Guest Article by Dn Alexander Hatcher (SVOTS Class of 2013)
“He has been a real spiritual father,” said a graduating seminarian as he introduced his family to Fr Chad Hatfield following St Vladimir’s Seminary’s 2024 Commencement in May.
Recalling the moment, tears welled up in Fr Chad’s eyes.
“That really meant so much. How much more could a priest and leader of a seminary be honored?”
With retirement nearing after seventeen years leading the seminary, first as chancellor and then president and CEO, you wouldn’t know it by glancing at Fr Chad’s travel and work schedule—even leading up to his final day at the office, just a mere few weeks away.
On a sweltering day in June, the Very Rev. Dr Chad Hatfield keeps himself as busy as ever, as passionate about the mission of St Vladimir’s Seminary as ever, as concerned as ever with the seminarians still entrusted to his care. But that should come as no surprise to anyone who has studied or worked at St Vladimir’s with Fr Chad. His internal compass has always pointed unwaveringly toward each and every seminarian; driving him each year was his relentless dedication to make each seminarian’s experience as complete and transformational as possible. And if something wasn’t as good as it could be, he wanted to find a solution.
Fr Chad was always visibly joyous as he sent graduating seminarians off to receive blessings and diplomas from their hierarchs, as he was here with The Rev. Peter Runyon (M.Div., ’21) at commencement in May 2021.
“Fr Chad Hatfield is a visionary of the highest order, because he is, above all things, a pastor. He loves the people whom he shepherds,” said The Rev. Photius Avant, a graduate of the seminary (M.Div., ’11) and rector of St Sava Orthodox Church in Allen, TX. “As a seminarian, I felt sometimes that almost nobody cared about my family or me. But I knew that Fr Chad cared about my wife, my children, and me.
Fr Chad holds a graduating seminarian’s child, May 2011. (Photo by Robert Lisak)
“It is because of him that St Vladimir’s is far more family friendly than it once was. It is because of him that many seminarians think positively about their time at St Vladimir’s. He has done so much for Orthodox Christianity in this country, and he could have done more. His shoes will be truly difficult to fill.”
Many things were accomplished at the seminary under Fr Chad’s leadership—the expansion of the faculty and of academic programs, the enhancement of campus facilities, the strengthening of the staff and administration, the building up of St Vladimir’s Seminary (SVS) Press and widening of its reach, the launch of St Vladimir’s Online School of Theology, the expansion and development of the seminary’s Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program, the reinforcement of the institution’s financial foundation, the implementation of the tuition-free program to remove financial burdens and barriers keeping prospective seminarians from enrolling—and all were done with the care and formation of seminarians at the forefront of his vision. If something was good for the seminarians, good for the faculty, good for his staff, Fr Chad would work to make it happen. And like any good leader and spiritual father, Fr Chad empowered people and believed in them.
Fr Chad and world-renowned composer Arvo Pärt in front of Three Hierarchs Chapel, St Vladimir’s Seminary.
“There was no suggested project, no matter how far-fetched it may have sounded, that he didn’t support,” explained Seminary Professor of Systematic Theology and Director of the Institute of Sacred Arts Dr Peter C. Bouteneff. “I recall how, when [former SVOTS music professor] Nicholas Reeves and I approached him with the idea of bringing Arvo Pärt and the Estonian orchestra and choir to Carnegie Hall, he not only said ‘Absolutely!’ but—within a matter of weeks—he got on a plane with us to Estonia to meet with the composer and begin laying plans.
“We’re all deeply grateful for your support, Fr Chad! You’ve helped us to do many beautiful things.”
Fr Chad’s wife Matushka Thekla, an iconographer and church musician, has always shared his love for the seminary community and the Church. Indeed, it seems almost impossible to imagine St Vladimir’s Seminary without both their warmth and smiles (with the past few years accompanied by their indomitable pup, Fergus!) just around the next corner of campus, in the classroom, or graciously hosting seminarians and families at their home next to the seminary. They worked together to leave no stone unturned in trying to create a campus environment that could address a wide scope of needs for every member of the seminary community.
Fr Chad and Mka Thekla Hatfield at SVOTS’ Fall Benefit Gala, November 2018.
As an example, in 2010 Fr Chad and Mka Thekla transformed what was then the “spouses’ group” on campus into the St Juliana’s Society (SJS)—named after St Juliana Lazarevo, a sixteenth-century woman known for her mercy, motherly kindness, and her continual ascetic efforts—and began hosting wives of seminarians at their house. When the Hatfields arrived at St Vladimir’s, women on campus and wives of seminarians generally felt they were at the bottom rung of campus life and had no voice. Mka Thekla listened to the frustrated laments of women at her first meeting of the spouses’ group before being asked to take it over. She was determined to bring positive change to the group.
