Seven members of our seminary community, including President Archpriest Chad Hatfield and Trustee Carla Ann Newbern Thomas, M.D., recently participated in the 24th Annual Ancient Christianity Conference of the Brotherhood of St. Moses the Black, a Pan-Orthodox organization which endeavors to make the Orthodox faith available to the African American community. The theme of the conference, which was held October 6–8, 2017, in the Mother of God Joy of All Who Sorrow Orthodox Church, Princeton, NJ, was “Closer to Christ, Closer to Each Other.”
His Eminence the Most Reverend Michael, archbishop of New York and the Diocese of New York and New Jersey, Orthodox Church in America, gave the keynote at the gathering, which attracted more than 100 participants. His Grace the Right Reverend Thomas, bishop of the Diocese of Charleston, Oakland, and the Mid-Atlantic, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of America, was among the other speakers. (See the Brotherhood’s website for a detailed schedule of the conference.)
Four of our seminarians sat on the “Young Orthodox Preacher’s Panel”: 2nd-year students Anthony Davis and Dn. Simon Menya, and 1st-year students Loveday Okafor and Fr. Chrysostom Onyekakeyah. Father Chad gave a presentation on the newly established St. Cyprian of Carthage fund, which supports African students at St. Vladimir’s, as well as news about the budding relationship between the Seminary and the Patriarch of Alexandria. Dr. Thompson was the organizer and coordinator of the conference. Additionally, Bettye Malone, a long-time member of Three Hierarchs Chapel on the seminary campus, attended the gathering.
Several videos of the lectures given at the conference may be found on the Facebook page of the Brotherhood of St Moses the Black.
