May God grant many blessed years to the St Vladimir's Seminary alumni and students who were recently ordained! Axios!
HOLY PRIESTHOOD
Priest John William Vazquez (M.Div. ‘23)
Jurisdiction: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCANA)
Holy Diaconate: Ordained April 2, 2022 by His Grace Bishop Anthony (Michaels), Diocese of Toledo and the Midwest, at St George Orthodox Christian Church, Fishers, IN.
Holy Priesthood: Ordained October 23, 2022 by His Grace Bishop Anthony (Michaels), Diocese of Toledo and the Midwest, at St George Orthodox Christian Church, Fishers, IN.
Educational and Professional Background: B.A. History, Kent State University.
Priest Alexander Earl (M.Div. ‘23)
Jurisdiction: Orthodox Church in America (OCA)
Holy Diaconate: Ordained March 25, 2022 by His Grace Bishop Gerasim of Ft Worth at Three Hierarchs Chapel, Yonkers, NY.
Holy Priesthood: Ordained November 6, 2022 by by His Eminence, the Most Reverend Alexander, Archbishop of Dallas, the South and the Bulgarian Diocese, at Three Hierarchs Chapel, Yonkers, NY.
Current Ministry: Serving under the omophorion of Metropolitan Tikhon, in the roster of Stavropegial clergy, attached at Three Hierarchs Chapel, Yonkers, NY.
Educational and Professional Background: Served as instructor and director of the Center for Philosophy & Theology at Pacifica Christian High School in Santa Monica, CA, prior to seminary. M.A. Religion, concentration in philosophical theology, Yale Divinity School; B.A. Religious Studies and Philosophy, Rollins College, Winter Park, FL.
Priest Tiberiu Opris (M.A. ‘20; Th.M. ‘21)
Jurisdiction: Orthodox Church in America (OCA), The Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America, under the omophorion of His Eminence Archbishop Nathaniel
Holy Diaconate: Ordained November 27, 2022 by His Grace Bishop Andrei, St Thomas Romanian Orthodox Church in St Louis, MO.
Holy Priesthood: Ordained December 3, 2022 by His Grace Bishop Andrei, at Saint Mary Romanian Orthodox Church, Chicago, IL.
Current Ministry: Parish Priest of St Thomas Romanian Orthodox Church in St Louis, MO.
Educational and Professional Background: B.A. in Orthodox Pastoral Theology, Faculty of Orthodox Theology, Bucharest, Romania; M.A. in Christian History and Tradition, Faculty of Orthodox Theology, Bucharest, Romania; currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies at the Interdisciplinary School of Doctoral Studies within the University of Bucharest.
Priest David Galloway (M.Div. ‘23)
Jurisdiction: Orthodox Church in America (OCA), Diocese of the South
Holy Diaconate: Ordained April 3, 2022 by His Grace Bishop Gerasim of Ft Worth at St John of the Ladder Orthodox Church, Greenville, SC.
Holy Priesthood: Ordained December 18, 2022 by His Grace, Bishop Alexei of Sitka and Alaska at St John of the Ladder Orthodox Church, Greenville, SC.
Current Ministry: Sts. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, South River, NJ
Educational and Professional Background: Undergraduate studies in English Literature and Philosophy, Goldsmiths College, University of London. Worked as an IT Project Manager and Senior Technical Writer prior to seminary.
Presbyter John Capones (M.Div. ‘23)
Jurisdiction: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)
Holy Diaconate: Ordained November 2, 2022 by Archbishop Elpidophoros at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York, NY.
Holy Priesthood: Ordained December 25, 2022 by Archbishop Elpidophoros at the St. Nicholas National Shrine at Ground Zero.
Current Ministry: Archangel Michael Greek Orthodox Church of Port Washington, NY.
Educational and Professional Background: B.A. Religious Studies from Hellenic College ('17), M.A. Higher Education Administration from Stony Brook University ('19). Former Registrar Director for a large private institution in the Greater New York City Area.
Photo credit: Archon Dimitrios Panagos, GOA.
HOLY DIACONATE
Deacon Immanuel (Amal) Punnoose (M.Div. '19)
Jurisdiction: Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC)
Holy Diaconate: Ordained October 29, 2022 by His Grace, Gabriel Mar Gregorios at St Gregorios Orthodox Church, Elmhurst, IL.
Current Ministry: Pastoral assistant at St Gregorios Orthodox Church, Elmhurst, IL.
Educational and Professional Background: B.S. Biology from Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in 2016; Masters in Public Health - Epidemiology, University of Alabama - Birmingham (UAB), December 2022.
Deacon Phillip Ritchey (M.Div. '20)
Jurisdiction: Orthodox Church in America (OCA)
Holy Diaconate: Ordained November 5, 2022 by His Grace Bishop Gerasim of Ft Worth at St Symeon Orthodox Church in Birmingham, AL.
Current Ministry: Project lead for OCA's Department of Liturgical Music and Translations; attached to St Symeon Orthodox Church in Birmingham, AL.
Educational and Professional Background: B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Alabama at Birmingham; Forensic Scientist in the Drug Chemistry discipline of the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.
Deacon Joshua Ford (M.Div. ‘11)
Jurisdiction: Orthodox Church in America (OCA)
Holy Diaconate: Ordained November 13, 2022 by His Grace Bishop Daniel, Archbishop of Chicago and the Midwest, at St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, Minneapolis, MN.
Current Ministry: Attached at St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, Minneapolis, MN.
Educational and Professional Background: B.S. Music Merchandising, South Dakota State University, 2003. Currently working for Chromebookparts.com, a supplier of Chromebook laptop parts to schools and resellers throughout North America.
ELEVATIONS & AWARDS
Archimandrite Nikodhim (Preston) (M.Div. ’07)
Jurisdiction: Orthodox Church in America (OCA), The Albanian Archdiocese
Elevation: Elevated from hieromonk to the rank of archimandrite on November 13, 2022 by His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon, at the Regular Fall 2022 Session of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America.
Holy Priesthood: Ordained in 2010 by Archbishop Nikon (Liolin) of blessed memory at St Nicholas Albanian Orthodox Church in Jamaica Estates, NY.
Current Ministry: Administrator of the Albanian Archdiocese and rector of the St Nicholas Albanian Orthodox Church in Jamaica Estates, NY.
Archimandrite Seraphim (Johns) (M.Div. ’09)
Jurisdiction: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA), Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Denver
Elevation: Elevated from hieromonk to the rank of archimandrite on November 19, 2022 by His Grace Bishop Constantine of Sassima, on behalf of His Eminence Metropolitan Isaiah, at Holy Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, Price, UT
Holy Priesthood: Ordained May 17, 2015 by His Eminence Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver, at Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Pocatello, ID
Current Ministry: Parish Priest of Holy Assumption Greek Orthodox Church, Price, UT.
Dr Albert Rossi, Director of Counseling and Psychological Services at St Vladimir’s Seminary
Jurisdiction: Orthodox Church in America (OCA)
Award: St Innocent Medal (Silver Class), presented by His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon on November 13, 2022, at the 10th Anniversary celebration honoring the election of Metropolitan Tikhon as the Primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA).
