On Soul Saturday, March 10, 2018, one seminary alumnus was ordained to the priesthood, and another became rector at the same parish,  St. Basil Mission in Wilmington, North Carolina.

ORDINATION OF DEACON ANDREW CANNON

Alumnus Deacon Andrew Cannon was ordained to the Holy Priesthood at St. Basil Mission by the hand of His Eminence, the Most Reverend Alexander, archbishop of Dallas, the South and the Bulgarian Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). His Eminence, himself an alumnus (’73), appointed Priest Andrew as the mission’s assistant pastor.

After the ordination, His Eminence also blessed Saint Basil Cemetery before a banquet held in honor of the newly ordained.

Fr. Andrew Cannon graduated from St. Vladimir’s Seminary with a Master of Arts Degree (M.A.) in 2016. Before attending St. Vladimir’s, Fr. Andrew studied Classics at Furman University and worked as a consultant at the university’s Writing & Media Lab. Prior to ordination, Fr. Andrew had been serving as deacon and pastoral assistant at St. Basil.

Read a powerful reflection Fr. Andrew and his wife, Matushka Melissa, wrote during their time at seminary here.

PRIEST PETER ROBICHAU NAMED RECTOR

At the conclusion of Saturday’s Divine Liturgy, His Eminence presented the parishioners of St. Basil Mission with a plaque, elevating St. Basil from mission status to full parish status, and naming Alumnus Priest Peter Robichau as the parish's first rector.

Fr. Peter graduated from St. Vladimir’s Seminary in 2010, and was assigned as St. Basil’s first resident Priest-in-Charge in June of that year. In his diaconal ministry, from June 25, 2006 until his enrollment at St. Vladimir’s in the fall of 2007, Fr. Peter served as local charities coordinator at Holy Apostles Church, (OCA), West Columbia, South Carolina —heading up parish involvement in local interfaith outreach endeavors. He further represented Holy Apostles Church to the area's primary non-profit charity as a member of the Board of Directors. He holds an undergraduate degree in Biblical Studies from Columbia International University in Columbia, SC.

Other St. Vladimir’s Seminary alumni participated in the Divine Liturgy and ordination Saturday, including Archpriest Marcus Burch (’97), chancellor of the Diocese of the South, Archpriest Thomas Moore ('98), Dean of the Carolinas Deanery, Priest John Parker (’04, ‘18), and Priest Patrick Pulley (’16). Approximately 150 faithful attended the service.

View photos of Saturday’s Divine Liturgy and ordination

The third edition of The Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox Church: Meaning, Preparation and Practice, written by Alumnus Archpriest Steven Kostoff, rector of Christ the Savior-Holy Spirit Church, Cincinnati, Ohio, is now available for purchase online.

This slim but richly insightful guide to the pinnacle of Orthodox Christian worship expresses the renewal of “liturgical theology” as set forth by the late Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann (Dean of St. Vladimir’s Seminary, 1962–1983), who defined this field of interest as “the elucidation of the meaning of worship.” 

Uniting Scripture, theology, and doxology, while engaging in a practical discussion of liturgical actions within church services, Fr. Steven helps readers understand and enter into the heart of worship as “the revelation and expression of our Orthodox Faith.” This third edition also features a new epilogue by the author, titled, “Great Vespers and Christian Martyria,” and a new article titled “Eucharistic Beings.”

Father Steven Kostoff is a frequent contributor to the Seminary’s Synaxis Blog.

Sections of this article are reprinted from oca.org.

Norse contacts with Eastern Christendom, including the establishment of the Rurik dynasty of Russia, are historic. While the Christianity of the north leaned to the West following the Great Schism and the Protestant Reformation, the Orthodox Church recently opened a new chapter in Norway’s history with the commissioning of the country’s first Orthodox Navy and Armed Forces Chaplain.

