The third episode features St. Vladimir’s Seminary assistant professor Very Rev. Nicholas Solak along with Casey Clardy, Ph.D.
“Everything bears meaning: meaning about our life and God and the world and ourselves…and resident within all that is opportunity,” Fr. Nicholas said as the discussion began.
Watch the entire interview with Fr. Nicholas and Dr. Clardy below.
Father Nicholas is a graduate of St. Vladimir’s Seminary; first in 2002 with an M.Div. degree and again in 2008 with a D.Min. Degree. He was ordained to the priesthood in February 2002. Prior to attending St. Vladimir's Seminary, Fr. Nicholas worked for ten years in prisons delivering cognitive-behavioral treatment to criminal offenders with drug and alcohol addiction histories. He also has experience working with the 12-Step Program in treating drug and alcohol addicts. Since 2002, he has been the parish priest at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Stroudsburg, PA, where he lives with his wife and three children. He is also chair of the Orthodox Church in America’s Office of Pastoral Life.
Drawing from his experience as a missionary in South Africa and Orthodox mission planter in the United States, St. Vladimir’s Seminary President Fr. Chad Hatfield discusses Orthodox evangelism and offers practical advice for new parishes.
“The first evangelical words [of Scripture] are found in the beginning of Genesis,” Fr. Chad explained during his talk at NLA. “Adam and Eve are hiding, because they now know who they are—their nakedness has been exposed—and it is God, Himself, who calls out, 'Where are you?’
“Ours is a God who comes seeking you and me."
Father Chad’s trip to Norway was arranged by St. Vladimir’s Seminary Alumnus Fr. Theodor Svane (’15) and the parish Fr. Theodor serves, Annunciation of the Holy Virgin Mary Orthodox Mission Parish (in Norwegian, Hellige Jomfru Marias Bebudelse Ortodokse Menighet). The parish hosted Fr. Chad’s visit and worked with the university and Holy Theophany parish for the two talks. During the trip, Fr. Chad also delivered a Nativity Retreat at Fr. Theodor’s parish.
Following the Great Feast of the Nativity, Fr. Sergius was the keynote speaker at the OCF College Conference Midwest, held from December 27 to 30, 2019, at Saint Iakovos Retreat Center, Kansasville, WI. He offered this reflection to OCA.org about his experience:
“As I stood in front of more than ninety college students at the OCF College Conference Midwest at the St. Iakovos Retreat Center in Kansasville WI, and as I began the first of three keynote addresses that I would deliver over the weekend, I couldn't help but think of the OCF college conference that I attended thirty years ago that changed my life forever. I was baptized and chrismated in the Orthodox Church during my college years, and from the very beginning, I thought that maybe I had a vocation to serve the Church. I once asked a senior priest about possibly going to seminary. His first question was, "Do you have a college degree?" I told him that I was close to finishing my B.A. "What is your major?" he asked. "Biology," I said. Then he harrumphed and said, "Well...that doesn't have much to do with theology does it?" That was the end of the discussion, and almost the end of my vocation. A few months later I was at a summer OCF college conference at the Antiochian Village, and Fr. Thomas Hopko was the keynote speaker. Of course I knew who Fr. Tom was—in those days it seemed like everyone did! We listened to his lectures on tape and read his books and knew that he was dean of St. Vladimir's Seminary. Over the course of the retreat, I waited for a moment when he wasn't surrounded by too many people, and with all the courage I could muster, I introduced myself and asked about going to seminary. He cheerfully asked me about where I was from, where I was going to college, and then he asked me the question that I was dreading, "What is your major?" I sheepishly responded, "biology," fearing another bad response. Father Tom thought for a moment, and then he said, "Biology, that is wonderful! You know, St. Isaac the Syrian said that the Christian must love God, love neighbor, and love all of creation—including the lizards. And for someone who lived in the desert, that's really saying something!"
I shared this story with the students at the OCF conference and told them that no matter what you are studying in college, God is calling you to serve, to follow His commandments, and to build up the Body of Christ. The theme of the retreat was from the Prologue of St. John's Gospel, "The Light Shines in the Darkness" and over a remarkable three days of prayer, reflection, and fellowship, we all had an opportunity to allow the light of Christ to burn more brightly in our hearts. The retreat was entirely planned and run by college students, and I'm deeply grateful to all of them for the amazing work they did. The retreat also included a dynamic group of speakers including Fr. Panagiotis Boznos, Steven Christoforou, Paul Karos and Katrina Bitar. The diversity of the speakers gave the college students a concrete image of how Christian discipleship and vocation takes innumerable forms: lay and clergy; male and female; young and old; God calls every one of us to radiate the light of Christ in the darkness.
