA
Doug Wigner

Lynchburg, VA
Todd and Diane Vie

Fredericksburg, VA
Catherine Hicks

Washington, DC
David Wacaster

Baltimore, MD
Stewart Lucas and Flo Ledyard

Southern New Jersey/Philadelphia
Matt Tucker

New York, NY area
Lauren Kuratko

Connecticut
George Roberts

Boston, MA
Christine Whittaker

Maine
Kitty Babson

East Lansing, MI
Kit Carlson

Chicago
Brad Linboom, Andrew Rutledge

Milwaukee, WI
Andy Jones

St. Louis area
Mike Angell

Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX
Victoria Hatch

Houston, TX
Jimmy Abbott, Patrick Hall

Phoenix, AZ
Troy Mendez

Los Angeles, CA
Serena Beeks, Rachel Nyback

Northern California
(includes portions of the Dioceses of California, Northern California, and El Camino Real)
Todd Bruce

Portland, OR
Bingham Powell

For further information about VTS chapters, please contact Shelagh Casey Brown at [email protected]

Pilgrimages

VTS Pilgrimages have long been part of Virginia Theological Seminary. We have always been about going into the world: “Go Ye Into All The World And Preach The Gospel” was over the altar in our 1881 Chapel and is now over the baptismal font of the 2015 Chapel. 

VTS Pilgrimages invite us to leave the familiar. On a journey, as we go deeper and deeper into the world, we also go deeper and deeper into ourselves. Take the risk of leaving home and meeting new friends. Please join us on one of our life-mending pilgrimages which tend to the body and the soul.

Grace & Gardens in England’s “Green and Pleasant Land” with St. Paul’s Church, Alexandria, and Virginia Theological Seminary

Led by the Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, PhD, the Rev. Oran Warder; Dr. Barbara Boehm; the Rev. J. Barney Hawkins IV, PhD. Click here

For more information, please contact [email protected] or [email protected].

Grace & Gardens in England’s “Green and Pleasant Land” with Christ Church, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL

Led by the Rev. Thomas P. Reeder, the Rev. Amy Slater, the Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, PhD, and the Rev. J. Barney Hawkins IV, PhD.

For more information, please contact [email protected] or [email protected].

Biblical Türkiye: the Cities of Early Christianity with Virginia Theological Seminary. Click here

For more information, please contact [email protected] or [email protected].

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Lifelong Learning Programs

Visit the Lifelong Learning at VTS offerings (on-campus and online).
Check back frequently as new programs are added often, including those
that address time-sensitive topics that arise in the Church or in our world.

Lifelong Learning

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Additional Resources for Alumni

Lifelong access to the Bishop Payne Library including full access to the significant electronic resources, borrowing privileges, and the personalized service of the library mailing books upon request. Visit for full details.

We welcome alumni, family and friends, and groups visiting on Seminary or church-related business to stay in our guest housing. Alumni are eligible for two nights of accommodations in the VTS guest houses annually, subject to availability. For more information or to make a reservation, please contact Reginald Gravina, at [email protected].

Every year Virginia Theological Seminary honors Theological Education Sunday. Held the first Sunday of February, TES is the day set aside to offer prayers and support for theological education for all the baptized of our Church. VTS celebrates Theological Education Sunday by sending faculty, staff, and students to preach and teach in parishes around the country. Take advantage of the opportunity to have a VTS representative at your parish, who will lift up and celebrate seminary and lifelong education in the church. If your parish is interested in having a Seminary representative on Theological Education Sunday, please contact [email protected].

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Awards

Named in honor of the former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, John Hines (VTS ’33), the award celebrates the ministry of preaching and its importance in our Church by recognizing outstanding sermons that are deeply grounded in scripture and focused on the seen and unseen needs of the worshipping community, the nation and the world.

All Bishops, Priests, Deacons, and Laity of the Episcopal Church in America. Sermons preached outside the United States by clergy who are canonically resident in a diocese of the Episcopal Church USA and by laypeople who are parishioners in an Episcopal Church USA congregation will be accepted as entries for the award.

Entries should be sermons delivered to an Episcopal congregation sometime over the course of a full liturgical year — between the first Sunday of Advent and the last Sunday of Pentecost. The deadline for the 2024 process has been extended to May 10. Submissions must be in hand by then and can be sent to [email protected] by mail. The award recipient will be announced in mid-summer

The prophetic voice must be central within the sermon. Only one sermon per preacher can be submitted. For the 2024 process, audio (not video) must be submitted. There is a preference to also receive a text documents (Word), but the audio version is required.

The John Hines Preaching Award Committee evaluates the finalists following a faculty committee review of all entries. each entry without knowledge of the identity of the entrant.

The Award winners are presented with a certificate (hopefully in their parish setting by a VTS representative) and a cash prize of $2,000. Additionally, they are invited to campus to guest preach and to spend time with students, faculty, and alumni.

Virginia Theological Seminary invites interested alumni to participate in the third annual environmental sermon contest made possible through the Kreitler Environmental Fund. Clergy are invited to prepare and preach an environmentally and/or creation-centered sermon for consideration in a contest. Monetary prizes will be awarded to the top two finalists.

Since 1970, many around the globe have observed Earth Day on April 22 as a time to demonstrate support for protecting and preserving our environment. This year marks the 50th Earth Day and the focus is on Climate Action.

The deadline for submitting a sermon to VTS for the 2021 Environmental Sermon Contest has been extended to August 1. Participants are encouraged to focus on Earth Day and its theme of Climate Action. The enormous challenge — but also the vast opportunities — of action on climate change have distinguished the issue as the most pressing topic for the 50th anniversary.

Participants are encouraged to focus on Earth Day and its theme of Climate Action or on Rogation Days, traditionally the three days before Ascension Day, that are associated with the stewardship of creation. Earth Day and Rogation Days offer a unique space of time for reflection, writing, and preaching on our collective care and concern for our world.

To learn more about this opportunity or to submit a sermon, please contact Linda L. Dienno.

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Contact Information

Shelagh Casey Brown
Director of Alumni and Church Relations
[email protected](703) 461-1711

VTS is pleased to share information about available positions for lay or ordained candidates. If you would like to have a ministry job opening posted, please send a job description (Word or PDF) to [email protected]. Job descriptions will remain on the website for three months from the date of receipt, and then will be removed unless you advise us otherwise.

If you have an opportunity that is tailored for senior seminarians post-graduation, please contact [email protected] or contact Shelagh Casey Brown in the Alumni Office by email or by phone, (703) 461-1711.

Job Postings

Seminaries of the Episcopal Church receive no financial support from the national church. The Episcopal Church, however, by Resolution at its General Convention in 1982 has asked all congregations to give “at least one percent of its net disposable budgeted income to one or more of the accredited seminaries” in support of theological education.

Now, more than ever, parishes and missions have a critical stake in the quality of women and men who are serving as lay and ordained leaders of the Church.

VTS continues to rely on parish giving, which amounts to close to 30% of our annual unrestricted support. This support is vital to allow VTS to meet its continued commitment to forming future church leaders, and to the educational needs of clergy and laity in congregations throughout the church.

We are grateful for the parish support that comes to Virginia Theological Seminary and urge congregations to consider supporting the Seminary through a parish gift.

Parish Resources from VTS