Our alumnus, Fr. Theodore [Thor] Svane returned to Norway in June 2017, after his five-year sojourn in America, which included internships with the Diocese of the West of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), both at St. Seraphim of Sarov Church, Santa Rosa, CA and at St. Katherine Mission, Carlsbad, CA. During his time in California, Fr. Theodore came in contact with former Orthodox chaplains, including the late Mitred Archpriest Michael Margitich, a retired U.S. Air Force Chaplain, and Archpriest Jerome Cwiklinski, who retired from active duty with the U.S. Navy in 2014.

Father Theodore, a former sailor and chaplain assistant in the Royal Norwegian Navy, was always intrigued by the ministry of the Lutheran chaplains he supported, in what was then a state-church enterprise. Increased diversity within Norway’s military ranks caused the Lutheran Church to relinquish its exclusive institutional role, thereby granting access to other faiths. Along with contracted Catholic priests, Fr. Theodore is now one of a very few non-Lutheran clergy serving among Norway’s 55 armed forces chaplains—and the only Orthodox Christian doing so.

Though Fr. Theodore also wears a uniform, his cassock is more and more a familiar sight on Bergen’s Naval Base (Norwegian counterpart of Norfolk or San Diego), the homeport to Norway’s fleet. Like his Lutheran colleagues, Fr. Theodore provides prayer, spiritual counsel, and a ministry of presence while teaching ethics—a prescribed role for Norwegian Chaplains—to his assigned units. His unique liturgical and sacramental role will have a much broader application throughout the armed forces.

Unless at sea, Norwegian chaplains are not obliged to provide worship on their bases; instead they help foster support in the civilian community by assisting at neighboring parishes. Thus, Fr. Theodore is able to assist at Holy Transfiguration Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, but he hopes to establish an all-Norwegian language Orthodox mission. The Orthodox Church in Norway includes approximately 35 parishes of seven jurisdictions. Father Theodore belongs to the Russian Exarchate of the Ecumenical Patriarch.

Father Jerome and Matushka Wendy Cwiklinski recently were hosted in Bergen, Norway, by Fr. Theodore and his family. During their stay, Fr. Jerome met Navy chaplains and their assistants, including the Senior Navy Chaplain Commander Gudmund Waaler. Father Theodore had worked as Gudmund’s assistant in their respective early Navy careers. Even then, Chaplain Gudmund discerned Fr. Theodore’s vocation, and he is especially proud to see it come to fruition during their mutual active service.

Sections of this article are reprinted from oca.org.

On Sunday, January 21, 2018, His Eminence the Most Reverend Michael, archbishop of New York and the Diocese of New York and New Jersey, presented a Synodal Gramota to Archpriest Joseph Frawley, chaplain at the Chapel of St. Martin of Tours at West Point, NY. The presentation, which was made at the conclusion of the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, recognized Fr. Joseph’s 40th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood, 20 years of service as Chaplain at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY, and his work at the Chancery of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), both in the Department of History and Archives and in the “Lives of the Saints” section of the OCA’s website. The presentation was made at the conclusion of the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy.

Father Joseph, a Master of Divinity student in the mid-’70s at the Seminary, has faithfully ministered at St. Martin Chapel and to the cadets it serves since 1998. During his visit, Archbishop Michael also presented a new antimension to the Chapel, containing the relics of the Holy New Martyr Saint Hilarion [Troitsky], who fell asleep in the Lord in 1929.

Sections of this article are reprinted from oca.org.

“Unless the Lord comes to us, we are completely helpless.”
–St. Maximos, Greek ascetic, the 4th Century

It is November 16 as I write this. My mailbox is now brimming every day with glossy catalogs proclaiming the virtues of the triumphant, capitalistic existence of comfort and indulgence that we have all imbibed to one degree or another.

Yet on this second day of the Orthodox Advent season, I am acutely aware of my spiritual poverty. I have charged through my days heedless, as the mellowed northern California fall sun has illumined a fiery display of gold and magenta, flaming orange and russet red. Glory to God! the colors have shouted, but most of the time I have been too busy to stop and notice. My cell phone rings, my car needs gas, my errand list is a mile long, my work beckons, and my children need rides or tutoring or food. Squeezing in morning prayers here and there and attending church on Sunday, I nod to God before getting back to the “real” business at hand.

