by Communications Team
Right before four new priests were ordained recently in a bilingual celebration at St. James’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, the Rev’d Nancy Frausto reminded them of their sacred duty: “writing that history and the future of this diocese.”
As the Diocese of Virginia continues the work of racial justice and healing, the new priests—John Hager, Joshua House, Emily Rutledge, and Paige Trivett—share responsibility for engaging voices that haven’t been heard.
"As you set out into your priesthood, seek out the stories of those on the margins who fight for justice,” said Frausto, Seminary of the Southwest Director of the Latinx Studies Program and the first and only DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) beneficiary priest in The Episcopal Church.
“Learn from the voices that are often silenced, for they speak truth to power. Stand in the tension of honoring tradition and embracing the diversity of language, spirituality, and culture in our church. Do not ignore the ways our church has failed in the past. Learn from it. Grow from it. Be inspired by those who came before and did the work of tending, loving, and growing the flock."
She named those pioneers who themselves were marginalized, including Absalom Jones, Anna Julia Cooper, Native American priest Enmegahbowh, Queen Emma of Hawaii, Pauli Murray, and Oscar Romero.
“Faithful voices mistreated by the church, yet voices who persisted because they knew they and people like them mattered,” she said in the Sept. 19 sermon.
“Care for Each Other”
Bishop E. Mark Stevenson ordained the new priests. “Notice we have a very young class of ordinands which bodes well for the church,” he told the congregation. “Thank you all for offering yourself in ministry.”
Before the sermon, the service paused for a medical emergency and prayer for the person affected, who was able to rejoin the ordination. Frausto praised the congregation's quick, prayerful, and caring response.
“That is the church,” she said. “That is what we are called to do. To be there for one another, to care for each other, whether we know each other's name or not."
During the sung prayer, the four laid face down instead of kneeling.
In Their Own Words
Stories also are important in inspiring people to consider the priesthood, said the Rev’d Canon Dr. Sarah Kye Price, Canon for Vocations and Clergy Wellness for the diocese.
“I have had people come to discernment retreats after hearing the stories of call,” she said.
The new priests were asked to update Diocese of Virginia readers since becoming transitional deacons and sharing the stories of their callings earlier this year. Here are their replies.
The Rev’d John Hager: “A moment of enormous significance”
Since my diaconal ordination, the more significant events in my life have been graduating from Yale Divinity School in May and beginning my first call in July. I currently serve as Curate between two parishes: priest-in-charge at St. Stephen’s, Catlett and assistant at St. Stephen’s, Culpeper.
My priesting is a moment of enormous significance. To me, it is the calling forth and equipping for a sacred trust between myself and the church, which is Christ’s Body. I see similarities between the sacrament of marriage and that of ordination. These are both liturgical rites that initiate and express a vocation whose sacramental meaning is lived out over the course of a life.
Ordination, like marriage, is therefore not exhausted by the liturgy in which it is conferred; the reality celebrated and affected in that liturgy continues to be embodied in the life and vocation that follow. May the grace of Christ sustain me in that life that follows!
The Rev’d Joshua House: “The climax of a long story”
Fittingly for a deacon, the most meaningful work I’ve done since my diaconal ordination in March 2026 has been leading our parish in service. This summer I participated in our international mission trip to Jamaica. Our group helped rebuild a home damaged in a recent hurricane, taught at a summer school, and visited a nursing home.
What made it significant to me was that I have spent my life generally skeptical of short-term international missions. They’ve never appeared to be the most efficient way to help those in need, and it also seemed presumptuous to "missionize” countries with nominally higher rates of Christian belief.
I still think about those things. But I also realized that “mission” is a misleading term for what happened on our trip and many like it. “Service” is more accurate. And service, I learned, doesn’t just mean the most efficient way to complete a goal. The way we serve matters. Serving others face-to-face, in relationship with them, matters.
Many Christians will spend lots of time and money coming together for conventions or conferences, with the idea that being a large church family requires, well, family reunions. It requires maintaining personal relationships. Looking at our Jamaica trip as a relationship-building exercise, rather than as a merely humanitarian one, taught me about what it really means to “serve” one another.
This May I started full-time as Assistant Rector of St. Matthew’s, Sterling. It’s a growing parish with a diverse congregation and a correspondingly diverse set of service offerings. I don’t plan any changes to my position this year. But I do plan to explore ways to use my legal background (I’ve been an attorney for the past 13+ years) in some writing or teaching, perhaps at the intersection of law and religion.
It’s tempting to look at the ordination as just the end of a long bureaucratic process. Finally, the paperwork is over! Though, of course, the paperwork never ends. And that view would short-change the significance of ordination.
