Seminary Journal 2008 (August) - Virginia Theological Seminary

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This has been a very wonderful family gathering today, and I have learned a little about the Virginia Seminary family by the privilege of participating in this recognition for Martha Horne. I have come this evening from her other family, the broader community of theological education, to thank her and recognize her many years of wonderful service. Martha served as vice president of The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada from 1998–2000, as president from 2000 until 2002, and as chair of the Personnel Committee from 2002–2004. This work often took her from this campus to Pittsburgh and elsewhere to help with the broader work of theological education, and I want to begin by thanking the board and friends of this school, as well as Martha’s family and colleagues, for the time that ATS co-opted and the absences that her responsibilities required. She served ATS exceedingly well, and I am sure that many of the qualities that she brought to the Association have been evident in her tenure as Dean and President of the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia. I also fi nd myself in a diffi cult position. Some of you have had the responsibility of saying something nice Acts of Faithfulness The Rev. Dr. Daniel Aleshire Executive Director of the Association of Theological Schools about someone who wasn’t all that nice, and all of us have heard fl attering words about people we were sure were not true. When I looked over what I had to say, I concluded that it was exceedingly positive. My problem is that all of it is true, and I don’t want you to think for a minute that these are glowing words about someone undeserving of them. ATS is a very diverse organization, and its theological and institutional reach is broad. Martha’s work in ATS demonstrated how deeply and caringly inclusive she is. She works well with people who orient their lives and faith much differently than she does, and in a world where partisan champions are often the most valued of participants, she is unceasingly fair, unrelenting in her ability to hear the views of others, and undeterred from ensuring that systems do not favor one group over another. What a gift to the diverse world of ATS and to the diverse world of the Anglican Communion. Martha, as you know, is an intelligently humble person. She is smart enough, wise enough, and thoughtful enough that she could choose to dazzle us with how smart, wise, and thoughtful she really is. But she holds these rare abilities humbly. In a world where many people feel a need to parade intellectual prowess, Martha simply uses hers, humbly and self-effacingly, on behalf of the persons and institutions she serves. What a gift! During Martha’s term as chair of the ATS Personnel Committee, we experienced some complex personnel issues. “Complex” is a word that, when associated with the word “personnel,” cov- 26 VIRGINIA SEMINARY JOURNAL AUGUST 2007
ers a lot of territory! Many seminary presidents have told me that personnel issues are the most discouraging aspects of their work. Donald Senior, the current president of ATS, wrote an article a few years ago that argued that learning to deal with personnel issues is the spiritual discipline of the seminary presidency. He is right, and Martha’s work at ATS demonstrated that she is spiritually mature! These issues can be threatening and exasperating—and they are always troubling. Martha is steadfast, careful, caring, and quintessentially fair in these situations. She is deeply and authentically Christian in settings that invite another set of human responses. What a gift! Dean Horne is graciously strong. If you know her at all, you know that she is gracious. However, we are in a time in our culture, and often in the church, when strength and graciousness do not tend to travel together. The evidence of strength is often presumed to be bravado, if not dogged resistance, and graciousness is seen as a sign of weakness or lack of moral courage. Martha’s spirit and style of leadership resists this tide, even this close to Washington, DC. She is altogether strong and gracious. She leads with a strength that is conveyed in the most gracious of ways. There is a huge difference between graciousness that covers weakness and the graciousness by which true strength is best expressed, and Dean Horne is testimony to the latter. What a gift! Good seminary presidents, I have observed, put the mission of their school ahead of personal ambition. They do not use the offi ce for personal advantage, and they are not infl uenced by the relatively few perks the offi ce VIRGINIA SEMINARY JOURNAL AUGUST 2007 provides. Dean Horne has consistently invested herself in the well-being of this school. It is diffi cult for a task-oriented person to set aside all the issues that he or she wanted to work on for all the intrusions that need attending to, most of which were not on the agenda when the day began. I can’t tell you how many times I have emailed Martha about an ATS issue and received a response by 6:00 or 6:30 the same day. Those email responses bore witness to long hours and faithfulness to the task. What a gift! Martha, you have worked thoughtfully, sensitively, compassionately, wisely, and well. I hope you know how much those of us who have worked with you appreciate and celebrate the gift you have been to us. My favorite passage of scripture is the prophet Micah’s summary of God’s expectation of us: “See that justice is done, let mercy be your fi rst concern, and humbly obey your God.” It is not a bad summary of what I have seen as I have watched your work across these many years. Thank you for making a seminary presidency an act of faithfulness. What a gift to us all. Dan Aleshire 27
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Page 5 and 6: VTS as our next Dean and President.
