Four St. Vladimir's seminarians and one faculty member were ordained to Holy Orders during the first semester of the 2015–2016 Academic Year. Our newly ordained priests and deacons have rich cultural, educational, and professional backgrounds, and hail from five different states.
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Deacon Ryan Bishop, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Student status and church affiliation Third-year, Master of Divinity; Orthodox Church in America
Ordination, Holy Diaconate September 14th, 2015, Exaltation of the Precious and Life Giving Cross, Three Hierarchs Chapel, St. Vladimir's Seminary; by the hand of His Beatitude Tikhon, Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of all America and Canada. Concelebrants: the Very Reverend Dr. John Behr, Dean; the Very Reverend Dr. Chad Hatfield, Chancellor/CEO ; the Very Reverend Dr. Alexander Rentel, Assistant Professor of Canon Law and Byzantine Studies; the Very Reverend Dr. Sergius Halvorsen, Assistant Professor of Homiletics and Rhetoric; the Reverend Aleksy Paranyuk; the Reverend Archdeacon Joseph Matusiak; the Reverend Deacon Gregory Hatrak; the Reverend Deacon Evan Freeman; the Reverend Deacon Joseph Ramos; the Reverend Deacon Michael Rozdilski
Educational and professional background Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies from Columbia Bible College, Joinery Foundations Certification from The British Columbia Institute of Technology, four years as apprentice cabinet maker, two years as a stay at home dad.
Biographical note Deacon Ryan earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies from Columbia Bible College in 2006, and a Joinery Foundations Certificate in 2008. After several years in the cabinetry industry, he decided to work for himself from home, making furniture and looking after his two children. In 2013, the Bishop family embarked on their journey to New York, in order for Dn. Ryan to participate in the Master of Divinity program at St. Vladimir’s.
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Deacon Paul Fuller, Louisville, KY
Student status and church affiliation Third-year, Master of Divinity; Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Ordination, Holy Diaconate November 8, 2015, St. Michael Antiochian Orthodox Church, Louisville, KY; by the hand of (SVOTS alumnus) His Grace Bishop Anthony, Diocese of Toledo and the Mid-West. Concelebrants: the Very Reverend Alexis Kouri; the Very Reverend George Geevarghese; the Reverend Deacon Kyrill Schaefer; (alumnus) the Reverend Deacon Andrew Leake; (alumnus) Subdeacon Joseph Olas; (alumnus) Subdeacon Anthony Westermann
Educational and professional background Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Kentucky; worked for five years as the Youth and Young Adult Director of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Houston, TX.
Seminarian parish placement St. George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Danbury, CT, with the Very Reverend George Alberts
Biographical note Deacon Paul is married to Ramia (Foteh) of Houston, TX. Noted Dn. Paul, "I feel very humbled and blessed to be ordained to the Holy Diaconate, especially being able to go home to St Michael (Louisville) for my ordination."
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Deacon George Parsenios, Princeton, NJ
Status and church affiliation Associate Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary; Sessional Professor of New Testament, St. Vladimir's Seminary; Deacon, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Ordination, Holy Diaconate December 13, 2015, The Cathedral of St. John the Theologian, Tenafly, New Jersey; by the hand of His Eminence Metropolitan Evangelos, Greek Orthodox Metropolis of New Jersey. Concelebrants: the Very Reverend William Cassis, the Very Reverend Michael Westerberg, the Reverend Peter Orfanakos, the Reverend Anastasios Kousoulas, the Reverend Christopher Flesoras.
Educational and professional background Deacon George is the Associate Professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, and is Sessional Professor of New Testament at St. Vladimir's Seminary. He earned his Master of Arts in Classics from Duke University, a Master of Divinity from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, and a Master of Arts, Master of Philosophy, and Ph.D. from Yale University. His teaching and research explore the interaction of early Christianity with classical literature, as well as the interpretation of the New Testament in the early church. He is the author of two books and several articles. He regularly teaches courses on the Gospel of John, I Corinthians, and Paul the Pastor.
Biographical note Deacon George, his wife, Maureen, and their three children Nicholas, Julia and Constantine, live in Princeton, New Jersey.