Sometimes I am running from Him, burying myself with my busyness because I don’t want to be alone with Him. I’m avoiding the silence of prayer and time spent before our icons, because it is there that I confront myself stripped away of any false pretense of piety. This confrontation with my sin and hard heartedness is painful; indeed, trying to practice the disciplines of the Church in the midst of Christmas season is definitely an uphill climb! I don’t want to think about fasting, or almsgiving, or being more consistent in prayer. When I first turned over my calendar this year and saw the November 15 date, my first thought was that I simply didn’t have the strength or the desire to enter into the fast this year.

Yet mercifully, the longing for God’s presence regularly surfaces despite the noise and distractions. Oftentimes I am acutely aware of the void within, as was the Psalmist when he plaintively penned, “As a deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God,” (Ps. 42).

It always seems that, just when I need it, the holy season of Advent arrives. Rather than being burdensome, the spiritual habits and proscriptions given to us in the Church are a lifeline. Certainly, there have been times when I have struggled to understand why we approach Christmas with such sobriety. This is a season for parties! For gifts! For happy celebrations! For family! What’s this fasting in the midst, this remembrance of His death, these extra services that mirror the somber services of Holy Week?

Father Thomas Hopko explains in his book, The Winter Pascha:

“The Lord’s birth and baptism are directly connected to His dying and rising. He was born in order to die…the harmony between the events is overwhelming…Jesus lay as an infant in the cavern in the reign of Caesar Augustus that He might lay in the tomb under Pontius Pilate. He was hounded by Herod that He might be caught by Caiaphas…He was worshipped by wise men that the whole of creation might adore Him in His triumph over death.”

Christ comes to us, then, and we do rejoice, for we are indeed helpless and have no life apart from Him. But the shadow of a cross falls over the tender and peaceful scene at the stable. His suffering life, His sacrifice, the weight of the world’s sins; all are implicit in, and present at, His birth. So our Advent celebrations should be tempered by this reality; in a sense, the bright Lenten sadness is there at the manger, too.

Some years, I have had no trouble entering into sober Advent reflection during the 40 days of preparation prior to the Nativity Feast. The year my father died, for instance, the quiet, reflective spirit of Orthodox Advent was a comfort. Anyone who has suffered a deep loss or sorrow through illness or death knows about the “bright sadness” that accompanies Christmas, and the shadow of the cross is indeed long for those grieving hearts.

Yet even in my most sanguine years, I must prepare my heart if I hope to receive “the King of All,” and this inner struggle is my cross which is present at the manger. Somehow I must find ways to screen out the sentimental, saccharine messages daily delivered via TV, radio, Internet, social gatherings, the printed page, and the billboard. Just as the waning winter light bids me flee the cold and light a fire in the sanctuary of my home, Advent is a time to for me to enter into the sanctuary of my soul, stoking the fires of my heart through repentance, cleaning out the cobwebs in preparation for the birth of God in the center of my being.

How can we prepare for Christ’s arrival?

By increasing our prayer. Says Fr. Anthony Coniaris, “The two great movements of the soul have always been withdrawal and return…withdrawal into God’s presence through prayer for strength…without prayer, the quality of our service deteriorates. Without prayer we forget the world; with prayer we remember.” Advent is a time to remember that in God, we move and breathe and have our being, and we must be with Him and consciously in Him before we can have authentic love and relationship with others.

By giving alms. There is something almost poetic about giving money and perhaps even more important in these busy times, our

time, to others who are in need at Christmas time. We can battle our self indulgence with self sacrifice, by giving freely, with joy and gratitude to God for His good gifts to us. St. John Chrysostom writes, “It is not enough to help the poor. We must help them with generosity and without grumbling. And it is not enough to help them without grumbling. We must help them gladly and happily. When the poor are helped there ought to be these two conditions: generosity and joy.”

