The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America has issued an encyclical entitled, “We Rejoice Even in Tribulation”: An Encyclical of Hope. The Holy Synod offered the work out of love and gratitude to its faithful at the end of this year. The Synod also intends for the encyclical to be seen as an encouragement for the year to come.
In the encyclical, the Synod seeks to find meaning in the year that has past, which has been marked by a pandemic, political polarization, economic anxiety, and civil unrest, and calls the faithful to a renewed faith and hope in Jesus Christ and service to one another.
Click here to download the encyclical in PDF format.
In January 2021, printed copies will be mailed to all parishes, monasteries, and institutions of the Orthodox Church in America.
The Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) program at Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) has benefited from the recent additions of outstanding scholars to the program: Drs. Gregory J. Abdalah, Jeffrey P. Bishop, Ana S. Iltis, and John Mark Reynolds.
“We saw an opportunity to address areas we needed in the D.Min. program, and we were able, thanks be to God, to recruit professors of great quality for that purpose,” said Academic Dean Dr. Ionuţ-Alexandru Tudorie.
"The D.Min. program provides clergy and other pastoral professionals with advanced knowledge and skills through critical reflection on the practice of ministry,” added Very Rev. Dr. Sergius Halvorsen, the D.Min. program director. “The tremendous wealth of experience and expertise that our new faculty bring to the program is a great benefit to our students."
The D.Min. faculty members, who joined SVOTS at the beginning of the academic year, have brought varied and distinguished expertise to St. Vladimir’s. Dr. Gregory Abdalah, assistant professor of pastoral theology, is himself a graduate of SVOTS’ D.Min. program who has worked extensively in youth ministry and other pastoral capacities; he has been invited to speak at various camps and youth retreats around the US and Canada. Dr. Jeffrey Bishop, professor of health care ethics, is the Tenet Endowed Chair in Health Care Ethics and director of the Albert Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics at Saint Louis University; he holds degrees in medicine and theology. Dr. Ana Iltis, professor of philosophy, is director of the Center for Bioethics, Health and Society and professor of philosophy at Wake Forest University; she is published widely in bioethics and serves on several National Institutes of Health data safety monitoring boards. Dr. John Mark Reynolds, professor of philosophy, is the president of The Saint Constantine School in Houston, TX and a fellow of the Center for Science and Culture at The Discovery Institute; he is the author of numerous books and is a frequent blogger and lecturer on a wide range of topics. All four professors are active members of the Orthodox Church.
“Over the past few years, we have been able to bring in a number of scholars who are well respected in their fields,” said SVOTS President Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield. “The addition of these newest faculty members is a major draw for our already excellent Doctor of Ministry program.”
About the Doctor of Ministry Program
The accredited Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) program at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary was launched in 2013 to offer continuing education to clergy and help address immense challenges facing pastors in their ministry across North America and abroad. The D.Min. program provides priests, chaplains, and other pastoral professionals with advanced knowledge and skills, integrating doctoral level academic work with pastoral spirituality. The program combines distance learning, one-week onsite intensives, and an academic schedule tailored to the cycles of the liturgical year so that D.Min. students can continue to serve in their current ministries while completing their doctoral degree.
The D.Min. program recruits a new cohort every two years, with the next scheduled to begin in the fall of 2022. Contact Very Rev. Dr. Sergius Halvorsen, program director, at shalvorsen@svots.edu for more information about the D.Min. track at St. Vladimir’s Seminary.
On Saturday August 7th, seminarians, children, spouses, faculty and staff worked together on a campus clean up. The clean-up part of a very hot day began at 9 a.m. outside the North Dorm where a crowd gathered to collect tools and receive instructions.
The first task was laying new mulch in the playground. Everyone was involved. Some hauled mulch in wheelbarrows. Children used their wagons. Others attacked “mulch mountains” with rakes and hoes. David Wagschal, who is joining the seminary faculty to teach Church History, showed his skills on the SVOTS tractor.
While most were working in the playground, Fr. Chad Hatfield, our Chancellor and a keen gardener, was working to tidy the flowerbeds and trees in the front of the Rangos Building. Once the playground flooring was in place, the crew moved on to tidy the shoreline alongside the Lakeside married-student apartments, collecting bags full of debris.
Some enthusiastic seminarians took garbage bags down to the base of the waterfall and collected the litter that had swept down from Central Ave. through Crestwood Lake. Our Dean, Fr. John Behr, and his family collected glass, bottles, and assorted other refuse from the Seminary’s border with Scarsdale Road.
Many filled refuse bags and blistered hands later, the community happily ate vegetarian pizza together on the veranda of the Germack Building.
“I was really impressed by the commitment to the Seminary that the community showed today,” said Fr. Chad. “Just about everyone on campus showed up cheerfully and worked extremely hard.”