Page 7 and 8: ing this commemoration on the day o
Page 9 and 10: “I am convinced that the moral ar
Page 11 and 12: “If you continue in my Word you a
Page 13 and 14: speak—that silence was complicit.
Page 15 and 16: while Gandhi gave us the method.”
Page 17 and 18: and said, “Where is Burundi?” [
Page 19: A Refl ection on the VTS Racial and
Page 22 and 23: Isaiah 40:6-8, 21-24, 28-31 Psalm 7
Page 24 and 25: The prophet Isaiah acknowledges tha
Page 26 and 27: I met Martha Horne in front of Aspi
Page 30 and 31: “There should be something in the
Page 32 and 33: A Celebration in Thanksgiving for t
Page 34 and 35: Julia and Malina Cochran, daughters
Page 36 and 37: The Water of Life 34 VIRGINIA SEMIN
Page 38 and 39: “Designer water at $100 a bottle
Page 40 and 41: St. Francis’ perspective on water
Page 42 and 43: around God does not need to devasta
Page 44 and 45: The Need for a Theology of Water: T
Page 46 and 47: “Who gets the water is a matter o
Page 48 and 49: federal government could prepare an
Page 50 and 51: deal with than surface water, after
Page 52 and 53: “The change in vision that we nee
Page 54 and 55: Preaching is a privilege. I thank y
Page 56 and 57: changing of direction. I went back
Page 58 and 59: device ever invented—and it is th
Page 60 and 61: When the Rivers Run Dry: Water, the
Page 62 and 63: else of water and to empty rivers a
Page 64 and 65: serves. I am old enough to remember
Page 66 and 67: purposes, such as fi lling the taps
Page 68 and 69: Commencement Address to the Class o
Page 70 and 71: daughter on the eve of All Saints
Page 72 and 73: even, it is okay. It means that you
Page 74 and 75: Newland F. Smith 3rd Librarian Seab
Page 76 and 77: COMMENCEMENT 2007 continued The Rev
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Isaiah 25:6-9 Psalm 121 Romans 8:14
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and I know that even now God will g
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A Sermon for Maxine Shelly Turner (
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Michael Battle and Stephen Edmondso
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Betty M Glover Priest-In-Charge Tri
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Dr. Chris McConnachie, who is an or
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Good morning. Separation of church
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when I heard him tell the chaplain
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media’s fault? Yes, to some exten
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Virginia Seminary Welcomes Its New
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Seminary, sharing their life storie
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ANNUAL GIVING Annual Giving is a co
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Your generosity also helped the Sem
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Help provide for the financial futu
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The Rev. Ronald G. Abrams The Rev.
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Dr. and Mrs. William G. Thomas III
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The Henry St. George Tucker Society
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Mr. and Mrs. Richard G. Abbott, ‘
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The Rev. S. F. James Abbott, ‘66
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The Rev. Catherine M. Thompson, ‘
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The Rev. John R. Frizzell, Jr., ‘
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Anita Wheatcroft The Rev. G. Richar
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The Rev. A. Moody Burt The Rev. Dr.
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The Rev. William H. Burk The Rev. J
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The 14th anniversary of my ordinati
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Kreitler Environmental Fund The Kre
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St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Ne
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The Rev. and Mrs. Gary L. Abbott, S
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Mr. and Mrs. James C. Hamilton, Jr.
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Mr. Emil M. Sunley The Rev. and Mrs
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volume weave together the familiar,
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and in “Throwing the things away,
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and American Evangelicals: Friends
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The Center for Lifetime Theological
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Seminary Journal 2008 (August) - Virginia Theological Seminary

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