By going to Church more often. The Advent season provides extra opportunities to be in the atmosphere of worship. Isn’t it true that when we walk into the doors of our parishes, and those doors swing shut behind us, the flickering candles and the sights and smells of icons and incense before us, aid us in our seasonal preparations? Sometimes it is so hard to get there and so many things crowd our calendars but the rewards are always great. As Fr. Alexander Schmemann writes:

“There is no need to preach constantly on ‘sin,’ to judge and condemn. It is when a man is challenged with the real contents of the Gospel, with its Divine depth and wisdom, beauty and all embracing meaning, that he becomes ‘capable of repentance,’ for true repentance is precisely the discovery by the man of the abyss that separates him from God and from His real offer to man. It is when the man sees the bridal chamber adorned that he realizes that he has no garment for entering it.”

By remembering some of the unique and remarkable saints of the Advent season, reading about their lives and celebrating their days of remembrance. Of course, we remember St. Nicholas (December 6) as he is commonly honored at this time of year, but what about some of the others? St. Herman of Alaska (December 13) exemplified the spirit of this time of year to perfection, and he belongs to us here in America, so let’s not let the day go by without reading about him and recalling his sacrificial life with the people of Alaska. St. Stephen the protomartyr is remembered on December 26, immediately following the Nativity service, and he too can be venerated for his godly example. On New Year’s Day, we can speak of the brilliant St. Basil, who spoke with erudition and intelligence to the issues of his day in a manner which transformed the Church.

By going to confession. If there is any act out of step with the vain and glib holiday atmosphere presented to us by the spirit of this age, it is act of the repentant Christian confessing his or her sins. Said Dorothy Day, “Going to confession is hard, hard when you have sins to confess, hard when you haven’t, and you wrack your brain for even the beginnings of sins against charity, chastity, sins of distraction, sloth or gluttony. You do not want to make too much of your constant imperfections and venial sins, but you want to drag them out to the light of day as the first step in getting rid of them….I have sinned. These are my sins. That is all you are supposed to tell; not the sins of others, or your own virtues, but only your ugly, gray, drab, monotonous sins.” Blessed are those who mourn, for it is precisely in this mourning that we receive comfort. These are the tidings of comfort and joy that the Christmas carol songwriter celebrates—redemption from guilt and the weight of sin!

By incorporating the Church’s traditions in ways that make sense for us here and now. Though we are not perfect fasters by any means, our family eats more simply in the season of Advent. We celebrate St. Nicholas’ Feast Day by putting out shoes on the night of December 5th so that “St. Nicholas” can fill them with gold coins while the children sleep. We read about his life, marveling at his overflowing love and goodness. We listening to Orthodox Christmas music and we keep an Advent wreath and calendar for six Sundays instead of four. We enjoy a traditional Christmas Eve dinner incorporating old world traditions. We have adapted, albeit imperfectly, our own cultural traditions to incorporate the spirit of Orthodox worship and emphasis at this time of year.

Author Matthew Gallatin has said that we in America have traditionally celebrated the Christmas season in backwards fashion. “Just as the guest of honor walks through the door, it’s all over,” he notes. This year, may we embrace the Orthodox vision of holy preparation, so that when December 25th dawns, we will be ready to receive Christ in the feast, the “Winter Pascha” of Nativity!

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Virgina Nieuwsma is Moves Manager at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary.

When Alumnus Fr. Seth Earl graduated from our Seminary in May 2017, the Commencement Program noted his “commendation for service to community.”

No surprise there. During his student days, Fr. Seth had been actively involved in the Student Council, especially in creating and presiding over one of its associated Student Interest Groups: the “St. Moses Society,” an organization that endeavors to foster meaningful conversation on race in the Orthodox Church today. He also had represented St. Vladimir’s at the Orthodox Inter-Seminary Meeting (OISM) gathering in 2015.

Neither was it a surprise when Fr. Seth was named Assistant Priest of St. John the Wonderworker Church, a vibrant parish in the Diocese of the South, Orthodox Church in America, known for active outreach to its neighbors in Atlanta, Georgia.