Coming away from the OCF College Conference Midwest reminded me of just how important it is to nurture and support our college students through the work of OCF. Thinking back on my own life, I was reminded of just how crucial on OCF experience can be to a young person discerning a vocation to serve Christ and His Holy Church. But my three days at the conference also reminded how remarkably life-giving it is for older people, like myself, to serve young people. In helping to kindle and nurture the fire of Christian faith in others, our own Orthodox Christian faith is renewed and strengthened. Glory to Jesus Christ!
On Monday, February 3, 2020, Fr. Sergius spoke to clergy of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America who gathered at the Washington Retreat House in Washington, D.C. for a Pre-Lenten retreat. The theme of the retreat was "Kerygma" and Fr. Sergius' talk, "Encountering the Word: Kerygma sprung from scripture, liturgy and hymnography," was the first of three reflections offered by homiletics professors.
In opening remarks His Eminence, Archbishop Elpidophoros noted the importance of preaching in pastoral ministry, and encouraged the participants to preach with clarity and focus. Fr. Sergius reflected on the profound demands of pastoral ministry in terms of the spiritual warfare, and he invited preachers to see the preparation and delivery of homilies as an essential component of the spiritual life.
"Preaching is far more than simply delivering a lecture,” said Fr. Sergius. “When we prepare to preach the Gospel, our first task is to listen for the Word of God, to hear how Christ is speaking to us in the midst of our challenges and temptations. Hearing the Word of God, we can be personally strengthened and renewed in our own Christian faith, and offer to our hearers an opportunity to be renewed and strengthened in Christ."
Saint Vladimir’s Seminary Professor Dr. Peter Bouteneff traveled to Estonia for a unique experience, spending ten days in residency at Arvo Pärt Centre in the village of Laulasmaa from November 21-30, 2019.
“This residency was a period of retreat for me, an immersion into the music and world of Pärt which is so endlessly meaningful to me,” said Bouteneff. “It gave me the opportunity to work in silence, with a view to the great Estonian forest that surrounds the building. And then I could poke my head out of my study room and get into a conversation with one of the Centre’s staff, a visitor, or even with the composer himself.”
Bouteneff serves on the Arvo Pärt Centre’s Board of Artistic Advisors and is the director of St. Vladimir’s Seminary’s Arvo Pärt Project, which he co-founded together with former faculty member Nicholas Reeves in 2011. Since then, Pärt’s spiritual roots in Orthodox Christianity have inspired the Seminary to produce high-profile concerts, essays and books, and cross-disciplinary panel discussions.
Professor Bouteneff said the timing of his recent stay at the Centre made it even more meaningful for him.
“It was a special joy to be there during the days that Archimandrite Sophrony of Essex was canonized a saint,” he said. “Arvo Pärt and I first met in 1990 at Fr. Sophrony’s monastery. Sophrony and St. Silouan the Athonite have been a profound influence on Pärt’s life and music, and the chapel at the heart of the Pärt Centre was immediately dedicated in the name of St. Sophrony.”
Bouteneff’s residency concluded with a public lecture in the Centre’s auditorium entitled, “Music as translation: The movement from text to reception in Arvo Pärt’s music.” The lecture explored the relationship between the sacred texts that Pärt sets to music, and the profound spiritual power that the music has over its vastly diverse audience.
It has been a little over a year since I took up my position as academic dean of St. Vladimir’s Seminary, relocating here from my native Romania. But it was only quite recently that my wife, daughters, and I went out as a family to explore the New York area, even just to a restaurant! To be honest, since we arrived here, we have been trying to focus on this community. And we already have a deep feeling of belonging here. It feels strange to leave campus for a Sunday Divine Liturgy, on the occasions I am called away to be somewhere else. Of course, you meet new people and visit new places, and this is always wonderful, but something in your heart always tells you your family is here, at St. Vladimir’s Seminary.
It is this strength of community that I wish to bring out more than anything as academic dean. To be, again, honest, one of the things I have found profoundly challenging in this country is the strong emphasis placed on self-promotion—which, at least, seems to be more emphasized in North American culture than what I am used to. I wish above all to promote the Seminary. I would like to promote the institution. It is the people who make up this institution—each and every one—who are worth promoting, celebrating, and developing. That is why my work here so far has been guided by two main areas of focus: faculty and students.
