Online Presentation (Webinar) – Register here

The late Metropolitan Philip (+2014) of the Antiochian Archdiocese once famously said that Orthodox Christianity “remains the best kept secret in America because of our laziness.” In the years since he uttered those words, have we made any progress in spreading the Gospel in North America, including to minority communities such as African-Americans? What can we do differently to evangelize more effectively?

Join us Wednesday, June 17, for the free webinar, “Expanding the Tent: Restoring Orthodoxy to Africans in the Diaspora.” The online event will be led by Priest Samuel Davis (Orthodox Church in America) and St. Vladimir’s Seminary Trustee Dr. Carla Thomas. The discussion begins at 7 p.m. EDT.

• Register for the free webinar below. 

About Rev. Samuel Davis

Father Samuel Davis is the priest of St. Simon of Cyrene Orthodox Mission (Orthodox Church in America) in New Brunswick, NJ and an alumnus of St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, South Canaan, PA. He is the first African-American to be ordained to the priesthood in the New York and New Jersey Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America. Father Samuel was born to Panamanian immigrants on March 25, 1980 in Brooklyn, NY. One evening, after hearing a sermon, entitled “Prerequisites of His Presence” by Archbishop Veron Ashe, Samuel made a commitment to the Lord to serve the Holy Church in whatever capacity God would lead him. In September 2010 Fr. Samuel was baptized into the Orthodox Faith. After receiving the blessing of his then hierarch, Fr. Samuel prayerfully began St. Simon of Cyrene Orthodox Mission as a homeless outreach to meet the needs of the city of New Brunswick’s “untouchables.” The mission was later received into the Orthodox Church in America. His Eminence, Archbishop Michael ordained Samuel to the holy diaconate and then to the priesthood in 2018.

About Dr. Carla Thomas

Carla Thomas, M.D. practices family and emergency medicine in Anniston, AL. She is a member of St. Luke’s Orthodox Church in Anniston. She sits on the boards of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary and Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry. She founded the Anniston Chapter of the Brotherhood of St. Moses the Black and runs the Abba Moses Free Clinic. The Abba Moses Clinic serves the portion of the population that is most likely uninsured, those from 19 to 64 years of age. Dr. Carla, who was baptized Panteleimona after the Great Unmercenary Healer Panteliemon, charges no fees for her work at that clinic.

Even if you missed out on registering for the upcoming, online Pan-Orthodox Music Symposium, you can still catch three incredible Symposium events that have been opened up to the public! Two keynote addresses and a special musical performance will be livestreamed, courtesy of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) and Symposium cohosts The International Society for Orthodox Church Music (ISOCM). Information on each event and where to watch is below.

Keynote Address 1 - Music as Liturgy: Models from Ancient Syriac Christianity

By Dr Susan Ashbrook Harvey

Thursday, June 11, 2020 at 4 p.m. EDT

Streaming LIVE at https://www.youtube.com/orthodoxchurchinamerica-oca

Keynote Address 2 - Liturgy as Music

By Father Ivan Moody

Friday, June 12, 2020 at 4 p.m. EDT

Streaming LIVE at https://www.youtube.com/orthodoxchurchinamerica-oca

Piano Performance - A Bright Sadness: Piano Works Inspired by Orthodox Chant

By Dr. Paul Barnes

Friday, June 12, 2020 at 6 p.m. EDT

Streaming LIVE at https://www.facebook.com/events/1461591494014492

In addition, this year's Pan-Orthodox Music Symposium is dedicated to Archpriest Sergei Glagolev in honor of his life and legacy in the field of Orthodox Church music. A public dedication ceremony will be held this Thursday, June 11 at 5 p.m. EDT.

That will be streamed live at https://www.youtube.com/orthodoxchurchinamerica-oca.

The 2020 Pan-Orthodox Music Symposium is the third of its kind hosted in North America hosted by the Finland-based ISOCM, and the first co-organized with the New York-based St. Vladimir’s Seminary. As one of the largest gatherings of Orthodox church musicians anywhere in the world over the last 20 years, this year’s event has garnered interest from Orthodox and non-Orthodox musicians alike. Over 200 people from twelve countries, thirty-nine US states, and six Canadian provinces are set to participate.