However—even anticipating Fr. Seth’s community-centered mindset—it was a surprise to learn he recently collaborated with a parishioner of St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Mission in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to send dozens of theological books to 3,000 seminarians in Ethiopia! (Father Seth is “on loan” to the Appalachian Deanery every other weekend, serving Divine Liturgy at the St. Tikhon’s Mission.)

The Ethiopian effort was conceived by Dean Arnold, choir director and chairman of the parish council at St. Tikhon’s Mission. Arnold had previously forged friendships with leaders of Holy Trinity Theological College, in Addis Ababa (HTTC), Ethiopia, the center of theological and ecclesiastical study for all Oriental Orthodox Churches, which provides religious and secular instruction to both clergy and lay members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. During Arnold’s time in Ethiopia, he noted the lack of theological books in the library of HTTC, where 3,000 students are enrolled.

“Because Amazon does not ship economically to Ethiopia—this country also bans Starbucks and other global corporations—the students literally cannot get the books they crave to read: Schmemann, Lossky, Meyendorff, and so forth,” explained Arnold. So, upon his return to the States, Arnold took it upon himself to sound the alarm and to call for book donations.

That’s when Fr. Seth stepped in to lend a hand. He helped to arrange, with St. Vladimir’s President, Fr. Chad Hatfield, to have SVS Bookstore bundle up brand new books written by in-demand Orthodox authors—John Meyendorff, John Zizioulas, Georges Florovsky, Vladimir Lossky, Nicholas Afanasiev, Alexander Schmemann, Kallistos Ware, John Behr, and Hilarion Alfeyev. Then, friends of Fr. Seth, who were traveling from New York to Atlanta, delivered them to Fr. Seth, and over Christmas break, he hauled them from Atlanta to Chattanooga and delivered them to Arnold.

Arnold and fellow parishioner Levi Crawford then packed the books in boxes and made the two-legged plane journey to Addis Ababa.  “The Ethiopians were simply delighted to receive their books!” Arnold reported. Officials of HTTC even sent a formal letter of gratitude to him, expressing their thanks for the “spirit of Christian fraternity” exhibited by the donation.

As for Fr. Seth, he says he’s overjoyed to have been able to extend his “community service” to his African brothers and sisters. No surprise there.

Alumnus Father Steven McGuigan, who attended St. Vladimir’s Seminary as a special student in Academic Year 2016–2017, and was subsequently assigned as pastor of St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Juneau, Alaska, recently was the subject of a feature article in his local newspaper, the Juneau Empire. The article, titled, "A Tiny Powerhouse of Prayer,” was written by Kevin Gullufsen.

Father Steven, formerly a Roman Catholic priest, was received as a priest in the Orthodox Christian Church by vesting in March of 2017. He holds an A.B. (magna cum laude), from Assumption College, Worcester, Massachusetts, as well as an M.A. in Theology and Psychology. He studied at Heythrop College, University of London, and received his M. Div. with honors from St. John's Seminary, in Brighton, Massachusetts. At Grand Seminaire de Montreal, Montreal, Canada, he served as a faculty member. Additionally, he is a Fellow, American Guild of Organists (F.A.G.O.), and the chaplain, recitalist and active member of the American Guild of Organists, Berkshire chapter.

Father Steven reports he enjoys exploring the city of Juneau, and has been warmly welcomed by parishioners—especially since the church has gone without a permanent pastor for the past 7 years. He now is working with his flock to build a vibrant parish, and he already has a “convert class” of 5 people!

"A Tiny Powerhouse of Prayer"

By Kevin Gullufsen, reprinted with permission from the Juneau Empire

Before coming to Alaska, Father Steven McGuigan had never been to the west coast. He was expecting igloos and sled dogs and “snow as far as the eye can see” when he touched down in Kodiak for his first Alaska posting.

But the reality of Alaska life was a little less extreme than the Massachusetts product expected.