“We wanted to offer our future clergy wives, in an intentional way, the tools they would need to face the demanding situations they will encounter as they share in the ministry of their husbands,” she said. The Hatfields continued to host the SJS meetings into the most recent academic year.
Members of the SJS and women’s fellowship groups meet on campus, September 2021.
“I always looked forward to our St Juliana Society meetings at the Hatfield’s cozy home,” said Khouria Megan Elizabeth Gilbert, who lived on campus with her seminarian husband, now The Rev. Anthony Gilbert (M.Div., ’23), and their family. “We had a large spectrum of speakers ranging from seasoned clergy wives to bishops, speaking on topics such as marriage, raising families, parish life, iconography, and tools to help take care of our own and our families’ physical, mental, and spiritual health. Gathering together in this warm and trusted space, we could open up our hearts and share our lives, our struggles, and our hopes together. It bonded us together as a community and also nourished and equipped us as we stepped out into our next chapter.
“One night Mka Thekla herself was our special speaker. She shared about her and Fr Chad’s very adventurous life that comes from so fully serving Christ. I will never forget her words, encouraging us to remember that whatever we may encounter in our lives, always ‘listen quietly and pray loudly.’”
Whether hosting SJS or sponsoring numerous student-interest groups on campus, Fr Chad and Mka Thekla would lend a helping hand to whatever was happening at the seminary. This was in addition to Fr Chad’s duties as chancellor/president, rector of the chapel, director of the Master of Divinity (M.Div.) program, professor of pastoral theology, and series editor of SVS Press’s Profiles and Missions and Evangelism series. He would find a way to make time for people, even though he had precious little.
Fr Chad presiding over Pascha Liturgy at Three Hierarchs Chapel, April 2023.
“Fr Chad always makes the time—I could always go to him for guidance of any kind,” said Ann Sanchez, who served as Fr Chad’s administrative assistant during his entire tenure at the seminary.
“I can’t emphasize enough how truly blessed I feel to have been able to work with Fr Chad. I admire the priest that he is, his teaching skills, his care for the students, his mentorship as a father-confessor to so many, making sure the chapel was just right before a feast day. He has been so dedicated to the seminary, gave his all, and worked so hard during his years here,” she continued. “He is just so well rounded, and he could switch hats in an instant from priest and spiritual father to president and administrator—whatever was needed at that moment he could do and do well. It was truly remarkable to witness, working with him all these years.
“I am so thankful for Fr Chad and Mka Thekla. They both have worked so hard for this place, and they will be missed.”
Despite frequent pleas from Ann and other staff members over the years to “take it easy,” Fr Chad worked long hours in his office, almost always staying late even after everyone else had gone home. His sense of commitment as a servant of the Church seemingly wouldn’t let him take a breather, even sometimes to the detriment of his physical health. (Knee surgery a few years ago is probably the only thing that slowed him down for several days, but even then I personally saw him working from home during recovery—and heard that Mka Thekla had scolded him for doing so.)
It was his sense of duty as a priest of the Church that brought him to St Vladimir’s Seminary in the first place.
Fr Chad, then dean of St Herman’s Seminary, on pilgrimage in Alaska to Monk’s Lagoon, where St Herman struggled, and to St Nilus Island in 2006. (Photo courtesy of The Very Rev. Joseph Huneycutt)
“When I was asked on two separate occasions to have my name submitted to [SVOTS'] dean search, I gave a firm 'no' each time,” he recalled. “I was just getting a feel for the unique approach needed to teach native Alaskans [as dean of St Herman's Seminary in Alaska], and I was committed to my work there. I wasn’t hunting for the job at St Vladimir's Seminary. But I ended up being one of two finalists for dean [in 2007], and in the end the board came up with the double-headed eagle model of chancellor and dean with Fr John Behr. Mka Thekla and I came really as an act of obedience. We felt this was for the Church."
The Very Revs. Chad Hatfield and John Behr (right) were named chancellor and dean of St Vladimir’s Seminary, pictured here at the official announcement in 2007 with outgoing dean The Very Rev. John Erickson (center).