With hope in the resurrection, we share news of the repose of Seminary Alumna Matushka Nadine Eskoff Brown, wife of the late Priest Thomas Brown. Matushka Nadine fell asleep in the Lord on Thursday, June 4, 2020, at the age of 73. 

Born to Michael and Natalie Eskoff on January 17, 1947 in Binghamton, NY, she is survived by immediate family: sister Natalie Stavrevsky, niece Victoria Stavrevsky, and great-niece Layla Natalie Cole. Interment will be at the Monastery of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, South Canaan, PA, beside her deceased husband.

Nadine was born and raised from infancy to love God, the Orthodox Christian Church, and music. These lifelong devotions shaped her life and hope in Christ’s resurrection. She pursued a life in musical education at SUNY Potsdam’s noted Crane School of Music while launching a ministry in becoming a master liturgical choir director. Beginning her music education career in Kings Park Long Island, NY, completing a full career to retirement, she simultaneously conducted the large choir at Holy Trinity Church, East Meadow, NY. Also while living on Long Island, she completed her Master’s degree in musicology from CW Post (LIU) and attended St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. She graduated from the Seminary in 1980 with an M.A., with a focus in liturgical music. She also authored resources for youth and choirs which can be found in the Resource Handbook for Lay Ministries. In addition to her many activities in religious and music education, she served as both “cook and choir director” at Saint Andrew’s Orthodox Camp in Jewell, NY. 

Following her marriage to Fr. Thomas Brown and his ordination to the priesthood, their collaborative ministry together led them to the Midwest where they found a pastoral family at the Protection of the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church, Gary, IN. Matushka Nadine conducted the choir, labored with various church organizations, educated children, and continued her vocation in the Indiana educational system. Becoming accredited in public school administration, she then enjoyed her work as a high school administrator, a position from which she reached full retirement.

The sudden passing of Fr. Thomas in 1991 found Nadine in the consoling hearts of their parishioners. Her several years in the parish following her loss were marked by a vibrant music ministry and parish involvement. Eventually, she relocated to be with her immediate family in Rochester, NY. There she again rooted herself in the church and the parish community of St. John the Baptist. Conducting the choir as needed, in every way she was generous and supportive of parish ministries. Her presence was especially precious to great-niece Layla and her niece, Victoria. She is predeceased by her husband, Fr. Thomas

Matushka Nadine now joins the heavenly chorus and, if the past predicts eternity, her voice resounds with faith, love, and joy.

May Matushka Nadine’s memory be eternal!

--

[This article has been adapted from OCA.org]

With faith in Christ and hope in the Resurrection, we share news of the repose of Hieromonk David (formerly Archimandrite Daniel Griffith), who fell asleep in the Lord on May 31, 2020. He was 74 years old. Hieromonk David graduated from St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in 1971 with a Master of Divinity degree. 

Hieromonk David was baptized a Protestant and grew up in Northeastern Pennsylvania. After being shocked by the teachings of a Protestant bishop and by the teachings as a whole of that particular denomination, Hieromonk David began to study Holy Orthodoxy and by God’s grace was received into the Orthodox Church by Chrismation at St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Church (OCA) in Nanticoke on December 23, 1967. Following graduation from Wilkes College in 1968 with a BA in Sociology, he entered St. Vladimir’s Seminary. 

With the encouragement of his spiritual father, Fr. John Meyendorff, he entered the Graduate School of Ecumenical Studies of the Ecumenical Institute (Celigny, Switzerland) of the World Council of Churches, receiving a certificate in ecumenical studies from the University of Geneva, Switzerland. As part of the year-long program, he did three months of field work, researching monastic communities in France while a resident of Le Centre S. Dominique (a retreat house of the Dominican Province of Lyons), in Eveux sur l’Arbesle. Returning to the States in 1972, he did further studies at St. Vladimir’s. He was fluent in English, Greek, and French.