It is the strength of the faculty that has made the Seminary so famous in the Orthodox world over the school’s history. The relatively small faculty has an excellent track record of research awards and publications with leading university presses and journals. I am dedicated to promoting and encouraging all members of our faculty to continue contributions in their respective fields. I want to make sure the Seminary does not fall into the habit of promoting just one or two professors, which can sometimes happen in smaller universities and schools. This is important in order to maintain and grow an excellent academic atmosphere and standard here.
This is also a period of great transition for the faculty. In recent years, some of our well-known professors have retired or are taking up other opportunities elsewhere. This is, of course, a challenge, but there is also great opportunity in this time of change! I believe an important duty of the academic dean is to be able to bring in the best Orthodox scholars when these opportunities arise. And I can tell you there are so many well-trained Orthodox scholars out there. We will use all our connections and look everywhere for resources, here and abroad. We need the best scholars, who can teach well, at St. Vladimir’s. I am one hundred percent devoted and committed to that.
In this period of transition, there is also opportunity to foster and cultivate the pan-Orthodox vision for this Seminary held by great figures such as Fr. Georges Florovsky. Either as faculty or as visiting scholars, I would like to bring great minds here from as many of the great traditions of Orthodoxy as possible—Russia, the Middle East, Greece, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, and so on. (We have, in fact, already begun bringing in new, excellent scholars here, which will be seen in the coming months.) I want St. Vladimir’s Seminary to be a hub for Orthodox scholars. Relating to this goal, we have been working to grow and put more resources into the Seminary’s Father Georges Florovsky Library. Having the best research library possible is an important piece in attracting the best scholars to St. Vladimir’s.
This focus on faculty and academic climate is meant to also benefit the seminarians, the very reason we exist and the other main focus of my duties. Part of my work here has been devoted to fostering collaboration between faculty and students. A new academic symposium highlighting outstanding student papers and monthly Faculty Seminars, led by both faculty and students, have been a part of this effort. As someone who was trained in a very Germanic style of studying theology, I also examine our curriculum from my particular background to see if improvements can be made. For example, we are exploring possibly more offerings dedicated to ethics/bioethics, and more language offerings in the future such as Latin (which is important for Orthodox scholarship, not just Roman Catholic studies), Hebrew, Syriac, Coptic, and others.
It is also my hope that seminarians feel as connected to the school as possible. The seminars, symposiums, and other collaboration efforts are part of this. But I also want them to know me, other than maybe what they have read about in my CV or that I am a Romanian Orthodox person from Eastern Europe. I don’t want them to just see me in chapel and think, “I guess maybe he’s spiritual, or maybe he’s just showing up because of the job!” That’s not enough. I want to open another layer of communication with the students. It’s not only important for the students, but also for the school. Starting this academic year, my family and I have started hosting one student and their family every Sunday at our home. We are focusing on families initially, and then will start hosting the single students. We learn so many things about them and their needs and goals. I hope we have imparted some warmth to them, but they have certainly made an impact on us, and we are so thankful to be able to share this fellowship with them.
All of the seminarians and families at St. Vladimir’s, not just the ones we have hosted, have been such an inspiration to me since I became academic dean, and they help me to better understand my own service and calling. I am always so surprised, in a very good sense, by those who discover Christ at different stages of life and those who have converted to Orthodoxy. Being born and raised in an Orthodox-majority country, you don’t see as often the kinds of sacrifices and stories you see here all the time. It is, perhaps, more normal to contemplate a life in the Church from a young age there. But I have been in awe of those here who have come from a completely different cultural and religious environment but who put their life on hold, changed its direction completely, sold everything, moved to seminary, and put their and their family’s lives in the hands of the Church. It is before these people I can prostrate myself—and I am not just saying that. I always ask myself, am I able to do such a thing? Am I worthy enough to serve these kinds of people?
These are the people I am so thankful for—the faculty, students, and all of the Seminary community—and who make my work so important. I will give thanks to God if I can look back after however many years I am academic dean here and say that I was able to be part of something important for them, for St. Vladimir’s Seminary. This is, after all, my family.
St. Vladimir’s Seminary faculty member and alumnus Fr. Adrian Budica was elevated to the dignity of archpriest Sunday, October 20, 2019, during a historic weekend of celebrations at St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral in Brooklyn, NY. Father Adrian was elevated by the hands of His Eminence, Metropolitan Joseph, primate of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCANA), on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the founding of the Syro-Arabian Mission by St. Raphael of Brooklyn; the weekend also marked the start of centennial celebrations of the cathedral on State Street.