Fr Chad’s determination to be a faithful servant of Christ had already taken him across North America and even abroad. A graduate of Nashotah House in Wisconsin (’78 and ’88) and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (‘01), Fr’s ministry in the Episcopal Church took him, Mka Thekla, and their young son Jason to South Africa in the 1980s to serve in the mission field during Apartheid. (Their second son, Sean, was born there.) Despite the risk of drawing the ire of the Afrikaans government—which sent spies to Fr Chad’s parish to ensure they weren’t allowing non-whites into the church—he wouldn’t compromise his ministry to help whomever God had placed in front of him. He taught black and Indian students at an all-girls school. When he and Mka Thekla met a black South African who was interested in the priesthood but had nowhere to study, they took the bright young man into their home so he could receive instruction from Fr Chad (at the risk of deportation for them and imprisonment for the young student). After returning to the US, Fr Chad and Mka Thekla were eventually received into the Orthodox Church. Fr Chad was ordained as a priest by Bishop Basil (Essey) of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America in 1994, and went on to found two Orthodox parishes: All Saints in Salina, KS, and St Mary Magdalene in Manhattan, KS. He then was asked to take up the deanship at St Herman’s Seminary from 2002 until 2007, when he joined St Vladimir’s Seminary.
Mka Thekla with sons Jason and Sean in South Africa
The Hatfield family in the 1980s
Fr Chad and Sean
His travels didn’t stop. (They still haven’t—he is honoring a speaking commitment that will keep him away from his office even on his final day as president of the seminary!) As chancellor and later president/CEO, Fr Chad hit the road often, to fundraise and promote the seminary, to visit alumni, attend his students’ ordinations, and to speak and teach. His engagements took him across the country and again abroad, to countries including Australia, Georgia, Romania, Uganda, and others where he worked to form partnerships and promote the work of the seminary and Press, and to see what he could do to make seminary education more accessible to prospective students abroad.
Blessing an orphanage in Guatemala, 2014.
Fr Chad presenting a gift of $13,000 raised by SVOTS to the Pro Vita Association for the Born and Unborn in Romania in June 2018. Pictured here with Pro Vita founder Fr Nicholas Tanase.
Students attend a class taught by Fr Chad at St Cyril’s Coptic Orthodox Theological Seminary in Sydney, Australia, in February 2020.
It was on his travels, and is still, where Fr Chad says he finds sources of refreshment and continued motivation.
“Even before announcing retirement, people had been asking me about my legacy. The only legacy I’m really concerned about has been achieved, and that is what I see when I’m out on the road: I see so many good and effective priests and pastors. That’s how the Church is going to continue to be served, in very, very challenging times. I’ve had a small hand in the formation of some outstanding priests. That’s all the legacy I need."
The seminary hosted an event for alumni in Dallas, Texas in February 2018. Fr Chad is pictured with alumni (left to right) Fr Raphael Barberg (M.Div., ‘11) and Fr David Bozeman (M.Div., ’12).
Hearing these words from the mouth of Fr Chad wasn’t a surprise to me at all, as a graduate of the seminary myself under his guidance and later a member of his staff for many years. Anyone who has spent time with him knows innately this is what he cares deeply about. But somehow I was still struck by his passion, still visible in his eyes and evident in the tone of voice, for his seminarians, his alumni, and the Church. Even after all these years, years filled with exhaustion and labors, and of course many disappointments along with the many successes.
And in true Fr Chad fashion, he wouldn’t let me leave without doing the thing that is so like him. I had come to interview him during his last days as the leader of the seminary, but he turned the tables on me.
“Before you leave,” he said, “there was something I wanted to ask you. What are your plans for the future? How is your family?”
After talking a good while about myself—which is not what I intended at all to happen when I first arrived in his office—I finally did leave, asking for Fr Chad’s prayers and feeling guilty for taking up even more of his time. And then, having held it together in his presence, I finally stopped holding back the tears welling up in my own eyes.
Fr Chad, your students, your spiritual children, your colleagues, and all who love you here at St Vladimir’s as well as those who are far off working in the vineyard of the Lord will miss you dearly. We knew this day had to come eventually, but it still feels far, far too soon.
The Hatfield Family
May Almighty God grant to His archpriest, The Very Rev. Dr Chad Hatfield, Mka Thekla, their sons Jason and Sean, their daughters-in-law Kasey and Maggie, and their grandchildren Ryan, Morgan, and Braedon many years in Fr Chad’s well-earned retirement!
Illustration gifted to Fr Chad by his godson, Charles Ackerly.
THE VERY REV. DR CHAD AND MATUSHKA THEKLA HATFIELD SCHOLARSHIP FUND
In the hopes that they may continue to support seminarians beyond Fr Chad’s tenure at St Vladimir’s Seminary, the Hatfield family has established The Very Rev. Dr Chad and Matushka Thekla Hatfield Scholarship Fund. The scholarship is being made available to any monastic seminarian, male or female, whether Eastern or Oriental Orthodox, who is called to study at the seminary. You may donate to the Hatfield monastic scholarship fund at www.svots.edu/give (select the scholarship fund in the drop-down menu or write its name in the comments).
