"The joy of the harvest is so great," said Jesse Brandow (alumnus, '13) during his public lecture on Mayan Orthodoxy at St. Vladimir's Seminary. Sponsored by the SVOTS Student Council, the lecture was held on May 18th and drew people from throughout the tri-state area. Mr. Brandow described the explosive growth of Orthodoxy in Guatemala and Mexico, where tens of thousands of Mayan Indians have converted to the Orthodox Church. Mr. Brandow compared this astounding growth to a joyful "harvest," using imagery from the Parable of the Sower (Mk 4:3–9) to explain the history of Orthodoxy in Guatemala and the future challenges.
Throughout the lecture, Mr. Brandow recounted stories from his own experiences in Guatemala. In 2009, he served as a short-term missionary at the Hogar Orthodox orphanage in Guatemala City, and in 2012 he worked for a full summer in the Mayan communities that have converted to Orthodoxy. Now Mr. Brandow is preparing to serve in Guatemala for two years as a long-term missionary through the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), and he was inspired to make that commitment because of the tremendous challenges that face the Orthodox villages in Guatemala. He described those challenges during the lecture, sharing stories of decades-long poverty and explaining the acute need for theologically trained missionaries who can catechize the people. After describing both the struggles and the joys that he witnessed in Guatemala, Mr. Brandow urged the broader Church to stand with the people of Guatemala and support the missionaries who serve them.
A time for questions and answers followed the lecture. Members of the audience asked questions about religious dynamics in Latin America and inquired about how to participate in the growth of Orthodoxy in Guatemala. Deacon Sandro Margheritino, president of the Student Council, thanked Jesse for his "inspiring" words and called on people to support all the missionaries working in Guatemala. The lecture was recorded and can be downloaded or streamed atVoices from St. Vladimir's on Ancient Faith Radio.
Jesse Brandow currently is seeking parishes that will help him begin his mission work in Guatemala. To invite him to speak at your parish and raise support, contactj.brandow@ocmc.org. For updates from Jesse Brandow on the growth of Orthodoxy in Guatemala,"like" his page on Facebook, or visitMayan Orthodoxyto learn more about the whole missionary team serving in Guatemala.
His Grace Mark (Maymon), Class of 1991, was enthroned as Bishop of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania, the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), during a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at St. Stephen Orthodox Cathedral in Pittsburgh, PA, on May 10. His Beatitude The Most Blessed Tikhon, primate of the OCA, presided over the Divine Liturgy. He was assisted by three other bishops, eight priests, and St. Vladimir’s Director of Alumni Relations and Admissions, Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak.
“Love comes first in our church life, and foremost—love for Christ,” said the newly installed bishop in his remarks. His Grace received his Masters of Divinity degree from St. Vladimir’s over twenty years ago, submitting his thesis on “The Formation of the Canon of Scripture.”
Chancellor/CEO The Very Dr. Chad Hatfield, who attended the celebratory banquet for His Grace, noted, “I was deeply impressed with Bishop Mark's banquet remarks, which revealed his clear understanding of the missiological challenge that lies ahead for his diocese. He spoke well of his SVOTS formation, recalling words from both Fr. John Meyendorff and Fr. Alexander Schmemann. I look forward to working with him as he takes up his archpastoral role in Eastern Pennsylvania.”
Over Holy Week and Pascha 2014, alumnus Dr. Brandon Gallaher returned to St. Vladimir's to worship and visit with the community. A British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow in the Faculty of Theology and Religion at University of Oxford, he has been serving as a Fellow of the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study at University of Notre Dame this spring. We had a chance to catch up with all that has transpired in his life since he completed his degree at St. Vladimir's ten years ago.
What brought you to St. Vladimir's for Pascha?
I am currently working at University of Notre Dame as a visiting fellow and did not have enough time to get home to Oxford. I have remained in contact with Profs. Bouteneff, Meyendorff, and Rossi—both personally as friends and academically as colleagues—and, in particular, I am in regular contact with Fr. John Behr who is a longstanding friend, mentor, and teacher (dating from before I went to St. Vladimir's). He was encouraging after I expressed the idea of coming for a visit.
