Evening star., 1928-10-10


campus for hours and converse with I
was inside the walls of a theological SCI
The visitor has the inescapable SEN
sation of having been outside the world
for a time, watching the activities OF
its inhabitants with the impartlality OF
one watching busy ant hill. Some
thing of the same sensation is felt IN
the halls of various European colleges
and monasteries. The germs of this
feeling are present on the campus of
such colleges as the University of Vir-
ginia and the College of William and
i Mary. But there they struggle vatnly
against the ruthless hand of progress.
Altogether the sentiments of the Wis
| itor to the Virginia Theological Semi
nary are difficult to analyze. Time
moves slowly in such surroundings.
Here change is a delicate artist. Its
brushes and paint pots never are OBJ
vious.
Institution Dates Back to 1915.
The origin of the seminary dates from
a resolution of the Council of the Dio-
cese of Virginia in 1915. The Educa-
| ton Society of Virginia was organized
| in 1918 and a theological class was
| founded at the College of William and
| Mary in 1921 This was transferred
| to Alexandria in 1923 and was estab-
lished in the home of one Sally Griffith,
at the corner of King and Washington
streets, under the direction of Rev.
| Ruel Keith, who had been pastor of
one of the parishes in Georgetown. A
| short time later the faculty was in
creased by the addition of Rev. w.
| H. Wilmer who conducted a class in
| the Sunday school room OF st. Pauls
Church in Alexandria.
Miss Griffith. who gave the use Of
| the building, was the daughter of Rev.
| David Griffith who was elected first
| Bishop of Virginia in 1876, but was
unable to go to England for conf1rma-
| ton because his salary was only $3.50
| a year and friends were unable to raise
enough money to pay his passage. DR.:
| Keith was a distinguished theological
| student in his day. Perhaps his most
| notable work of scholarship was the
| translation of Hegstenberg's "Chr1stol-
| ogy'' from the German.
In 1927 the seminary was removed TO
| its present location on the third range
| of hills, two-and-a-half miles West OF
Alexandria The location is $50 feet
above the Potomac. At the time the
seminary was established there was
CONTINUOUS
outskirts of Alexandria. The teachers
literally had established seat of learn
ing in wilderness.
Phillips Brooks Notable Student.
Perhaps the most distinguished Of the
seminary's alumni was Phillips Brooks
| He started out to walk there from
| Alexandria and became hopelessly lost
In the woods until he happened 20
stumble across a fence, which ne 1ol-
lowed until he came in sight OF the
buildings.
The institution pursued an, even aca-
denic course until the Civil War, when,
like all institutions in this part OF Viz
einia. it fell upon evil days. First ot
all the student body was divided In its
sympatfies Some returned to their
homes in the North and prepared TO
enter the Union service. The professors
left May Z, 1851, after they had been
warned by the mayor OF alexandra
that the buildings might come into the
line of fire and it would be dangerous
to stay there any longer.
Then the Union Army took over the
seminary as a hospital On the wnole'
there was not much vandalism Wnen
the circumstances are considered. But
some of the most valuable books OF the
institution were stolen and many OF the
great oaks which we're such dlstlnc-
tive feature of the countryside were
cut down for fireWood. A few years
ago an old gentleman was being shown
| through AspinWall Hall, the main
building of the seminary.
Revelation Made by Visitor.
"I've got a little piece of the old floor
of this building at home" he told his
guide. It was learned from his story
that the soldiers in the building at the
end of the war had nearly all taken
away souvenirs of the place where they
had been taken after they were
wounded in battle. The seminary must
have been an ideal Army hospital. 1t
was used as a station for the seriously
wounded who needed room and quiet.
During the LOG years Of its history
the seminary has trained slightly over
800 men for the ministry. From time
to time candidates for holy orders have
entered from nearly every diocese of
the church. Its alumni have served in
every department of the church'S work
and in every missionary field. They
have founded missions in Liberia,
China, Japan and Brazil. In all. 1876
have gone into the foreign field. There
have been SIS bishops.
Within the last decade the physical
equipment of the seminary has been
greatly improved by the building of
library a dormitory and a new dean
cry. At the same time the faculty have
been diligently shaping the courses to
meet the greater demands of ministerial
training demanded by the present age.
Once the education of ministers was
almost entirely philosophical and lit
erary. The groundwork was study OF
the Scriptures in the original Greek and
Hebrew. Now the successful clergyman
must be much more than a literary
scholar He must have a general ap-
probation of the status of all knowledge
particularly of the advances In the
sciences and In the procedure OF social
work.
An example of this new spirit Is
afforded by the lecture courses given
during the Winter at the seminary.
Leading workers In fields which SUPER
ficially seem to have little to do with
theology are invited to speak there.
ARRANGEMENTS are under way, Tor in
stance, for two lectures this Winter by
DR.. Michael Pupin, distinguished physi-
cist and former president Of the Ameri-
can Association for the Advancement
OF Science.
All the students are college graduates.
Some have allowed years to elapse be-
tween receiving their academic degrees
and deciding to become candidates for
holy orders. Others are fresh from the
classrooms and foot ball fields of the
large Eastern colleges. There is an es-
sentially healthy and vigorous COM
munity life Any one with the idea
that theological students are not gen.
orally red-blooded fellows would receive
a different impression after a visit to
this campus There Is plenty Of tennis,
foot ball and soccer. Some of the stu
dents were noted athletes In their old
colleges and they keep up their aetiyi-