“I’d call home and my dad would be like, ‘What’s the weather like? It’s a blizzard here.’ And I’d say, ‘Well, it’s green, you know, and 45 degrees,” McGuigan said with a chuckle. “But it’s Alaska!”

McGuigan, a priest, was installed in his position as the rector of St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in August. He’s the first full-time priest the church has had in about seven years. The St. Nicholas parish had previously been served by a patchwork of deacons and priests with other duties. Most recently, Father David Alexander, a U.S. Coast Guard chaplain, served as the “attached priest” at St. Nicholas for about a year.

Though Alexander has been “invaluable” to serving the Juneau parish, McGuigan said he’s excited to establish a full-time presence at St. Nicholas. He hopes to provide a consistency in service and worship—the very thing that drew him to the Orthodox Church. He converted after more than 20 years service in the Roman Catholic Church.

“My overall pastoral game plan is simply, after so many years of not having a priest, or if they had a priest, not having a full-time one, will just try to be very stable and consistent. To let folks know that, if it’s Saturday night, yes, there’s Vespers. If it’s Sunday, yes, there’s liturgy. You don’t have to think about it,” McGuigan said.

About 30–40 people attend the church currently. A Saturday night Vespers (6 p.m.) and Sunday morning liturgy (10 a.m.) constitutes Orthodox Sabbath services. Many of his parishioners are converts to the Orthodox church and many are Alaska Native.

People flock to the church, he said, for its structure and permanence. Russian Orthodox practices largely haven’t changed for hundreds of years. McGuigan said that history reassures parishioners. He converted to the Russian Orthodox Church for the same reason.

McGuigan’s mother began her life as a Russian Orthodox before converting to Roman Catholicism when she married, so he’s been close to Orthodox culture since childhood.

“There was always that element in family life — Orthodox weddings and stuff like that,” McGuigan said. “My own spiritual life has always been sort of east-west.”

At some point, it became increasingly more difficult for McGuigan to remain a faithful traditional Catholic. The church felt like it was changing too fast. He wasn’t completely comfortable with the direction it was taking.

“That’s what I was struggling against as a priest in the Catholic Church. Everything was far more dependent on the priest’s personality and it felt like God was getting lost in the shuffle. This just felt so much more right,” McGuigan said.

So McGuigan converted six years ago. A colleague suggested he take a position as a second priest to get his feet wet, working under another Orthodox priest. But postings as a second priest in Massachusetts were few and far between. McGuigan had colleagues in Alaska, though, whose ears perked up when he mentioned he was looking for a parish.

He was ordained as an Orthodox priest in March and flew to Kodiak shortly after.

“It seemed like every other door was shutting, and there was this stream of light pointing to Alaska, to the point that I finally had to go, ‘OK, for some reason you want me in Alaska. So I’ll give it a whirl’,” he said.

McGuigan is here to stay and to turn the small, eight-sided church into a “teeny powerhouse of prayer.” It’s going to be a lot of work, both mentally and physically. For one, the facility itself is old and requires careful maintenance. The darkened icons—of Christ, Mary, St. Innocent, St. Nicholas and St. Cyril—which were installed when the church was built in 1894, are in need of restoration. That would cost $2,000–$3,000 each.

McGuigan wants to start daily prayer services and to improve the parking situation for his parishioners at the downtown church. McGuigan and his parishioners are the only ones to do the work. Is it exciting to have the future of the church fall on his shoulders?

“That’s one adjective,” he joked. “What I would like to see is that, despite its size, that this becomes a powerhouse of prayer for all of Juneau—Orthodox or not.”

Contact reporter Kevin Gullufsen at 523-2228 or kevin.gullufsen@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @KevinGullufsen.

Over the summer I had the wonderful privilege of working on a farm every day. My fiancé Jeremy manages a beautiful little farm just outside of Eugene, Oregon, where he grows all kinds of organic produce. After one year of seminary, it was a welcome change to engage in physical labor, to say the least. Above all it was refreshing to be home, to work alongside my fiancé every day, and to be part of a different rhythm as the structure of seminary life made way for the demands of the growing season.