Seminary community life, coupled with studies, fieldwork, and worship, often can be demanding. What are your personal recollections about your time as a student, and would you share your impressions from your recent visit?
Seminary often can be an intensive and difficult time, and it was no exception for me. Indeed, I remember Fr. Paul Lazor saying that "the devil stalks the hallways of the seminary," presumably trying to destroy a place intent on doing good in service to God. Personally, seminary was the "best-worst" two years of my life: it marked me profoundly and made me grow (often despite myself!) spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally in ways that have determined who I am today as an Orthodox Christian, husband, father, and academic theologian; at the same time, it demanded a certain "dying to self" that was very difficult.
I was struck at my recent visit by the beauty of the worship. I also was struck—in speaking to different seminarians and their families—how they too were struggling as I had struggled and found being at St Vladimir's difficult. Now this difficulty, I would venture, is partially due to the spiritual challenges of life in community as well as being spiritually "stretched."
The focus of your work is religion and secularization and ecumenical dialogue. How do you think these aspects might be affecting the experiences of today's seminarians?
Personal difficulties arising from life at seminary, I would venture, are partially due to the spiritual challenges of life in community as well as being spiritually "stretched" as I have just described. Yet I also wonder if there isn't a new element. Seminary communities now struggle with a new landscape caused by social changes that have been divisive in American society in general. The U.S. is in many ways now a society undergoing a social and moral transformation into a post-religious and pluralistic society in the manner that has long existed in Canada and Western Europe. Such tensions are to be expected in the Church, which is in the world but not of it. As has always been the case historically, the Church continues to offer a spiritual home to people with a variety of political and social perspectives, and thus, as these perspectives are shared and challenged, creative tensions (and sometimes "clashes!") invariably arise.
What years were you at St. Vladimir's, and what was your course of study?
I pursued my M.Div. from 2001–2003. I had a previous M.A. so I was able to do the degree in two rather than three years. It was a strange time to be in New York as shortly after I arrived the tragedy of September 11 happened. I remember classes being cancelled that day and a special prayer service being held in the chapel, but also some of my fellow seminarians went down to Ground Zero to help.
I had my own strange experience of this event. On the night of September 10, I had severe chest pains, and a friend rushed me to the hospital in Bronxville where I would later do my chaplaincy training. They did a battery of tests and could not figure out what the issue was, but they were concerned as I had a history of lung collapses. In the wee hours I returned to St. Vladimir's. My wife and I were awakened in the morning in the basement of the North Dorm by a call from my mother from Canada. She said to my wife that she was astonished, as she "had heard the news." For a moment there was some confusion on my wife's part as to how my mother could have heard about my being in the hospital. My mother then told my wife that some sort of small plane had crashed into a tower in New York City. We immediately rushed upstairs to friends who had a TV. We then to our horror saw the awful and terrible events of that day unfold. It felt like America was under attack and we were in the midst of it, albeit marooned in "seminary land."
Later that night I was struck again with severe chest pains and went back into the hospital. Throughout the night and into the morning I watched as doctors went back and forth between the hospital and Ground Zero. The ones returning were covered with dust. In the morning I returned with a diagnosis of pleurisy and was given painkillers, forced bed rest and (several months later) a huge medical bill running into the thousands of dollars, as we had neglected, being dim Canadians, to purchase medical insurance. So September 11 for me, will always conjure up a strange time period at the seminary.
I did all the normal training an M.Div. student would do including hospital chaplaincy and a summer internship, which I served at St. Herman's Sobor in Edmonton, Canada (both truly life-changing experiences). My M.Div. was done under the older curriculum, so there was the opportunity to focus intensively on academic study, and I very quickly took this track once I decided not to be ordained. I was greatly inspired by classes I took on canon law, the history of Orthodox involvement in ecumenism, liturgical theology, and Russian Church history with (then) Prof. John Erickson and Prof. Meyendorff.