In 1973, with the encouragement of Fr. Thomas Bitar (now abbot of the Monastery of St. Michael, Mount Lebanon) and of Fr. Paul Schneirla, he approached Metropolitan Philip and was received into the Antiochian Archdiocese and ordained a celibate by His Eminence, deacon at St. Mary’s, Cambridge, MA in 1973, and presbyter at St. Mary’s, Wilkes-Barre in 1973. Between 1975 and 1985, he pastored the following parishes: St. George, Albany, NY, Ss. Constantine and Helen, Dallas, TX and St. George, Lowell, MA. In Lowell, he was instructor in liturgical theology in the St. Stephen’s studies program. On Pentecost, 1986, he was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite by Metropolitan Philip. 

In October 1986, with the blessing of His Eminence, he went to Greece to gain a better knowledge of Greek and to understand more deeply the Orthodox Church in context. After a spiritually fruitful year in Thessalonica, he moved to Athens in 1987, where, with the blessing of His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius, he was appointed assistant priest in the parish of St. Anne, Chalandri, in the archdiocese of Athens, a position which he held until returning to the US. While studying Modern Greek and working as a Th.D. candidate at the University of Athens, he resided at and was celebrant of daily services at the Metochian of the Ascension, a dependency in Athens of Simonopetra Monastery, Mount Athos.

Feeling constrained to return to active service within the Antiochian Archdiocese, he returned to the US in 1994. After a brief pastorate at St. George, Utica, NY, in 1995 he became pastor of St. Michael’s, Geneva, NY. In 2002, he was assigned to the pastorate of All Saint’s, Salina, KS, and its daughter-mission of St. Mary Magdalene, Manhattan, KS.

May his memory be eternal!

-- 

[Sections of this article have been reprinted from Antiochian.org]

Saint Vladimir’s Seminary (SVS) Press’s biggest sale of the year is underway! The Press is offering 50% off all SVS Press titles and CD’s from June 1 through June 7.

To get the discount, head to the SVS Press website and enter the coupon code “Summer2020” at checkout (the code is NOT case-sensitive).

While there, explore the new SVSPress.com, leave reviews of books you love, and don't miss the newest releases, including On Christian Leadership, The Time Has Come, Hymns of Repentance, A Silent Patriarch, and Jesus Christ, Vol. 2: The Sermon On the Mount.

During the summer months, SVS Press hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDT. Customers placing orders over the phone, at 1-800-204-BOOK (2665), may leave a message if calling after hours. Orders may be placed online at any time.

When the highly anticipated 2020 Pan-Orthodox Music Symposium was going to be held on the campus of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, the Seminary planned to offer three scholarships to cover the cost of airfare, hotel, tuition, meals, etc. But then Covid-19 turned the Symposium into an entirely online event, and the change in registration costs allowed the Seminary to offer thirty scholarships instead. The added scholarships mean that many more people, from different Orthodox jurisdictions, will now be able to take part in the Symposium.

Robin Freeman, director of music and lecturer in choral conducting at St. Vladimir’s, says that the scholarship winners were a varied group. “The majority of the applicants are interested in growing their singing and conducting skills,” said Freeman. “Some are already conductors in parishes and want to address what they perceive to be gaps in their liturgical knowledge. Some are second-string conductors in parishes, or budding singer/conductors in parishes, and they want to gain confidence as they grow into new positions.”

St. Vladimir’s was able to make these scholarships available through a gift made by the Prokofiev Music Endowment. The endowment was established specifically for the education and training of church musicians.

The Symposium is a joint effort sponsored by St. Vladimir’s Institute of Sacred Arts and The International Society for Orthodox Church Music (ISOCM). Exploring the theme of "Music as Liturgy," the Symposium, which will be held from Thursday, June 11 through Saturday, June 13, 2020, will feature masterclasses, workshops, liturgical worship, and presentations. Nearly 200 people from around the world are participating.

With hope in the resurrection, we share news of the repose of The Right Rev. Archimandrite Elias Bitar, an alumnus and retired faculty member of St. Vladimir’s Seminary. Father Elias reposed in the Lord May 21, 2020 after long suffering with health conditions.

