Hail! Holy Hill! A Pictorial History of the Virginia Theological Seminary

This beautifully produced volume tells the story of the largest accredited U.S. Episcopal seminary. Illustrated with more than 300 color reproductions of photographs, paintings, and maps, Hail! Holy Hill! depicts the founding and growth of Virginia Theological Seminary over the course of 190 years, a fascinating slice of the history of the Episcopal Church in the United States.

Among the prominent figures in this history are Francis Scott Key, one of founders of the seminary, today remembered for writing the lyrics to ''The Star Spangled Banner'' ... Isaac K. Yokoyama, an 1877 VTS graduate who became Japan's first native-born Protestant Christian priest ... and Phyllis K. Ingram, the first woman to receive a divinity degree from the seminary. Numerous other graduates of the seminary have gone on to become bishops, presiding bishops, or archbishops. Two of the most controversial figures in the Anglican Communion today, former Primate Peter Akinola of Nigeria and former Bishop John Shelby Spong of Newark, both studied at Virginia Theological Seminary.

VTS has been involved in all of the major struggles and debates within the Episcopal Church, from the issue of slavery to changing liturgical practices, from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer to the ordination of women. Named after the hymn written to celebrate the VTS centennial in 1923, Hail! Holy Hill! explores the challenges facing the seminary today and its work training effective Episcopal leaders for the future as it approaches its bicentennial in 2023.