Since I have experience with farming, people often comment to me about how beautiful and peaceful it is, that farming must be God’s work, that I must have so many spiritual metaphors to draw from the experience of farming. In many respects, they are right. Farmers get to cultivate land and plants, watch things grow, and spend constant time out of doors. Very few experiences have given me the sense of wonder at creation as much as watching a miniscule seed grow into a vegetable, both beautiful and nourishing. It is satisfying to feed ourselves and others with the literal fruit of our labors. There is so much to learn from this kind of work!

Yet I find myself wary of “spiritual metaphors,” if only because it can be a great temptation to idealize farming. There certainly are metaphors to be had, and Christ Himself often employed images from agriculture in His teachings (and let me tell you, it is extremely hard to spend endless days pruning unruly tomatoes and not meditate upon John 15, where Christ says we must be pruned to be fruitful). It is, however, easy to underestimate the sheer amount of work involved in farming. Though beautiful, it is a very hard life, not just a pleasant day job (as someone quipped to me recently, “5 to 9 is not 9 to 5!”). Probably the one spiritual equivalent which has stood out to me is this: it is a heck of a lot of hard work. And you cannot stop. For a farm to work, you must tend it faithfully and constantly, and the fruit is rarely immediate. Sometimes a whole crop just fails. Disappointment and weariness can tempt you to throw in the spade, especially when you realize how little control you really have. I find prayer to be very similar. To pray and draw close to God is a constant, not a sometime, action; neither happens by itself, and “results” are not always apparent.

But it is rarely worth it to quit, in farming and certainly when it comes spiritual effort. Both farming and seminary have taught me this. The past year as a seminarian and a farmer, rich with blessings and struggles, has shown me the value of difficult work and persistence. Wherever I am or whatever I am doing—Oregon, New York, farm, or seminary—can be the means of deepening my trust in God and my courage to face life’s difficulties.

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Ashli Moore is in her second and final year of the Master of Arts program at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. She is currently working on a thesis project, which is a model for an Orthodox Christian School that she hopes to implement in her home parish in Eugene, Oregon (pronounced “Orygun”). In her other life, however, she works on Excelsior Farm with her fiancé Jeremy, to whom she is getting married in July. A native of Portland (you may get Portlandia references out of your system at this time), Ashli misses many elements about the Northwest, especially its many tea houses, excellent second–hand clothing stores, and of course, the rain.

Six people in a support group for people with dementia recently gave a poignant performance at Quinnipiac University’s Center for Medicine, Nursing and Health Services, in Connecticut. Taking the stage before an audience of about 100 students majoring in health care, they shared their stories of living with dementia: what it was like to lose their memory; what it was like to undergo testing and to receive a painful diagnosis; and how they are carrying on day-to-day.

Our alumnus, Daniel Belonick, director of counseling services for LiveWell (formerly the Alzheimer’s Resource Center) in Plantsville, Connecticut, played an integral part in their performance. Under his facilitation, the six people—all part of a group that he supports—wrote a 38-page script describing their experience of living with dementia and how they wish to remain connected and engaged with their communities. Their first show was at the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, Connecticut last August, followed by the Quinnipiac performance in November.

The New Haven Register published an article about the Quinnipiac performance, describing some of the heartrending, yet heartwarming, personal monologues:

Bob Savage sat alongside his five friends in a support group for people with dementia and, reading from a script, told the audience: “My memory isn’t so good. I’ve become self-conscious about it. I wonder if people understand what’s been happening to me.”

He added, “If I could just get across to them—my family, my friends, the people I live with, the people who try to help me—if I could just let them know what it’s like to be me these days.”

“I trained to facilitate the group under Maureen Matthews, who originally conceived it and who has worked with people living with dementia for more than 30 years,” said Belonick, “The show, with different performers and personalized scripts, is always titled, ‘To Whom I May Concern’—the ‘I’ not being a typo!—and the powerful words of the people in this group are making a difference in addressing audience perceptions about what it’s like to live with dementia.”

