Do you feel called to serve the Church, either in ordained ministry, academia, or another vocation? Explore that calling at St. Vladimir’s Seminary’s Online Open House, January 13-15!
Prospective seminarians are invited to take a closer look at the spiritual, academic, and residential life at St. Vladimir’s. Pray in the chapel, attend classes, and speak with Seminary leadership, faculty, and students—all virtually, of course.
2-4:45pm - St Paul and His Churches (class session) - Fr. George Parsenios
5:00pm - Vespers
Friday, January 15
9-11:30am - Academic Symposium (morning session)
12:00pm - Q&A and Closing Remarks
The Online Open House is a perfect way to experience the life of a seminarian before applying to study at St. Vladimir’s. The Seminary will begin accepting applications for the 2021-2022 Academic Year in February.
TheRegistration period for the Online Open House ends January 11, 2021.
Questions about the Online Open House or the application process? Email admissions@svots.edu.
The Institute of Sacred Arts (ISA) at St. Vladimir’s Seminary is asking for the public’s input as it shapes its programs and events. The ISA has launched a brief survey to help gather the feedback.
“Our Institute is posed to make a unique contribution—we’ve got several exciting activities and programs in store, and many more that are still at the idea stage,” said Professor Peter C. Bouteneff, the director of the ISA. “Now we need to hear from people who might draw on what we offer. Let us know your interests and needs so that we can serve you better.”
Since its founding in 1938, St Vladimir’s Seminary has fostered the study of icons, music and liturgy. The ISA serves to extend the Seminary’s mission in exploring the mutual relationship between theology and the arts through a curriculum infused with the arts, academic symposia and conferences, publications, and events.
Healing Humanity brings together a group of Orthodox Christian scholars and educators to offer responses to ethical and cultural paradigm shifts happening in western societies. The book elaborates upon various forms of the moral crisis our generation faces, facilitating a fuller understanding of some of its theological and philosophical foundations.
“I’m so pleased to have contributed to this book,” said Fr. Chad. “It should serve as an important resource for people trying to live as Orthodox Christians in these challenging and ever-changing times.”
“This volume represents a milestone: a robust Orthodox Christian contribution, centered on the person of Christ, to the conversation unfolding across our rapidly changing world about the shape and significance of human life,” said Gaelan, a first-year student in the Master of Divinity (MDiv) program. “In the face of contemporary crises of personal identity, technology, community, and much else, what does the Orthodox Christian tradition have to offer? More than we might think. I’m humbled to be a part of this exciting collection.”
Gaelan, a seminarian of the Antiochian Archdiocese, taught arts and humanities at the University of Saint Katherine, San Marcos, CA, and served as headmaster at Christ the Savior Academy in Wichita, KS before enrolling at St. Vladimir’s Seminary.
Father Chad and Gaelan plan to lead a presentation on Healing Humanity for the seminary community in October.
Seminarians at St. Vladimir’s are benefitting from renovations to one of the campus’s most important structures.
Major improvements were made over the summer in the historic Germack Building thanks to a generous lead gift by The Nicholas & Eleanor Chabraja Foundation and additional funding from the Ivan V. Koulaueff Educational Fund. The two large, double student bathrooms located on the second and third floors were completely gutted and upgraded. Colorful walls and floor tiles were installed with new showers, toilets, quartzite vanities, lighting, accessories, privacy partitions, and upgraded ventilation and heating systems. Additionally, old carpeting in the dormitory hallways and student rooms was replaced with new wall-to-wall carpeting.
The Germack Building—the oldest building on campus—houses many of the Seminary’s single male students, faculty offices, and common areas, including the refectory where students share meals together.
"It was great to return to campus and have our living spaces improved like this,” said second-year seminarian Njegoš Perković. “The better ventilation and heating in the bathrooms is especially important due to the current global pandemic."
“These are important student quality-of-life upgrades at the Seminary,” added Ted Bazil, St. Vladimir’s senior advisor for operations and planned giving. “This project was long overdue, so we are very grateful to both donors for the sanitary, functional, and aesthetic improvements for students living in the building.”
Calling all alumni of St. Vladimir’s Seminary! Join your fellow St. Vladimir’s graduates online for an evening of prayer, fellowship, discussion, and learn about exciting new developments in the works at the Seminary!
At the gathering, alumni will be joined by Seminary President Fr. Chad Hatfield, Academic Dean Dr. Ionut-Alexandru Tudorie, Chair of the Alumni Association Board Fr. David Barr, Academic & Recruitment Advisor Alexandru Popovici, Chief Marketing Officer Sarah Werner, and Seminarian Dn. Peter Runyon.
