Seminary Journal 2008 (August) - Virginia Theological Seminary

“There should be something in the history of this school called
‘Martha Horne’s eucharistic modus operandi.’”
My words are those of one member of
Martha’s faculty. I have told people in
the past that whenever Martha asks
you to do something, you would be
ill advised to say to her “No.” I can
say this from the personal experience
of receiving, out of the blue, when I
was the dean of another institution far
away in Garden City, New York, one
of her famous telephone calls. Martha
was on the other end of the line, and
she said to me, “Tony, I have no idea
whether or not what I ask will even
interest you, but might you come back
to teach at Virginia Seminary again?”
And the answer? I am here, and many
others have had that same experience,
and our positive responses to Martha’s
“leave your fi shing boats” call speaks
volumes about why we honor her.
Martha Horne is, in truth, my fourth
dean. The fi rst one admitted me as
a student here some 38 years ago.
The second one saw me through
my seminary education and invited
me to teach here the fi rst time. The
third dean, Richard Reid, who is here
today, was the one who inspired me
by his example to be teacher and to
fi nd joy in that vocation. But only
Martha, the fourth dean of my career,
An Appreciation
By
The Rev. Dr. Lloyd A. Lewis
The Molly Laird Downs Professor of New Testament
Tony Lewis
was someone I knew when she was a
student here. And, as chance would
have it, she was a person who for
a while taught with me as we both
lived through teaching New Testament
interpretation and “baby Greek”
to eager, if not sometimes terrifi ed,
fi rst-year students. I remember Martha
as a superb teacher who tamed Greek
periphrastic constructions for students
with gusto and clarity. Somewhere in
my fi les there is a chart of principal
parts of Greek verbs which she did
when she was teaching with me that
is so lucid that I frequently use it with
my students to this day. The legend at
the top of the page identifi es it clearly:
“Martha Horne’s Verb List.”
With all of her wonderful talents, I
had nurtured a secret hope that one
day Martha would be a New Testament
professor. Perhaps she would
even pursue her graduate education at
the “House of Blues:” not the House
of the Tarheel Blues nor the House
of the Blue Devil Blues, but as all
good VTS biblical people know, that
true House of Blues, not made with
Carolina hands, that is found in New
Haven! Alas, that was not to be. But
as things had it, her gifts as teacher,
exegete, and preacher would touch
far more individuals as she took up
“deaning.” Few us will ever forget sitting
in chapel and hearing her preach
on that piece in Luke when Mary and
Elizabeth encountered one another,
with their improbable pregnancies
underway. “Don’t you just know that
the two of those women had lots to
talk about with each other!” So clear;
28 VIRGINIA SEMINARY JOURNAL AUGUST 2007