It remains, however, the climax of a long story. I remember sitting at my desk in elementary school, bored, and just picking up my Bible and reading, reading, and reading. (I went to a Christian school where we always had Bibles on our desk.) I remember being encouraged in high school, by friends and teachers, to consider being a pastor. I remember procrastinating in law school, reading the sermons of Kierkegaard rather than my actual homework assignments. And, as I represented my legal clients, I recall feeling that they didn’t just need legal help; they needed a pastor, a teacher, a priest.
Ordination feels like the climax of that story. My life contains other stories, ones that made me feel—at times still make me feel—unqualified to be ordained in the church. But I suppose I hold all those stories in tension and just hand them to God, to do with as God wishes.
So many people throughout the Diocese and beyond have played a role in my formation. Formation for the priesthood is truly a collective effort: parish discernment committees, the diocesan committee on ministry, the Bishop’s standing committee. I’m writing these words the week before the ordination, and it’s reminded me of all the people I’ve forgotten both to invite to the ordination and also, more importantly, to thank for their role.
So, if you’re someone who’s helped me along the way (and at this point it’s likely you are), I apologize if I’ve not yet thanked you personally. Thank you for all you’ve given to me, my family, and the Church. Thank you.
The Rev’d Emily Rutledge: “Amen by the great cloud of witnesses”
As someone who has been a lay minister for 17 years the most significant part of this journey has been what it is to wear a collar out in the world. A woman in a collar often gets a double take, but one with an arm full of flower tattoos who you thought was “that one kid’s mom” gets a more “confused” face. It’s also an incredible opportunity to do my favorite thing, surprise people. I had walked around with my call inside of my heart; ordained ministry has meant that it is identifiable to the world. I live in a place where being clergy gives me power. My greatest challenge now is how I give it away.
I have just begun a new call as the Associate Rector at St. Paul’s, Ivy! I am loving a chance to root even deeper into the Western Albemarle County community I have lived in for the last 15 years and now serve in. Highlights so far have been preschool chapel, contemplative Evening Prayer in cozy chairs listening to the Ivy Consort, and experiencing the joy of falling in love with another one of God’s beloved families.
The Sept.19 ordination, to me, feels like the AMEN by the great cloud of witnesses that have loved me to this place. While I’ve felt a call to the priesthood since 2000 and have been well tended, loved and encouraged along the way, this was the journey. I was meant to be ordained for such a time as this.
My mom made me go to church as a child. The people at that church loved and celebrated all of me. No one told me what to believe about God. They showed me God. They were God. They saw God in me. My life has been infinitely better, safer, more loving, and authentic than it would have been if my mom had not made me go to St. Christopher’s in Kailua, Hawaii.
I want you to know, Diocese of Virginia, that we belong to each other and that being The Church matters. It does make a difference. I believe that loving, safe, and affirming communities transform more than lives, they transform the world.
The Rev’d Paige Trivett: “Celebration of every person who has affirmed my call”
My time as a deacon (since my diaconal ordination in March 2026) has given me a better sense of what it truly means to be a servant to the church and to God’s people, and to meet them where they are.
It was both rewarding and humbling to work with and learn from my neighbors back in Austin who were undocumented, or whose immigration status or safety was in jeopardy due to increased ICE activity in the city.
Since moving back to Virginia, I have been looking for ways to educate myself on what has been happening here in regard to immigration issues and how our members of our Diocese are being impacted. The particular call of clergy and the church to care for vulnerable populations has become more clear for me over the past six months.
On Aug. 2, I began my work as the new Associate Rector at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg. My primary focus will be on pastoral and congregational care and our various children and youth ministries. I am looking forward to spending the remainder of the calendar year settling into my position and getting to know the people of St. George’s more fully.
My ordination as a priest is the culmination of what has been a six-year discernment process with the Diocese, and a much longer personal discernment journey. Becoming a priest signifies for me the good and holy work that God has begun within me to make disciples and nurture the centuries-old community of the church, while ushering it into its next chapter.
This ordination also serves as a celebration of every person who has affirmed my call and helped me get to this point. I am forever grateful for all those who have demonstrated Christ’s gifts of love and reconciliation for me in my life, and I am incredibly honored to now do the same for others.
I want every reader to know that if you are feeling called to share the Good News of Christ or to serve the church in any way, then there are plenty of us who are ready to support you in exploring this call further. Reach out to a member of the clergy (maybe me!) and share what’s on your heart and mind.
It is truly a gift that we get to walk with fellow disciples who are in discernment about deepening their vocation, so go ahead and make that phone call or send that email!