Joining Metropolitan Joseph were Their Graces, Bishop Basil of Wichita, Bishop Thomas of Charleston, Bishop John of Worcester, Bishop Anthony of Toledo, and Bishop Nicholas of Miami. Their special guest was His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, who represented His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia (the Russian Church provided St. Raphael as a priest in 1895 and consecrated him as a bishop for the founding of the Syro-Arabian Mission, the precursor of the Antiochian Archdiocese). Also present Sunday were St. Vladimir’s Seminary President Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield and Seminary alumni and students.
The Very Rev. Adrian Budica is attached to St. Nicholas Cathedral and is director of Field Education and supervisor of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. He graduated with a Master of Theology (Th.M.) degree from St. Vladimir’s in 2010 and also holds theology degrees from his native country of Romania, including a degree in Orthodox pastoral theology from Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj Napoca.
The St. Vladimir’s Seminary community wishes Archpriest Adrian, Khouria Viktoria, and their children, Elias and Solomia, many years!
The ecumenical monastic community of Bose, founded in 1965 by Fr. Enzo Bianchi, has made a tradition of hosting annual conferences on Orthodox Christian spirituality. This year’s was the 27th such conference, taking place from September 4-6, 2019, and titled “Called to Life in Christ: In the Church, in the World, in the Present Time.” It brought together some 225 hierarchs, clergy, monastics, and laypeople from a wide diversity of Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches, together with Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Protestant lay, clergy, and monastic participants.
Among the many eminent people present this year were Archbishop Job (Getcha) of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk, Christos Yannaras, and Sebastian Brock. Saint Vladimir’s Seminary was represented by two speakers—Fr. John Behr (who also sits on the conference’s organizing committee), and myself. Speakers also included faculty from St. Sergius Theological Institute (Paris) and the St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology at the University of Balamand (Lebanon).
Apart from being a high-caliber event of profound inspiration, this conference is a yearly gift to the Orthodox churches. We need this encouragement, this “push” to gather together, without any ecclesiastical agenda. The Bose community provides this unique and beautiful space, allowing for creative spiritual and theological reflection amongst ourselves and with other Christian brothers and sisters. For a few days, interchurch tensions melt away as we find each other in this idyllic place, with the community’s gracious hospitality, at a conference organized with the greatest care and with spiritual and theological sensitivity.
The community was aware of my work in the sacred arts and with Arvo Pärt, as well as my recent book How to Be a Sinner. So they asked me to prepare my talk on the relationship between beauty and forgiveness. This provided me with the opportunity to invite the audience to reflect with me on what that relationship looks like. On the one hand, forgiveness is a thing of beauty. On the other hand, the experience of profound beauty humbles us, and leads us to forgiveness. Both beauty and forgiveness begin with God and are received and acted on by human beings. The discussion after my talk was warm, thoughtful, and deeply receptive.
For the sake of worldwide cooperation and conversation about pressing environmental issues, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew hosted the third Halki Summit in Istanbul, Turkey from May 31 to June 4, 2019. Halki III brought together distinguished representatives of Orthodox theological schools and seminaries from all over the world—some fifty delegates from over forty institutions, including St. Vladimir’s Seminary—to focus on the theme of “Theological Formation and Ecological Awareness.” Prominent environmental theologians from Roman Catholic and Protestant churches also participated.
Presentations and discussions were focused on the importance of curriculum and theological education for addressing present-day ecological concerns. His All-Holiness Bartholomew addressed the summit to encourage its work, and Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon set the tone with an opening meditation on eucharistic liturgy. High-level presentations that followed included discussion about the role of wisdom in creation theology, the importance of understanding humans to be part of creation (and not just individual agents surrounded by an “environment”), liturgy, and the role of scripture study, the natural sciences, and whole-institution involvement. The second day of the summit brought a lively set of presentations on everything from an important World Council of Churches (WCC) initiative for greening parishes to raising awareness of food culture, to the influence monasteries can have through farming as outreach, hospitality, and spiritual care.
There was much interest from all participants to bridge from theology into practice, and to work across the curriculum of theological schools, rather than just add a single course or elective. Orthodox liturgical and spiritual traditions are uniquely positioned to address the deep (and spiritual) roots of climate change, threats to the ecological health of the planet, its ecosystems, and species, and the resulting injustice to the poor, refugees, and indigenous peoples.
