The Virginia Seminary I attended and the one Mr. Markham serves are very different institutions. What was Virginia Seminary like from 1993-1996? When I arrived at VTS in the autumn of 1993, the junior class was introduced to the "Virginia Tradition" by dean Reid. That tradition included going to chapel, class, and lunch. Chapel was a major adjustment for me. I had no experience with Morning Prayer, with Simplified Anglican Chant, or with Rite 1 (which was in use half of the year). That tradition also included the acceptance of the Seminary's sexuality statement. Lunch undoubtedly was the easiest adjustment. Refectory food was not cafeteria fare; it was excellent.

In those years, the sexuality statement was a matter of conversation. (The August 1996 Virginia Seminary Journal contains an excellent history of the statement). Virginia's professors had authored a collection of essays on ordination and sexual practices entitled, "A Wholesome Example." Guess where they fell on the matter. We did have lively discussions about the matter in classes as we studied the doctrine of marriage. Following the Righter Trial, there was a remarkable forum and dialog hosted by David Scott, Charlie Price, and, keep your surplices on, David Booth Beers. (My first exposure to Beers was a real eye opener. It was my first real glimpse into the duplicity of the left, my first vision of how TEC was about to abandon the Anglican tradition). And we argued the topic along with others day in and day out in the coffee lounge where I did most of my learning.

Speaking of the coffee lounge, here is example of the intellectual and spiritual climate in those years. A group of seminarians from Episcopal Divinity School were in town for a preaching conference. We were down in the lounge, sharing coffee, and talking theology. Our guests were thoroughly educated in all things liberation. We too were conversant in liberation theology. But when we trotted out arguments for this and that from the tradition, from dead men like Augustine, Hooker, and Barth, our guests were amused. "You actually take classes on Augustine and Calvin and Hooker?" "Yes, don't you?" "No way. Why would we..." The best and brightest from EDS did not even know the tradition. I left VTS formed in a tradition, deeply rooted in centuries of Anglicanism. I haven't always practiced that tradition as best as I could, but I have always known what it is, and isn't. That was then.

When I graduated, there was no indication from the new dean, Martha Horne that a full embrace of things innovative and liberationist was on the way. I was there in 1995 as the seminary was choosing a new dean, and I can say for certain, Martha did not run on a platform of re-inventing the seminary. What happened? How did VTS go through such a radical transformation? Was there a big push to the left from the alumni? Was there a big push left from the faculty? Was it through open dialog, listening, and careful discernment?

No. The re-invention of VTS happened in back rooms, with carefully scripted, manipulated, Machiavellian politics. The abandonment of the Sexuality Statement in 1998 was the beginning of the new regime. How did this happen? The seminary sent out a survey to all its alumni. Should the seminary keep its statement? An overwhelming majority said, "Yes!" Those results disappeared, somehow. What about the faculty? With new appointments, the faculty was more divided, but they were still carrying the torch. But behind the scenes, Peter Lee, Dean Horne, and other trustees were working overtime to change things, and make it look so clean. I wrote the dean a letter, deeply disappointed. She wrote me back, assuring me that thoughtful, faithful people were on the job. Somehow, I wasn't convinced.

Anyway, it was no longer up to the seminary to decide who is fit for ordination, at least when it comes to sexual behavior-that was up to their sending diocese. (What a slick move. We're just following orders.) Incoming students were put through sexuality sensitivity training (I wonder, were they exposed in that training to opinions differing from the new orthodoxy?). The training is no longer part of the initiation into the seminary. I can only surmise that it is no longer necessary because everyone who would go there now is appropriately sensitive, or at least, they wouldn't dare question the new orthodoxy publicly. And along the way, a faculty house was turned into an unofficial "gay dorm." Isn't that like a co-ed dorm?

Now, the stage was set for the advent of the partnered lesbian homiletics professor. The way the partnered professor was brought on was so very shady. Apparently, when hired no one had any idea that she would be bringing her partner along. Once discovered, a hue and cry went out, but we were all assured that it was an innocent omission. Thoughtful, faithful people were on the job, and nothing would be done in secret...