My thesis, supervised by Prof. Meyendorff and born out of a paper written in a class of Prof. Erickson, was an important intellectual moment for me. I finally was able to deal with the claim of the Orthodox Church to be the "One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church" of the creed and place in proper context the existence of other non-Orthodox Christians and churches. It was titled "Catholic Action: Ecclesiology, the Eucharist and the Question of Intercommunion in the Ecumenism of Sergii Bulgakov" (available here). A somewhat condensed early version of the thesis was published as my first two articles in Sobornost.
What did you do after Commencement?
During my time at St. Vladimir's, I decided I wanted to do a doctorate in theology. I knew I wanted to focus on Bulgakov as one of the few Orthodox systematic theologiansin the 20th century. Father John Behr encouraged me to not just focus on one then quite obscure Orthodox figure, but to look at his thought in dialogue with other western theologians, and it is due to his guidance I decided to look at him in comparison to Barth and Balthasar.
After applying to many graduate schools in the U.S., Canada and the UK, I decided on University of Oxford, where I wrote my D.Phil. thesis (now forthcoming from Oxford University Press) under the British systematic theologian Prof. Paul Fiddes at Regent's Park College. It was examined at Lambeth Palace by Prof. George Pattison and Archbishop Rowan Williams.
Metropolitan Kallistos Ware was already retired by the time I came to Oxford, but he gave generously of his time in commenting on numerous chapters of my thesis, and really, his witness, wisdom, and friendship continues to have a profound impact on me (I still feel like pinching myself, as his books led me to the Church) .
During my years at Oxford I have published a lot on many Orthodox figures especially Bulgakov, Solov'ev, Florovsky and Lossky, as I have tried to understand the largely unexplored terrain of modern Orthodox (especially, Russian) theology (the articles are available here).
My first year of my doctoral studies at Oxford my wife and I lived at C.S. Lewis' old home, The Kilns, where I served as the Warden. This was a wonderful experience as his bedroom and study was our living quarters. I re-read the Narnian Chronicles lying on my bed, trying to imagine him writing them in the next room. But in his old study I wrote on such distinctly foreign figures to Lewis as Hegel, Kierkegaard and Solov'ev.
In the last year of my doctoral studies I taught systematic theology, theological ethics, and 19th-century philosophy, literature, and theology as a Lecturer at Oxford's Keble College. I then was awarded a three-year university position: a postdoctoral fellowship held at my old college and Oxford's Faculty of Theology and Religion, and funded by the UK's national academy for the humanities and social sciences, the British Academy. My research for the last three years has moved in two directions: on inter-religious dialogue (especially with Islam—I have participated for three years running in Georgetown University's Islamic-Christian Building Bridges Seminar); and religion and secularization. My work at Oxford and, for the Spring term of 2014 at University of Notre Dame's Institute for Advanced Study, looks at how the role and theological conception of the episcopate has changed in Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy in the 20th and 21st centuries in light of the challenge of secularism.
I now am combining these two directions in my most recent post. From the autumn of 2014 I will hold a two-year Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Center for Interdisciplinary Study of Monotheistic Religions (CISMOR), School of Theology, Doshisha University, Kyoto. My research in Japan will focus on inter-religious dialogue and religion and politics. In particular, I am now writing on the interrelationship of nationalism, secularisation, and religious and political authority in modern and contemporary Russian Orthodoxy and Shinto and Japanese Buddhism. I am very excited about going to Japan, especially in encountering Orthodoxy in Kyoto at the Annunciation Cathedral. I am looking forward to meeting up with old friends from St. Vladimir's who now are serving the Orthodox Church of Japan, especially Fr Dn. Elijah (Toru) Takei in Tokyo and Masatoshi John Shoji in Yokohama.
Could you tell us a bit about the your family and what you do when you aren't busy with academic pursuits?
My home parish is St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Oxford, UK (Moscow Patriarchate) pastored by Archpriest Stephen Platt (who heads the Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius). My wife, Michelle, is the parish secretary. She also was touched profoundly by her time at the seminary. For the first year at St. Vladimir's, after having taught science to elementary students for some years in Montreal, she took a much needed sabbatical and enjoyed the rhythm of liturgical life, made friendships that are our closest till this day, and read every book she could find in the Crestwood Library.
