Virginia Episcopalian Magazine Spring 2012 Issue | Page 8

THE VERY REV. DR. HILARY SMITH
Rector of St. Paul’s on-the-Hill, Winchester
Diocese of Virginia
The Very Rev. Dr. Hilary Borbón Smith is the rector of St. Paul’s on-the-Hill, Winchester and dean of
Region XIV. She is also currently serving as the chair of the deputation to General Convention for the
Diocese of Virginia and as a facilitator for Fresh Start Virginia. She is a spiritual director for Virginia
Theological Seminary. She has previously served as associate at St. James the Less, Ashland while also
working as the Episcopal chaplain to Randolph-Macon College, and as assistant at St. Paul’s, Richmond.
She holds degrees from the University of Richmond, the University of Leicester, the University
of Virginia and Virginia Theological Seminary. Smith, 43, has been ordained 11 years.

PASTOR-PROPHET

HEROES & HEROINES

BAPTISMAL COVENANT

As I consider the ways in which I
am a pastor and the ways in which
I am a prophet, I realize that the
perspectives of the persons with
whom I am interacting have much to
do with how one might categorize my
mode of being. Being pastoral with
some people might seem like being a
prophet to others. Because I strive to
respect the dignity of all people and
treat all people the same regardless of
matters such as race or income level or
sexual orientation, some might view
my words and actions as prophetic,
whereas others would view them as
pastoral. Generally, I am known to
be pastoral more so than prophetic
because my way of being a prophet
invites reflection on the part of all
rather than providing instruction to a
few or a certain segment of the church
community. If called to be bishop
suffragan, I envision my way of being
pastor and prophet being much the
same as it is now.

My spiritual hero or heroine is the
average person in the pew who seeks
to do the best he or she can do in
worshipping God and responding to
God’s call given the circumstances of his
or her life. There is much in our culture
that can distract us from focusing on
God. There are many things that demand
our time and make getting to church
difficult; there are always problems or
conflicts that arise and can discourage
some from staying in the church. I
presided recently at the funeral of a
founding member of my church; George
is my hero because, for 45 years, he
remained faithful to God and committed
to the ministry through our parish
church. George and his family were
asked to go to the new mission church,
which meant they had to leave the
church they had known and trust that
God had great plans for the new mission.
There were many ups and downs over
the years, but George did not leave when
times were difficult and so displayed the
virtue of stability. Because of George,
and those like him, I am able to be part of
a faith community.

“Will you continue in the apostles’
teaching and fellowship, in the breaking
of the bread and in the prayers?” I
answered, “I will, with God’s help” to
that question for the first time when I
was baptized at the age of 24. Becoming
a member of the Body of Christ and
being welcomed into the fellowship
of the faith gave me joy and peace
beyond anything I had ever known. My
experience of God’s love and welcome
had begun before the day of my baptism,
but making those vows enabled me
to embrace the faith in response to
God’s embrace of me. I had planned
be to a history professor, and while
doing graduate work in history at the
University of Leicester in England, I
started going to church for the first time
in my life and, much to my surprise, had
a conversion experience. My conversion
experience led to that day at St. Paul’s
Memorial Church in Charlottesville when
I was baptized and first affirmed the
Baptismal Covenant. In the words about
the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, I
have a sense of the history involved in
such a question and the great privilege
I have of being a member of such a
fellowship. Since my conversion and
my baptism, I have devoted my life to
helping others know the joy of Christian
community and the transforming grace
of a personal relationship with God
through Christ.

S

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VIRGINIA EPISCOPALIAN / Spring 2012