Get updates and talk with Seminary leadership about the current state of St. Vladimir’s and its future. Get a snapshot of Seminary life from a seminarian. Learn about a new way to stay connected with the Seminary and your fellow alumni around the world AND get access to a host of resources exclusively for graduates of St. Vladimir’s. And hear about new developments that will impact the “look” and “feel” of the Seminary moving forward.
The Alumni Gathering begins at 7 p.m. EST Sunday, October 18, 2020.
With faith in Christ and hope in the resurrection, we share news of the repose of Alumnus Subdeacon Dr. Nicholas (Bernard Albert) Montiegel. Subdeacon Nicholas, who was known as “Bert” by his classmates at St. Vladimir’s Seminary, fell asleep in the Lord September 15 at Providence Hospital at Anchorage, AK following an extended illness. He was 69 years old.
Subdeacon Nicholas enrolled at St. Vladimir’s Seminary in 2015 and graduated with a Master of Arts (MA) degree in 2017, with a commendation for service to the community. He was remembered by classmates and staff at St. Vladimir’s for his friendliness and kindness.
Prior to enrolling at St. Vladimir’s, Subdn. Nicholas attended and worked at St. Herman’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kodiak, AK. Before that, he worked for Alaskan Native Health Service organizations as a clinical psychotherapist and clinical supervisor, was a therapist in private practice, and taught psychology at a private Dominican college and state university in Michigan.
Subdeacon Nicholas has two adult children, a son and daughter.
Graveside service for Subdn. Nicholas was held September 22 at Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery in Anchorage.
St. Vladimir’s Seminary once again partnered with the Orthodox Christian Leadership Initiative (OCLI) to co-host the 4th Annual National Advanced Leadership Conference. The event took place online September 18-19, 2020 and drew around 150 participants representing five countries, thirty-five states, and twelve Orthodox jurisdictions.
"It was a blessing to gather clergy and laity to support and encourage one another in our responsibilities to serve the body of Christ," said Hollie Benton, OCLI's executive director. "As a doulos tou theou, like the faithful centurion in Matthew’s gospel, each serves as one under the authority of God’s commandment. We are grateful for these opportunities to center servant leadership development in scripture and to remember the accountability we have to its teaching by extending mercy to one another just as Christ our God extends mercy to us."
Over a dozen speakers—notable Orthodox executives, educators, philanthropists, and clergy—took part in the conference, themed, “United as the Body of Christ to Serve Those Divided by Pandemics, Politics, and Persecutions.” The list of speakers included Hierarchs Metropolitans Tikhon (Orthodox Church in America), Joseph (Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America), and Nicolae (Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas), and Archbishop Elpidophoros (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America).
“When we consider servant leadership from a biblical perspective, humility and authority are critical,” said Very Rev. Dr. Sergius Halvorsen, St. Vladimir’s assistant professor and director of the Doctor of Ministry program. Father Sergius, one of several seminary faculty members to take part in the conference, led a discussion regarding foundations of servant leadership to help kick off the conference.
"All of us need to go through this process of understanding that we are all servants, and are under the authority of the Father who is in heaven...,” His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicolae later added. "We need to go through this process again and again."
Other sessions during the two-day conference included “Building Effective Parish Leadership Teams” by Joe Kormos, “Solving Complex Problems with Diverse Teams” by Dr. Katherine Kahn, “Inspiring Generosity and Stewards” by Rev. Dr. Robert Holet, and other presentations and discussions. This year, OCLI also showcased the newly-developed Intensive Program in Servant Leadership.
“These servant leadership conferences have brought something very much needed to the table,” said St. Vladimir’s President Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield. I am pleased we were able to partner with OCLI to co-host again this year. May our combined efforts continue to bear fruit for the health of the Orthodox Church.”
The Orthodox Christian Leadership Initiative exists to nurture and empower Orthodox Christian servant leadership. It is a national initiative to increase generosity, servant leadership, and social outreach by clergy and laity of all jurisdictions working together nationally, regionally, and locally.
Originating from the Orthodox Vision Foundation and its annual Orthodox Advanced Leadership Conferences beginning in 2017 and hosted at St. Vladimir’s Seminary, the Orthodox Christian Leadership Initiative was established as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in October 2018.
Subscribers of St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly(SVTQ)—in continuous publication for nearly seventy years—will see a fresh new look and format when the latest installment is published this fall. Along with a new cover design, the SVTQ will now be published in double volumes biannually and under new editorial leadership. Editor-in-Chief Dr. Ionuț-Alexandru Tudorie, Academic Dean of St. Vladimir’s Seminary, will be assisted by two editors, Dr. Vitaly Permiakov, Assistant Professor of Liturgical Theology, and the Rev. Dr. Bogdan Bucur, Associate Professor of Patristics.