The challenge now is to bring our theology to bear by collaborating with other Christian churches and religious traditions, and with non-religious organizations and scientific experts, to prepare clergy, church leaders, and the laity in parishes to play a much greater part in addressing complex problems. These problems will find no solution without spiritual and religious motivation and guidance. The world has long been watching — and waiting — for the Church to take an active role and visible leadership in addressing global concerns.
His-All Holiness, “The Green Patriarch,” has led the way for thirty years, but he expressed grief that so much remains to be done. He is looking to seminaries and theological schools to step up their attention and focus.
To that end, I chaired the session on eco-theological curriculum. I also shared about the Seminary’s Vision 2020 initiative and the student-led (and very active) St. Herman Society for Orthodox Ecology on campus. Significantly, I wasn’t the only person representing St. Vladimir’s at the summit. My fellow faculty member Dr. Gayle Woloschak also took part, as did current Doctor of Ministry student Nathan Hoppe and Alumni Fr. Mardiros Chevian, Dn. Alexander Calikyan, and Bogdan Neacsiu.
Following Halki III, a working group is being formed to continue the conversation specifically in terms of seminary education.
Lecturer in Music Harrison Russin is the latest scholar to be featured in the Seminary’s Monthly Seminar series. On Tuesday, April 9, 2019, Russin presented his findings on "Monophonic Credos and their Cultural Background in the Late Medieval Period (1300–1500)."
“The paper drew from my dissertation research, which is on the Credo in music in late medieval and early renaissance Italy and France,” said Russin, who is a Ph.D. candidate at Duke University. “For about 500 years there was only one chant setting of the Credo for the mass; between 1300 and 1500, over 60 new melodies were composed, and most scholars still admit they do not know why.”
“I presented numerous examples from literature, theology, canon law, and artwork showing that the status of the Credo changed from a cultural and religious perspective, beginning with theological ideas in the 12th century. I then demonstrated how one of the most popular of those new melodies works on a musical level.”
A lively, stimulating, and engaging discussion followed Russin’s presentation.
The Seminary’s Monthly Seminar series is meant to operate as a kind of academic laboratory for scholars, allowing each month’s presenter to share their latest findings to their peers, engage in discussion, and receive feedback.
Russin is an alumnus of St. Vladimir’s Seminary, graduating with an M.Div. in 2013. He also holds a B.A. in Music from Swarthmore College and an M.A. in Musicology from Duke University.
Last week I had the joy of attending the inaugural meeting of the International Orthodox Theological Association (IOTA), a meeting that exceeded the expectations of the organizers. This effort was conceived by several scholars who were present at the Holy and Great Council on Crete, and after much discussion felt that there would be a benefit to having a range of Orthodox scholars from different disciplines meeting to talk about different aspects of Church life. It is hard to imagine that such a discussion could lead to a reality only two years later, but the intense effort of a few individuals (Paul Gavryliuk, President; Carrie Frederick-Frost, Secretary; Catalin Jeckel, local organizer; and myself) a chair’s conference occurred in Jerusalem in 2018. This Chair’s conference set the stage for the IOTA meeting. The co-chairs of each section selected speakers and topics and organized the sessions with the only constraint being that the best leaders in each field should be chosen. The hope was that the caliber of speakers would attract a large group, and indeed this was the case.
I was extremely honored to be a part of St. Vladimir’s team. Throughout the entire process, Seminary President Fr. Chad Hatfield and Board member Frank Cerra have been supportive providing advice and discussion liberally throughout the planning process. Our faculty were also involved (Peter Bouteneff, for example, serves as chair of one of the theology sections). Romanian hospitality was more than could have been expected with Metropolitan Teofan hosting the entire group at his residence several times for receptions and dinners.
For me what made the conference exceptional was the program of scholars who presented. We often had five or six simultaneous sessions, and everyone felt that choosing among them was difficult. The topics were of broad interest, the speakers were incredible, and most importantly the discussion was civil and academic. I remember well at the session on Ukrainian autocephaly that speakers on both sides of the discussion participated and that there was broad disagreement among the scholars, yet the discussion was civil, academic and agreeable and at the end the scholars remained friendly and pleasant to each other and to the audience. This is the type of discourse our Church needs today. I believe that meetings of this type are sorely needed by the Church. The next chairs’ conference is scheduled for 2021 and the next IOTA full meeting will take place in 2023. I hope that the interim will involve publication of proceedings, planning for the future, and working at enhancing participation even further!