In our second year at seminary Michelle got a job working for the N.Y. School Board and was a Science Specialist at an elementary school in the Bronx. It was an immensely challenging position given the social challenges and poverty faced by many of the children, but she remembers it as one of the best professional experiences of her career so far. We have four children, who were all born after we left: Sophie (9), Ita (7), Alban (3) and Maria (5 months).
If I had to name any hobbies that were non-academic and non-church related, I would have to say "walking." We have tried every summer to take a holiday to Cornwall, where we go on family walks in the countryside. I also recently went to Athos for several weeks and hiked around the peninsula, which combined all my interests: church, theology, and walking in the countryside.
Brandon Gallaher is currently a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow in the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford and (for Spring 2014) a Fellow of the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study, University of Notre Dame, where his research focuses on secularism, politics, and the episcopate in modern Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. From the autumn of 2014 he will hold a two-year Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Center for Interdisciplinary Study of Monotheistic Religions (CISMOR), School of Theology, Doshisha University, Kyoto. His research in Japan will focus on inter-religious dialogue and religion and politics.
In particular, he is now writing on the interrelationship of nationalism, secularisation, and religious and political authority in modern and contemporary Russian Orthodoxy and Shinto and Japanese Buddhism. His D.Phil. thesis from the University of Oxford was on "Trinitarian Theology in Christian East and West" (looking at Sergii Bulgakov, Karl Barth, and Hans Urs von Balthasar), and it is forthcoming in an expanded form as a monograph, Freedom and Necessity in Modern Trinitarian Theology. He is co-editing a Reader which is forthcoming, The Patristic Witness of Georges Florovsky: Essential Writings. He also holds a B.A. in English and Philosophy from the University of British Columbia, an M.A. in Religious Studies from McGill University, an M.Div. from St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, and an M.St. from Oxford, in Modern Theology.
Memory Eternal! The entire community of faculty, staff and students at St. Vladimir's Theological Orthodox Seminary (SVOTS) mourns the loss of our Board of Trustees Vice President and Vice Chairman, His Eminence The Most Reverend Philip (Saliba), Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of All North America of the Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.
The Metropolitan, a member of the class of 1965, reposed in the Lord on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, at the age of 82 after a brief illness. Campus clergy immediately scheduled a memorial service for Sayidna Philip in Three Hierarchs Chapel for March 20.
Reflected SVOTS Chancellor/CEO The Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield, "Sayidna Philip's long episcopacy leaves behind many achievements, but speaking as a convert priest who entered Orthodoxy through the Antiochian Archdiocese, I believe his simple phrase 'welcome home' to converts, is the greatest of his legacies."
St. Vladimir's Dean The Rev. Dr. John Behr remembered the Metropolitan's leadership in Orthodox education. "It is with great sadness that I heard of His Eminence Metropolitan Philip's falling asleep in the Lord. He was an inspirational leader who had a great love for St. Vladimir's Seminary ever since his student days here, and who, besides serving on our Board, inspired us and gave us wise guidance in our recent curriculum reforms. He insisted that all our students were thoroughly prepared in pastoral and practical affairs, as well as in academic matters. He was also always very kind and engaging with me personally; I will never forget the warmth with which he spoke of his education in England and the passion for literature and learning generated there."
St. Vladimir's has enjoyed a warm, reciprocal relationship with the Antiochian Archdiocese under Metropolitan Philip's leadership, which began with his consecration to the episcopate in 1966. Currently, six members of the Archdiocese serve on the Seminary's Board of Trustees; 167 Antiochian alumni clergy, and over 300 alumni total, minister throughout the world; fifteen Antiochian seminarians attend St. Vladimir's; and all eight Antiochian bishops in North America either have graduated from St. Vladimir's or have taught and mentored seminarians.
The Metropolitan visited the Seminary's Yonkers campus many times over the course of his tenure as Board Vice President, most recently when in 2008 he delivered one of the keynote addresses at the conference Rome, Constantinople, and Canterbury: Mother Churches?, which was titled "Canon 28 of the Fourth Ecumenical Council." In May 1981, the Board of Trustees awarded him a Doctorate of Divinity honoris causa at Commencement, and in 2002 he returned to St. Vladimir's to dedicate The Metropolitan Philip Auditorium, located on the third floor of the John G. Rangos Family Foundation Building.