"It [SVTQ] looks different, but it's built on a solid foundation, and it's something that will strongly reflect the interaction and engagement that St. Vladimir's is known for within a twenty-first century context. This is a publication that has been held in high esteem, not just in the Orthodox world but throughout theological circles for many decades," said St. Vladimir’s President Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield."
“Even though the times have changed, the principles outlined in the very first issue of the Quarterly [in 1952] by the founder, Fr. Georges Florovsky, remain our guide: fidelity to the truth and beauty of our tradition, coupled with the responsibility to speak to the world in which we live,” noted Fr. Bogdan. “In fact, to paraphrase a statement of the great Romanian theologian, Fr. Dumitru Stăniloae, fidelity to tradition means to do what the Fathers did in the way that the Fathers did it—they spoke to their contemporaries. So, we are to speak not to their contemporaries but to ours."
St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly is a double-blind peer-reviewed journal whose editorial team draws upon the broad and deep theological expertise of an advisory board consisting of twenty notable Orthodox theologians from the United States, Bulgaria, Canada, Georgia, Greece, Great Britain, Hungary, France, Romania, and Russia.
To learn more about subscription rates for US and international agencies and institutions (digital or print), to subscribe, or to purchase individual copies of current and past issues of the St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly, visit SVSPress.com/SVTQ or email svtq@svots.edu.
There was a robust exchange of ideas between seminarians and professors when the best student papers of the 2020 spring semester were showcased Friday at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary’s (SVOTS) second biannual Academic Symposium.
Seminary faculty nominated five papers to be featured during the Symposium, some of which will be selected for publication the St Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly (SVTQ).
“The Symposium was a marketplace of ideas,” said second-year Master of Arts student Deacon Basil Paul who presented a paper entitled, “Refugee Crisis and Pastoral Care: Towards a Eucharistic Missiological Paradigm.” “Critical reflections and questions which emerged in and through the Symposium will considerably aid the process of my spiritual growth,” he continued.
Romanian academic Dr. Mihail Mitrea presented the keynote address, “Saintly Models of Hesychasm: Hesychast Elements in Philotheos Kokkinos’ Lives of Contemporaneous Saints.”
“It was a special opportunity and privilege to be part of the Symposium,” said second-year Master of Divinity student Subdeacon Daniel Hanna, who presented the paper, “The Concession in 1 Corinthians 7:6.”“The most helpful aspect was the Q&A after the presentation,” he continued. “This gave me an opportunity to understand the strengths and weaknesses of my paper and to view it from an angle otherwise unknown to me.”
“The goal of the Symposium is to foster intellectual exchange and academic excellence among students by providing a platform at the beginning of every semester to present and discuss the best academic work done by students in the previous semester,” said SVOTS Academic Dean Dr. Ionuţ-Alexandru Tudorie.
“I hope you never lose your voice,” said SVOTS President Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield in his opening remarks at the Symposium. “I hope you keep on producing this kind of work and I hope that you will never hesitate to put your voice into the arena,” he continued.
SVOTS plans to host the Academic Symposium twice every academic year. Although the Symposium is currently an intramural event, the Seminary plans to invite other Orthodox seminaries to participate in the future.
On Tuesday His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon spoke to the seminarians at St. Vladimir’s Seminary via Zoom. As the seminarians gathered in the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium on campus, His Beatitude spoke on seminary life and the spiritual life, with reference to the current pandemic situation.
“The impact on your seminary studies has been quite significant and has disrupted the manner in which more or less everything has traditionally been done….” said His Beatitude. “However, I commend [Seminary President] Fr. Chad, [Academic Dean] Dr. Tudorie, and [Spiritual Formation Director] Fr. Nicholas [Roth] for the excellent and detailed protocols that they have established for the proper and safe functioning of the Seminary for the upcoming semester.”
His Beatitude continued, “I am sure that, like me, all of you had moments of sorrow and feeling the impact of the isolation, but also moments when you were energized and inspired by the grace of God. It is not easy to bear both of these realities in ourselves at the same time, but I encourage you to continue to make this effort and to support one another as fellow citizens of this seminary community.”
Read His Beatitude’s full address to the seminarians here.
As Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church in America, His Beatitude is the ruling hierarch of both stavropegial seminaries, St. Tikhon’s in South Canaan, PA, and St. Vladimir’s, as well as the president and chairman, respectively, of those seminaries’ Boards of Trustees. His Beatitude plans to celebrate the Divine Liturgy at both seminaries later this semester.
