As the Interim Upper School Chaplain, McGehee is back on the campus of St. Christopher’s, serving in a role that he may never have envisioned in his years as a student.
 
After graduating from St. Christopher’s, and then Washington and Lee, McGehee had a thirty-year career in banking, moving with his family from Boston to Atlanta as he climbed the corporate ranks. 
 
In 2009, when McGehee was 54, his life path took a turn when he decided to follow a calling and head to Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria.
 
McGehee may be in charge of Chapel these days, but he can chart his own exploration of faith to the order and stability he felt in the School’s daily chapel service.
 
“Chapel created an order—an attention—to faith every day at St. Christopher’s. Later in my life, I learned that the professional world will hit you with slings and arrows, and I needed a safe harbor. I remembered the order and stability of Chapel, and so Church became a place where I could breathe. I could let go of cares for an hour and a half each week.”
 
McGehee poured himself into church life during his time as a parishioner at All Saints’ Church in Atlanta, eventually serving as its senior warden. One day, the rector asked McGehee to start a coffee shop. 
 
“I didn’t say no,” McGehee remembers, “but I did offer an alternative. I had just started distance running, so I said I would start a distance running group, then we’d all go for coffee afterward. It wouldn’t cost the church a thing, and so every Saturday for seven years–rain or shine–we ran around the city.”
 
“Our running group became a faith-based community. Miraculous things came from it–relationships, even a godchild. After each run, I wrote a theological reflection and emailed it to the group. Eventually, I brought the reflections to my rector who said, ‘I think you need to go to seminary.’ And that’s how it came together–no huge flash of light moment–just a gradual seed that was planted early, largely at St. Christopher’s.”
 
Now that McGehee is back on campus, what advice does he have for boys about exploring faith?
 
“My best advice is not to look at life as linear. Think about what you’re drawn to—and how that can be formed more formally as you move forward.”
 
“As soon as you see your life as a straightforward progression, you start to have a sense that you could fall off a path. But in my experience, falling off the path included some of the moments where I learned the most.” McGehee continued, “Success often comes at a cost. Failure hurts, I still don’t like it, but amazing things can happen if you can begin to see failure as an opportunity.”
 
And while McGehee is now a part of the day-to-day life of the School, his move back to Richmond has also reconnected him with his former classmates.
 
“When I came back to Richmond after about 42 years away, I picked right up with my classmates. We’re older now—late 60s and early 70s—but the essence of who they are was formed at St. Christopher’s. We may have different political views and worldviews, but we share this common denominator: this place, with its emphasis on honor and being a gentleman.”