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Deacon William Rettig, St. Paul, MN
Student status and church affiliation Third-year, Master of Divinity; Orthodox Church in America (OCA)
Ordination, Holy Diaconate December 31, 2015, Holy Trinity Orthodox Church, St. Paul, MN; by the hand of (alumnus) His Grace Bishop Paul, Diocese of the Midwest. Concelebrants: (alumnus) the Reverend Jonathan Proctor, Holy Trinity Orthodox Church; the Reverend Andrew Jaye, Holy Trinity Orthodox Church; the Reverend Philip Ramstad; Gregory Krutchek, St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, Minneapolis, MN; the Reverend Deacon Bohdan Melnychenko, Holy Trinity Orthodox Church; the Reverend Deacon Alexei Dupay, Holy Trinity Orthodox Church. (Note: All parishes listed, other than St. Mary's in Minneapolis, are located in St. Paul, MN.)
Educational and professional background Bachelor of Arts in Biblical and Theological Studies, Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, both from Bethel University in St. Paul, MN
Seminarian parish placement St. Nicholas Albanian Orthodox Church, Jamaica Estates, NY
Biographical note Deacon William is married to Jillian, and is a native of Washington State. He worked for the outdoor industry for eight years before coming to seminary and will be serving in the Midwest following commencement.
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Father Ignatius Green, Slippery Rock, PA
Student status and church affiliation Master of Divinity degree (2015); currently studying in the Master of Theology program; Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR)
Ordination, Holy Diaconate December 27, 2015 (Sunday of the Holy Forefathers), ROCOR Synodal Cathedral, Our Lady of the Sign, Manhattan, NY; by the hand of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad. Concelebrants: The Right Reverend Nicholas, Auxiliary Bishop of Manhattan (ROCOR); the Very Reverend Andrei Sommer, Dean of the Synodal Cathedral; the Very Reverend Alexander Golubov, St. Nicholas Cathedral, NYC; the Very Reverend Vasiliy Raskovskiy, Synodal Cathedral; the Very Reverend Aleksey Paranyuk, St. Nicholas Cathedral, NYC, SVOTS seminarian; Protodeacon Nicholas Mokhoff, Synodal Cathedral; the Reverend Deacon Nathan Mousselli, Synodal Cathedral; the Reverend Hierodeacon Herman (Majkrzak), SVOTS Music Instructor and Choir Director
Ordination, Holy Priesthood January 3, 2016 (Sunday of the Holy Fathers), St. John the Baptist Cathedral, Washington, D.C.; by the hand of (alumnus) His Eminence Metropolitan Jonah. Concelebrants: the Very Reverend Victor Potapov, Rector of St. John the Baptist Cathedral (present in altar for ordination, but served the Slavonic liturgy after, not concelebrating at English liturgy); the Very Reverend John Johnson, St. John the Baptist Cathedral; the Reverend Dr. Patrick Viscuso, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, Chantilly, VA; the Very Reverend Victor Klimenko, St. John the Baptist Cathedral; Protodeacon Patrick Mitchell, St. John the Baptist Cathedral; Protodeacon John Dean, St. John the Baptist Cathedral; the Reverend Hierodeacon Polycarp (Strosnider), St. John the Baptist Cathedral. Also, Monk Silouan (Brown) was ordained to the subdiaconate prior to the Divine Liturgy.
Educational and professional background Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts from St. John's College (Annapolis, MD), a "Great Books" program; Master of Divinity from St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary
Seminarian parish placement Father Ignatius has been assigned to the Protection of the Mother of God parish in Nyack, NY as an assistant to Fr. Ilia Gorsky and Fr. George Larin until his graduation. Future plans have not yet been finalized.
Biographical note Through reading the early Church Fathers and experiencing the grace of the Liturgy, Fr. Ignatius decided to convert to the Orthodox Christian faith while in college. Together with his local chapter of Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) and his godfather, Fr. Robert Miclean, he helped to start a mission in Annapolis, MD. His wife Aimilia converted with her family at the age of nine, and she was homeschooled at a Greek women’s monastery where she received her Orthodox formation. Father Ignatius and Mat. Aimilia have two children: Ephraim (2 years old) and Theophano (8 months old).
Reflects Fr. Ignatius, "I am deeply humbled by so great a gift. I cannot express my gratitude for having found Christ’s Holy Church, for becoming a member of His Body, and now for being ordained to the Holy Priesthood. I pray that I may be able to bring others to the fullness of grace and truth that are found in the Church."