"I remember Metropolitan Philip fondly when he served in Cleveland, my home city," said Alex Machaskee, Executive Chair of the Seminary's Board of Trustees. "I have always considered him a friend and a pillar in the Orthodox Christian world. His support of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary has been very much appreciated."
he Very Rev. Dr. Alexander Atty, a distinguished alumnus of the Class of 1979 at St. Vladimir's Seminary, reposed in the Lord early Sunday morning, March 23, 2014. Father Alexander was most recently the Dean and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary in South Canaan, PA, which posted a eulogy on its Website remembering him "as a dedicated churchman, a husband, a father, a friend, and a leader."
"Father Alexander was known for his primary concern of meeting the pastoral needs of his seminarians, above all else," noted The Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield, chancellor/CEO of St. Vladimir's Seminary. "We were honored to have him present at a retreat here on our campus in 2009, during which he focused on priestly and parish ministry, using the theme, 'Good and Faithful Servant.'"
Father Alexander held a B.S. in engineering from Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science. After earning his M.Div. at St. Vladimir's Seminary, he was ordained a priest on December 9, 1979, at St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral, Brooklyn, NY, and was elevated to the rank of archpriest in 1988. He served as the rector of St. Michael Orthodox Church in Louisville, KY for several years, under the Self-Ruled Antiochian Christian Archdiocese of North America. He went on to earn a Doctor of Ministry degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 2008, prior to assuming his role at St. Tikhon's Seminary, where he served from 2010 until his retirement due to health issues in 2013.
One St. Vladimir's seminarian and three alumni have written about their military experiences in theDecember, 2013 issue ofWonder, the monthly on-line journal of the Orthodox Church in America’s Department of Youth, Young Adult,and Campus Ministry. To commemorate the celebration of the70th Anniversary of Orthodox Chaplaincy in the US Armed Forces, the blog features the theme “For our Armed Forces.”
In“Walking Through the Valley of Death,"veteran and third-year student Dn. Nicholas Roth notes the omnipresence of death in the lives of military personnel, and the ways in which they cope with with this. He concludes that “the reality of death gives us a great opportunity to maintain focus on the only things that matter—our relationships with God and with each other.” His former classmate Fr. James Parnell (SVOTS ‘13), also a veteran, and rector of All Saints Church in Hartford, CT, writes of“The Memory of War.” “For good and for ill, the constant rhythm—the beating of the war drum—remains in our ears long after the banners have stopped flip-flapping, the plane has landed, and the weapons are locked away,” he reflects.
A graduate of the Class of 2003, The Very Rev. Dr. Oliver Herbel also earned a doctorate in Historical Theology from Saint Louis University. He is the author of Sarapion of Thmuis: Against the Manichaeans and Pastoral Letters as well as multiple articles and book chapters, many of which concentrate on Orthodox Christianity in America. He serves as the priest of Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church (Orthodox Church in America) in Fargo, ND, and is also a chaplain in the North Dakota Air National Guard. His newly-released book with Oxford University Press is titled Turning to Tradition: Converts and the Making of an American Orthodox Church.
Can you give us a snapshot of your spiritual and academic journey?
I graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, went on to earn an M.A. in the history of Christianity from Luther Seminary, an M.Div. from St. Vladimir's Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Saint Louis University (SLU). Though I was not church-shopping outside of the Lutheran church, I learned about Orthodoxy from professors at Concordia College and became Orthodox while yet a student at Luther Seminary.
What's this new book about, and why did you write it?
Recent years have seen increasing numbers of Protestant and Catholic Christians converting to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. In this book I examined Christian converts to Orthodoxy who served as exemplars and leaders for convert movements in America during the twentieth century. These convert groups included Carpatho Rusyns, African-Americans, and Evangelicals.