Sadly, we've never had a public statement from the professors who lived through this detestable, duplicitous, debacle. Apparently, in the loving, free academic environment traditional professors keep their heads down and mouths shut. How is it that the once strong, orthodox faculty melted away? Were revisionists the only suitable applicants? Under Horne, faculty were pushed out of policy-making, and out of the process of calling new faculty. The faculty no longer reported to the trustees, but went through the dean. She carefully controlled the information stream. Dean Horne loved to talk egalitarian, empower the people, and so on. Did she and Peter Lee sideline the faculty because of democratic ideals? Call me cynical, but I'd say someone switched out their WWJD? bracelet for a WWMD? "What Would Machiavelli Do?"

The same seminary that once produced "A Wholesome Example" (essays on sexuality and ordination) now has a faculty involved in things like, "To Set our Hope on Christ." But, VTS is all about conversation, dialog. On that topic, SEAD began at Virginia Seminary. When Professor David Scott retired, it was handed on to Chris Seitz and Ephraim Radner. One would think, then, that SEAD or ACI would be welcome on the VTS campus. Not on your life. When it was suggested that the authors of True Union in the Body, Communion and Discipline, etc... would be helpful dialog partners on campus, they were quite definitively blackballed. My sources tell me that according to the power brokers at VTS, "Ephraim is too mean in debate." He is thorough, thoughtful, traditional, logical, but mean? I've seen him operate in some very hostile environments, like on the floor of the Colorado Diocesan Convention, and all I've ever seen is graciousness and generosity-to a fault. Apparently, the tender minds at VTS must be protected!

It's a good thing the bishops and deans assure us that no one is punished or excluded in TEC for not choosing this new gospel. It's a good thing TEC is a place for honest discussion and dialog. Let's focus on mission and ignore theology... Maybe that's what Katherine learned at Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkley.

So, how about the letter I received from the new dean, Ian Markham? "The Seminary is deeply committed to the centrality of the Bible and affirms as true the orthodox Christian tradition." According to whom? According to the new dean, the sacrament and doctrine of marriage are secondary issues, not on par with the Trinity, etc... And yet, the vast majority of Christendom is not receiving TEC's innovations as adiapora. The Anglican Communion is all but over because TEC has made it the test of orthodoxy. And yet, these innovations have not stood up to the serious scholarly work of Gagnon, much less the pastoral work of believers who work for the healing of anyone suffering from any kind of deeply ingrained, compulsive, sinful desires and behaviors.

I've never seen or heard Ian Markham, but in my head, when he says VTS is Orthodox, he sounds like that guy who does the advertisements for new Disney movies. I can hear him saying, "An Instant Classic." Every time I hear those ads, I think, "Aren't the words instant and classic antonyms, just as innovation and orthodoxy are antonyms? Then I remind myself that these aren't words from an unbiased reviewer; they are Disney's patented self-promotion.

At today's Virginia Seminary, the new dean says, "As Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas demonstrate, the Christian tradition is dynamic-constantly being shaped by fresh wisdom and insight. The task of this Seminary is to remain rooted, yet ready to change and grow in its mission." But wait a second. I'm curious where and how Augustine and Aquinas demonstrate this apparently self-evident truth, this axiom of post-modernity. I had no idea that dynamism and change were so important to them. I went to Virginia Seminary. I have read and do read those dead guys, and I can say with great certitude, open-orthodoxy, process theology, or Marxism in whatever clothes it's wearing, wasn't actually in their program. No it wasn't. In fact, their goal was to remain faithful to what they received, not to revise it.

Virginia Seminary, and the Virginia Tradition is a thing of the past. It's not just sexuality. It's optional chapel and politically correct liberationist mid-day liturgies. Today's graduates may also hang a picture of the great window over their desk, but we did not attend the same seminary. We were not formed in the same tradition. And the re-invention of the Seminary didn't happen in the open. It happened through power-politics and maneuvering, the normal way we Christians discern whether the Holy Spirit is in something, or not.

All in all, Dean Markham's letter feels like it came from C.S. Lewis' N.I.C.E. He uses evocative words that should warm the heart of a traditional, orthodox, Episcopalian like me. The thing is, I just don't trust anyone promoting an instant classic. I'll be taking that print down today, along with my diploma. Like I wrote dean Horne back in 98, Ichabod.

N.B. Here's how I would advertise VTS if I were the new dean:

We're new and improved, representing the very best of today's innovative beliefs and practices. Come and experiment with us so you can be on the forefront of tomorrow's orthodoxy.

I'd also change the seal for the sake of truth in advertising. I'd get rid of "the faith once delivered to the saints," and replace it with, "Dynamic and changing, yet rooted."

---The Rev. Theron Walker is rector of St.Philip's in Sedalia, Colorado

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