Father Bitar leaves behind a lifelong legacy as “the voice of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America.” During his nearly forty years in the priesthood, he served as lecturer in liturgical music (with a specialty in Byzantine music) and practical theology at St. Vladimir's Seminary, vicar general of the Archdiocese, and the residing priest for churches in California and New Jersey. Father Elias studied for his Master of Divinity degree at St. Vladimir's from 1972–1975, and subsequently earned a Doctor of Ministry from the Seminary in 2001.

Father Elias Bitar is survived by his children Katrina (St. Vladimir's Seminary Class of 2009), Sr. Ignatia, Martha, Mikey, Antony, and Madeleine, as well as his grandchildren Zachary, Jacob, Samia, and another granddaughter on the way. 

He is reunited in the heavenly kingdom with his wife, Kh. Joanne, and his parents, Sadallah and Zahwe Bitar.

In lieu of flowers, kindly send all donations to The Monastery of St. Nina in Union Bridge Maryland, where Fr. Bitar resided. His funeral will be streamed online. More information may be found on the Antiochian Archdiocese website.

 May his memory be eternal!

--

(The photo and information in this article have been reprinted from Antiochian.org.)

Fathers Georges Florovsky and Alexander Schmemann were the Orthodox theologians par excellence of their generation. Now, On Christian Leadership, one of the most highly anticipated book releases this year from Saint Vladimir’s Seminary (SVS) Press, translates their correspondence into English for the first time. This important work provides a unique window into their theological visions, leadership styles, and interactions with their contemporaries.

The correspondence also reveals a deeply poignant and profound friendship at a time when Florovsky had recently moved to the US to lead and organize the fledgling St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in New York, while Schmemann was still teaching at the St. Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris. The letters show their subsequent collaboration at St. Vladimir’s Seminary until their tragic rift in 1955. 

“Paul Gavrilyuk knows how to tell a story,” said Very Rev. Dr Chad Hatfield, president of St. Vladimir’s Seminary. “With the publication of On Christian Leadership: The Letters of Alexander Schmemann and Georges Florovsky (1947-1955), this church historian has not only given us the long-awaited publication of the letters between two of the most influential Orthodox Christian leaders of the last century but he tells the story in a captivating manner, through translation and editorial background, that elevates this book to a place of high standing. Through these pages the reader will gain fresh insights and corrections that shed new light onto a story that is worth telling and revisiting anew.”

Reminiscent of the style of Schmemann’s journals, the letters lay out the challenges of leadership with brutal honesty and good humor, bearing an eloquent testimony to their authors’ dedication to launching a new era of theological education.

About the Author
PAUL L. GAVRILYUKis an Orthodox historian and theologian and the Aquinas Chair in Theology and Philosophy at the University of St. Thomas (St Paul, MN). His publications include Georges Florovsky and the Russian Religious Renaissance (Oxford, 2013), and the present correspondence in Russian (Moscow, 2019). 

About SVS Press

St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press is the largest publisher of Orthodox Christian books in the English language—housing over 500 titles. Our mission is to partner with reputable authors and translators worldwide in order produce and distribute rich theological texts that preserve the Orthodox faith, tradition and history, while also fostering a platform for new theological and academic works of excellence. Our team is committed to building and maintaining a catalog of work covering a variety of topics, not limited to the following: theology, history, ecclesiology,  ecumenism, hagiography, iconography, spirituality, scriptural studies, music, pastoral theology, Christian education, philosophy, biographies, and patristics. SVS Press is one of few seminary presses that make a profit. 100% of our book sales supports St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary and its mission to train Orthodox priests and future church leaders.

St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) plans to begin the 2020-2021 academic year as normal with on-campus classes—but the school has alternate plans if a full reopening is delayed due to further COVID-19 restrictions in New York State.