Religious mavericks have a long history in America—a tradition of being "anti-tradition," if you will. Paradoxically, American converts to Orthodoxy have exemplified this independence by choosing their own religious path, yet have rejected individualism by embracing an ancient form of Christianity. Drawing on archival resources including Rusyn and Russian newspapers, unpublished internal church documents, personal archives, and personal interviews, my book presents a close examination of the theological reasons for these conversions, and outlines the reasons others have been persuaded to follow them. I've attempted to offers the first serious investigation of this conversion trend in American religion, including the first in-depth investigation of African-American Orthodoxy.
How did your time at St. Vladimir's Seminary shape the work you are doing today?
I am very appreciative of my time at SVOTS. My thesis work with Dr. Bouteneff and my classroom work with Fr. John Behr both helped further my research and writing skills,Click on image to order Turning to Tradition from Oxford University Press
Click on image to order Turning to Tradition from Oxford University Press
which led me to pursue a Ph.D. Director of Field Education Dr. Rossi has been (and continues to be) an inspiration to Lorie and me. Indeed, he has been one of those people in my life that has helped me think through some pastoral situations and for that I am quite grateful.
Initially, when I went to Saint Louis University (SLU) for my doctorate, I plunged into Patristics, building upon work I had started at St. Vladimir's. After a year at SLU, however, I came to realize that American Orthodoxy was much more interesting to me. I had begun researching Fr. Nicholas Bjerring, the first convert priest in America (1870) and after a couple of lively conversations with former St. Vladimir's Dean Fr. John Erickson (who visited St. Louis in order to speak at Eden Seminary), I realized I needed to make Patristics my secondary area and American Christianity my primary area of research. It worked out well. I published a book on a fourth century Egyptian bishop, St. Sarapion, and wrote a dissertation on American converts.
I became increasingly interested in the larger pattern of conversions and believed a work that investigated the leaders of our larger convert movements could help place Orthodox conversions in their American theological context. The dissertation led to this book, Turning to Tradition.
In order to develop the monograph, I had to do quite a bit post-doc editing as well as additional research. The sources were not always easy to acquire but for the first time, we are now able to situate the phenomenon of American Orthodox conversions within the history of American Christianity. This is not to say this book "explains" any and all converts. It does not do that and, in fact, I do not entirely find myself in my own book (for I am a convert too), but I do think it fairly assesses our larger movements.
Tell us a bit about the hats you wear: Rector of Holy Resurrection, Chaplain in the Air National Guard, author, and academic.
Being an academic, priest, and chaplain certainly forces one to triangulate one's time; serving as a mission priest in a small parish has allowed for this. To a large degree, in fact, it has required it. Mission priests generally subsidize their parishes by working secular jobs and/or their spouses subsidize the parishes by working secular jobs.
In my case, Lorie's job keeps the bread on the table, but I have also been blessed to have taught some courses at two local colleges as an adjunct, and I also dedicate some free time to pursue research and writing. The amount of time I can commit to such academic work can vary quite a bit, especially as I am also a volunteer fencing coach, and that tends to eat up most of what free time I do have outside of parish and chaplaincy duties.
A couple years ago, I revisited the topic of military chaplaincy with Lorie, something I had felt drawn to since seminary. Together, we determined that God did seem to be calling us there. It turned out to be providential in many ways: lower enrollment had cancelled my adjunct work and I was desiring additional ministry and counseling training. I have been blessed to be able to benefit from military and chaplaincy training and have acquired skills useful for parish ministry.
All three dimensions have even begun to overlap, as the next book project I am working on is an examination of Orthodox Christianity and religious freedom in America. This will include some discussion of military chaplaincy and include some comparison to the Roman Catholic experience, helping to highlight how it is Orthodox Christians have engaged (and been shaped by) our American context on this issue.
More than 70 family members, friends, parishioners of local churches, and alumni of St. Vladimir's turned out to honor Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko at St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Allison Park, PA, on Sunday, October 27, in celebration of "Father Tom's" 50th Anniversary of ordination to the priesthood. The event, which was sponsored by St. Vladimir's Seminary Alumni Association and hosted by the parish community at the cathedral, began with a Molieben of Thanksgiving served by Cathedral Dean The Very Rev. Michael Senyo, with choir responses led by The Very Rev. Thomas Soroka, rector of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, McKees Rocks, PA.The Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield, chancellor/CEO of St. Vladimir's, as Master of Ceremonies for the event, made two significant announcements. First, the "Father Thomas Hopko Scholarship Fund," which provides seminary scholarship aid for sons and daughters of priests, was recently fully funded with $100,000 in total donations; and second, a faculty–staff duplex on the seminary campus will henceforth be known as "The Hopko House."