Belonick can say that with confidence, because before each performance, the audience is asked to write down five other words that come to their minds when they hear the word “dementia.” Audience members typically have written down words like, “elderly,” “incurable,” “darkness,” “void,” and “fear.”

Then, after each performance, the same request is made, but this time audience members have written down words like, “courage,” “hope,” “thinking,” “love,” and “together.” This provides the platform for the “talk back,” where group members and the audience dialogue.

“As a seminary graduate, I haven’t taken the usual path to ordination and priestly service,” Belonick noted. “But my seminary training, through class, community, and worship, has magnified my training as a professional counselor in this field; it is a ministry of a different kind.

“Seminary prepared me to be fully present in the midst of questions to which there are no easy answers, pain that is felt deeply, and circumstances that offer seemingly overwhelming challenges, and yet to remain ever hopeful in God’s mercy, love, and desire for us to be fully present with Him, and He with us,” Belonick concluded.

Read the feature story in The New Haven Register here.
Daniel Belonick is a member of the Parish Council at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church, New Britain, CT.

Our alumnus, Deacon Nicholas E. Denysenko, Ph.D., will join the faculty of Valparaiso University as the Jochum Professor and Chair, effective January 3, 2018. Deacon Nicholas, who holds a Master of Divinity degree from St. Vladimir’s Seminary, was Valedictorian of the Class of 2000, Salutatorian of the Class of 1999, and Ecclesiarch in Three Hierarchs Chapel 1998–2000. His Master’s thesis was titled, “The Dawn of a New Era in Orthodox Church Music: A Historical Analysis of the Formation of Part-Singing and Kievan Chant in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries.”

The Emil and Elfriede Jochum Chair, a University professorship established through a gift from Emil Jochum, supports the study of Christian values in public and professional life. The Chair will work to bring scholarship or other forms of creative work to bear on the many dimensions of the Christian calling in a complex society and to engage students in such exploration whenever possible.

“We are so pleased that Dr. Denysenko will be joining us next year as the Jochum Chair,” said Mark L. Biermann, Ph.D., provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. “His background as a theologian and liturgical scholar are a perfect fit for the Jochum Chair.

“His scholarly work has placed him as a nationally and internationally known scholar,” Dr. Biermann noted, “and he effectively brings that scholarly work to bear in his excellent work as a teacher and mentor of students. We greatly look forward to the unique and powerful voice that Nick will bring to our discussions about Lutheranism, the broader Christian Church, inter-religious dialogue, and our world.”

“I am deeply honored and privileged to be appointed to the Jochum Chair at Valparaiso University. The Jochum Chair presents a special opportunity to engage the common pursuit of truth—wherever it leads us,” Dn. Nicholas said. “A beloved teacher once told me that working in Christian higher education is a unique opportunity to ‘give blood’—my hope is to create relationships with students, faculty, and people in the Valparaiso community to ‘give blood’—for the life of the world.”

Prior to assuming the Jochum Chair, Dn. Nicholas had served on the faculty at Loyola Marymount University, and on the faculty of The Catholic University of America in the School of Theology and Religious Studies. Besides his Master of Divinity degree, he holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and a doctorate in liturgical studies/sacramental theology from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

He is currently a member of the Society of Oriental Liturgy, the North American Academy of Liturgy, the American Academy of Religion and the Orthodox Theological Society of America. Additionally, he has authored many publications, including: Theology and Form: Contemporary Orthodox Architecture in America, “A Proposal for Renewing Liturgy in the Twenty-First Century,” and “Liturgy in the Contemporary Local Community and Belonging: Thanksgiving and Petition.”

Read an essay by Dn. Nicholas, “A Meeting of Domestic and Liturgical Rites: Joy and Light in Orthodox Christmas,” published in The Yale ISM Review, vol. 3.1, Fall 2016.

View a YouTube video of Dn. Nicholas, wherein he lectures on “Forming Faithful Orthodox Christians: Mystagogy in the Parish,” presented at the University of Toronto.