For now, the Seminary is asking incoming and returning students to prepare to be on campus in time for the start of the new school year. Orientation for the new academic year is scheduled for Friday, August 21 through Sunday, August 23. Delayed Commencement Exercises for the Class of 2020 are planned for September 12. If these plans change, the Seminary will announce alternate plans for the 2020-2021 academic year and 2020 Commencement by mid-July.

Additionally, SVOTS has extended its late deadline to apply for admission for 2020-2021 to July 1, 2020. The extension was made to allow prospective students from North America and abroad more time given ongoing uncertainty and logistical difficulties due to the COVID-19 crisis.

The Seminary has moved to an online, cloud-based admissions system. The entire applications process is handled online, and applicants are not required to visit campus at any time during that process. Visit SVOTS.edu/admissions to learn more.

For St. Vladimir’s Seminary student Shelby Giokas, there is no question as to what she liked most about her time on campus: the joy of living in a Christian community. “It was so fulfilling and so rewarding,” said Giokas, “there is nothing like it in the world.” And that was exactly what she missed most when a global pandemic caused the Seminary to switch entirely to online courses last Spring. “I remember how we used to talk about the class we had just experienced as we walked together to lunch,” said Giokas. “It was almost impossible for a little Zoom picture to replicate that.”

Fellow student Fr. Christopher Dillon echoed her sentiments. “Some of our deepest learning happened outside the classroom in discussions amongst ourselves.” But what he missed most were the twice daily church services. “It was a huge support just to be able to start and end the day with prayer and to be able to center yourself like that,” he said. It was one of the ways that the Seminary supported students through the challenges of a theological education. And though Fr. Christopher feels like St. Vladimir’s did the “smart thing” by going online, he admits that he found lengthy Zoom classes more exhausting than in-person ones.

Shelby and Fr. Christopher are both part of St. Vladimir’s Seminary’s Graduating Class of 2020, a class that, because of the pandemic, was ultimately denied two remaining months of the fellowship and community life that they so treasured.

The stats for this year’s graduating class are impressive. A total of 33 students completed their degrees—or are expected to complete degrees over the summer (19 Master of Divinity; 11 Master of Arts; 2 Master of Theology; 1 Doctor of Ministry). They comprise the Class of 2020 (another 7 students, who are officially part of the Class of 2019, also finished their degrees during this academic year). Most are bound for parishes, some for further academic study, others for chaplaincy, and still others for education.

The graduates’ jurisdictional breakdown was quite diverse and reflected St. Vladimir’s commitment to pan-Orthodoxy. There were a total of 9 from the Orthodox Church in America (OCA); 5 from the Antiochian Archdiocese; 3 Armenian; 1 Anglican; 3 Coptic; 2 Malankara Jacobite; 1 Syriac Orthodox Church (Kyanaya); 1 Malankara Orthodox Syrian; 2 Patriarchate of Alexandria; 1 Romanian Patriarchate; 3 Serbian; and 1 Georgian. Another graduate is unaffiliated.

The Student Council of St. Vladimir's voted Fr. Nicholas Belcher, lecturer in liturgics, as the winner of The St. Macrina Award for 2020. The award is given to a member of the faculty who has particularly blessed the Student Body as an instructor and a guide to the life of Christian service and vocation. As one student said about Fr. Nicholas, "His classes have been the most valuable of my three years at Seminary, covering liturgical rubrics and Byzantine chant, with a consistent sprinkling of practical pastoral wisdom."

“My heartfelt congratulations to St. Vladimir’s Class of 2020,” said St. Vladimir’s Academic Dean Dr. Alex Tudorie, “which not only thrived amidst the normal rigors of graduate school but also patiently and diligently endured all the limitations that were set by a historic pandemic for the last weeks of their experience at the Seminary. We pray for each and every one of you for a smooth and successful transition into God's vineyard!”

Due to pandemic-related restrictions, St. Vladimir’s Seminary has cancelled its commencement ceremony for the Class of 2020, which had been scheduled for September 12.

The Seminary is exploring the possibility of a combined graduation ceremony for the Classes of 2020 and 2021 on May 15, 2021, if it is safe to do so. Details will be forthcoming.