Other notable participants in the celebration included The Right Rev. Melchisedek, bishop of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania; The Most Blessed Theodosius, former Archbishop of Washington and Metropolitan of All America and Canada; The Rev. Dr. John Jillions, chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America; The Very Rev. Dr. John Behr, dean of St. Vladimir's; Catherine Hopko Mandell, daughter of Fr. Thomas; and members of The Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration, Ellwood City, PA, where Fr. Thomas and his wife Anne often attend services. Additionally, Fr. Thomas Soroka made a presentation of an icon of Christ on behalf of Ancient Faith Radio, a media outlet for which Fr. Thomas Hopko has done 300+ podcasts.
Father Thomas served as Dean of St. Vladimir's Seminary from 1992–2002, and retired with the distinction Dean Emeritus. From 1968–2002 he taught courses in Dogmatic Theology, Practical Theology, Homiletics, and Spirituality at the Seminary. He served as pastor of churches in Warren, Ohio (1963–68)), Wappingers Falls, NY (1968–1978), and Jamaica Estates, NY (1978–1983). Married to Anne Schmemann in 1963, the Hopkos have five married children (a son and four daughters), 16 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Father Thomas and his wife Anne now live in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania.
Antiochian scholar and authorDr. Bradley Nassif(SVOTS '85), professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at North Park University, recently participated in an international meeting between Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Evangelical church leaders held in Albania during the first week in September, 2013. Convened at the invitation of Archbishop Anastasios Yannoulatos of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania, the conference gathered 46 Eastern and Oriental Orthodox and Evangelical leaders from 20 different countries at St. Vlash Monastery in Albania, for the first international consultation of theLausanne-Orthodox Initiative.
Addressing the topic "Tradition, Catholicity and the Mind of the Church," Dr. Nassif reminded his audience that when Orthodox Christians say one thing, Evangelical Christians often hear something completely different. In frank discussion and a spirit of respect and hospitality, participants wrestled with the challenging issues of proselytism, canonical territory, salvation, justification, and theosis, resolving to continue to journey together with a second international gathering already being planned for the early autumn of 2014.
"One aspect of my scholarly work has been devoted to building bridges between the Orthodox and Evangelical worlds in North America and around the world," notes Dr. Nassif. "I was in Albania to continue my work in this area." He adds that Fr. John Meyendorff, formerDean and Professor at St. Vladimir's, and his Fordham University doctoral advisor and seminary mentor, profoundly influenced the direction of his academic career.
"He showed me how an Orthodox theologian must bear witness to the Church while also embracing all that is good, right, and holy in the wider Christian world," explains Dr. Nassif. "I first met Fr. John when I was a student at St. Vladimir's. His greatness was everywhere evident, so I determined to follow him around like a little puppy, learning everything I could from every class he taught. If I didn't take the class for credit, I audited it."
Dr. Nassif continued to learn from Fr. John, right up to the year of his repose. "A few months before he died, Fr. John introduced me to the Moscow Patriarchate, in an effort to build bridges between the Russian Orthodox Church and western missionaries from the Protestant evangelical tradition," remembers Dr. Nassif. "Our last conversation was held over the crackling telephones ofMoscow, as he guided me on how to proceed with the dialogue. I continue this work today, along with my main research on the classical theology and spirituality of the early and Byzantine Church."
In 1996, Dr. Nassif served as the general editor and contributor for a memorial volume for Fr. John, titled New Perspectives on Historical Theology: Essays in Memory of John Meyendorff(Eerdmans, 1996) Contributing scholars for the book included Jaroslav Pelikan, Geoffrey Wainwright, Veselin Kesich, and Robert Taft, S.J.; Dr. Nassif's essay in the book was pulled from a revised chapter from his doctoral dissertation under Fr. John Meyendorff, and was titled "Spiritual Exegesis in the School of Antioch."
