Saints of Washington

In this special Saints of Charlottesville episode, Karen Wright Marsh tells the stories of “saints” who lived, worked, and witnessed in the Virginia city they called home.

Isabella and William Gibbons (c. 1836-1890 & 1825-1886)

Enslaved by professors on the Grounds of the University of Virginia, Isabella and William Gibbons welcomed emancipation in 1863.  Isabella became an esteemed teacher of freed black Charlottesvillians and William pastored First Baptist Church, the oldest Black Church in the city.

Lottie Moon (1841-1912) 

A rebellious child of privilege,  Lottie Moon answered a call to ministry in China, one of the first female Southern Baptist missionaries, where she pursued evangelism, medical outreach and theological education.

Herbert and Dieta Jehle (1907-1983 & 1915-2009)

German-born brilliant academics driven into exile by the Nazi regime, Herbert and Dieta Jehle settled in Charlottesville, where they combined scholarship with activism grounded in their Quaker convictions.

This Saints of Charlottesville podcast episode is part of Saints of the City (SotC), an outreach initiative of Theological Horizons, a ministry based at the University of Virginia. SotC seeks to provide a warm environment for people from different ages, faith and cultural backgrounds, an invitation to connect with others and consider one aspect of spiritual truth or practical wisdom as modeled by a saint from the Christian tradition. 

Saints of the City has launched in Atlanta, Washington, DC/Northern Virginia, Charlottesville — and is coming soon to a city near you. Learn more.  Join us!  https://www.theologicalhorizons.org/saints