The theme of ecumenical engagement with evangelicals has been the backdrop for several of Dr. Nassif's recent publishing projects.Bringing Jesus to the Desert, with Evanglical publisher Zondervan, andThe Philokalia: A Classic Text of Orthodox Spirituality, with Oxford University Press, introduce Western Christians to Eastern spirituality.
Dr. Nassif is currently Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at North Park University in Chicago. He has been a teacher for the Antiochian House of Studies, and the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute in Berkeley, California. He serves as a consultant for Time and Christianity Today magazines. In addition to his Ph.D. from Fordham University and M.Div. from St. Vladimir's, he hold two Masters degrees, one in New Testament Studies from Denver Seminary, and one in European History from Wichita State University. He is a member of Holy Transfiguration Antiochian Orthodox Church in Warrenville, Illinois.
The Very Rev. Dr. Steven Voytovich, a licensed professional counselor who spent many years of his career in the field of pastoral care and education, has been named dean of St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary, effective August 18.
He succeeds The Very Rev. Dr. Alexander Atty, who retired for health reasons after serving as dean for the past three years.
Father Steven has earned three advanced degrees from St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, NY, including a Doctor of Ministry degree in 1999. His thesis was "Orthodoxy and CPE: Education for Ministry Beyond the Liturgical Setting." He holds two masters degrees from St. Vladimir's, including a Master of Divinity Degree, with Commendation for Thesis, in 1990. His thesis topic: "The Ministry of Those Who Suffer." In 1991, he earned a Master of Arts Degree in Liturgical Music and served as choir director of the St. Vladimir's Seminary octet.
He also earned a Master of Arts Degree in Community Counseling from Fairfield University, in Fairfield, CT, in 2005, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from the University of Minnesota in 1986.
Father Steven brings to this position years of experience as a parish priest, an educator, a presenter at seminars and retreats, a contributing writer for various religious publications, and a frequent presenter at OCA events.
His Grace, Bishop Michael, Ph.D., Rector of St. Tikhon's Seminary and Bishop of the Diocese of New York and New Jersey, stated, "I am well pleased that Fr. Steven will be joining St. Tikhon's Seminary as our Dean. His pastoral, leadership, academic and work related credentials are superb and we look forward to Fr. Steven moving St. Tikhon's to new heights. On behalf of the board of trustees, faculty, staff and students we welcome him and offer our prayers for his new ministry."
In 2007, Father Steven represented the OCA and was plenary presenter at the Ninth International Congress for Pastoral care and Counseling held in Krzyzowa, Poland. He served as communications and public relations officer from 2004 to 2007. He also represented the OCA at International Congresses held in Accra Ghana in 1999 and Bangalore, India, in 2004.
Father Steven serves as Director of the OCA's Department of Institutional Chaplaincies, for which he cocreated and coordinated the OCA Seminarian Internship Program. The Department supports Orthodox Christian men and women serving in institutional chaplaincy roles. From April 2010 until joining Saint Tikhon's Seminary, he worked as director of Clinical Pastoral Education at Episcopal Health Services, Long Island, NY. During that time, he was attached to Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in New Britain, CT, as a supply priest for the Connecticut Deanery, but continued serving in multiple capacities within the OCA.
Father Steven was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by His Beatitude Metropolitan Theodosius in 1991 and was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by His Grace, Bishop Job, then of the Diocese of New England.
Over the years, he has served as pastor of Three Saints Orthodox Church in Ansonia, CT; Holy Virgin Mary Orthodox Church in Waterbury, CT; St. Alexis Orthodox Church in Clinton, CT.
Father Steven, 50, and his wife, Matushka Cindy, live in Guilford, CT. Matushka Cindy is choir director at Three Saints Church in Ansonia, CT, and is a marketing representative for Stony Creek Urgent Care facilities in Branford and Orange, CT.
Of his appointment as Dean of St. Tikhon's Seminary, Father Steven said: "In accepting this position I look forward to supporting St. Tikhon's mission of providing quality theological education including personal, spiritual, and pastoral formation to those whom God has called to serve His vineyard."
