Eleven scholars came together on the campus of St. Vladimir’s Seminary to explore the theme of "Byzantine Materiality.” The scholars convened for a three-day workshop held September 14 to 16.

The gathering was the latest in the Seminary’s Sacred Arts Initiative (SAI), which is funded by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. September’s workshop is the first part of a two-part interdisciplinary event exploring matter, materials, and materiality in Byzantine art and culture. Part two will be a public conference May 8 to 12, 2019.

“Popular descriptions of Byzantium often emphasize the mystical and immaterial while overlooking the mediating role of matter implied by the Christian belief in the incarnation,” said Dn. Evan Freeman, seminary alumnus and Ph.D. candidate in the Department of the History of Art at Yale University. “At the same time, scholars have historically prioritized questions of form, iconography, and meaning in their study of Byzantine art and architecture. But as technology makes the human experience ever more digital and effectively immaterial, scholars across numerous disciplines—including Byzantine studies—have begun reconsidering the significance of matter and materiality.”

Dn. Evan is one of the primary coordinators for the SAI along with Professors Richard Schneider, Tracy Gustilo, and Peter Bouteneff, the director.

The September workshops were closed to the public in order to give the eleven invited scholars who will be the main speakers at the May conference a chance to discuss drafts of their conference papers and to develop the conference theme as a group. Topics of discussion included Byzantine and ancient theories of matter and form; the use and significance of materials such as wood, stone, gold, and glass in ecclesiastical and other contexts; the roles of matter and materials in the Eucharist, icons, relics, and reliquaries; the rite for consecrating a church; sensory experiences of liturgy; and the neuroscience of viewing icons. At the May event, the scholars will present their papers to the public. The SAI will also announce a call for shorter papers later this fall, which will enable additional scholars as well as graduate students the opportunity to participate in the upcoming conference.

To learn more about the Byzantine Materiality Conference, visit the SAI website.

Related Stories:

• Renowned scholars and artists return to campus for seminal work on Sacred Arts
• Henry Luce Foundation Awards Seminary $250,000 for Sacred Arts Study
• “Sounding the Sacred” Breaks New Ground
• The Value of “Spiritual Genius”
• Sacred Arts at St. Vladimir’s – Visiting Scholars Weigh In

St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary,575 Scarsdale Road,10707,Yonkers,US

Do you ever read the Epistle, or read the Psalms or other Old Testament readings at Vespers? Or, have you ever chanted the Hours? Or, have you ever wondered why Orthodox Christians chant when they read, instead of using a speaking voice? Then the “Workshop for Readers and Musicians,” sponsored by the Diocese of New York and New Jersey (Orthodox Church in America) and hosted on the campus of St. Vladimir’s Seminary, is for you. Whether or not you are a tonsured reader, if you have ever read during liturgical services or simply want to know more about reading during liturgical services, we welcome you to be a participant in this workshop.

The workshop will address liturgical reading as a vital ministry. Participants will review the Church’s theology that guides and informs this ministry. They will also review rubrics and melodic patterns for reading, as well as methods for chanting the “Prokeimenon” and “Alleluia” in synergy with the choir. Additionally, participants will have the opportunity to receive vocal coaching and practice. Workshop activities will be taught within the framework of a supportive community of fellow readers and liturgical musicians. Participants are also welcome to participate in the singing of Great Vespers at 6:30 p.m. in the seminary chapel.

This year’s workshop will be led by The Very Reverend J. Sergius Halvorsen, Ph.D., assistant professor of Homiletics and Rhetoric at the Seminary, and Professor Robin Freeman, the Seminary’s director of music.

To pre-register, please download and fill out the Registration Form here, and send the form to: SVS Workshop, c/o 38 Pearl Street, New Hyde Park, NY 11040 by September 4, 2017. The suggested donation for the workshop is $20. Checks should be made out to Diocese of New York & New Jersey, and sent with the Registration Form. Please call (516) 437-5760 with questions. Or, pre-register on the Facebook Page of the “Commission on Liturgical Music—NYNJ OCA.”

Note to clergy: This class is approved for six (6) Continuing Clergy Education credits from the Orthodox Church in America.

Alumnus Archpriest John Harvey, 73, fell asleep in the Lord Tuesday, September 11, 2018. Fr. John had served as rector of Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Youngstown, OH for the past eleven years.

Fr. Harvey was born January 21, 1945, in Hollywood, California and was the son of the late Harold and Dorothy Johnson Harvey. He was a 1968 graduate of Duquesne University and of Sts. Cyril & Methodius Seminary in Pittsburgh, and he earned a degree in theology from St. Vladimir’s Seminary in 1970, graduating at the top of his class. Fr. John was ordained a priest September 27, 1974, at St. Andrew Cathedral in Jamaica, NY.

Fr. John taught theology and served many Orthodox parishes throughout America and in Canada before being appointed pastor of Sts. Peter & Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church in 2007. He also served in a number of other capacities. He was dean of the Penn-Ohio Deanery of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the United States of America, spiritual advisor and director of the Teenage Conference at the All-Saints Camp in Emlenton, Pennsylvania, and member and past-president of the Eastern Orthodox Clergy Association of the Mahoning Valley. Additionally, Fr. John was adjunct instructor of Canon Law and Spiritual Theology at St. Sophia’s Seminary. He served on the Board of Trustees of Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), as rector of St. Sophia’s Seminary, and as a spiritual advisor to the Ukrainian Orthodox League.

Fr. John is survived by his wife of 44 years, Panimatka Deborah R. Johnson Harvey, whom he married September 8, 1974, and his daughter, Irena A. Harvey.

A viewing will be held on Sunday, September 16, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Sts. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church, 1025 North Belle Vista Avenue in Youngstown, OH. A service will then begin at 7 p.m. followed by light refreshments. On Monday, September 17, the funeral service at the church will begin at 10 a.m., followed by a memorial luncheon. Interment will follow at The Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City, PA.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Kinnick Funeral Home, 477 North Meridian Road, Youngstown. In lieu of flowers, Fr. John’s family suggests that donations be made in care of the funeral home to help with final expenses.

May Fr. John’s memory be eternal!

Sections of this article have been reprinted from MyValleyTributes.

Church of St. Ignatius Loyola ,980 Park Avenue,100,New York,NY,US

The Arvo Pärt Project at St. Vladimir’s Seminary is helping to present another beautiful concert featuring the music of the great Estonian composer. In partnership with Sacred Music in a Sacred Space, we are pleased to present Arvo Pärt: The Sound of the Sacred Monday, November 12 at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in New York City.

The concert will feature some of the leading performers of Arvo Pärt's music in the world, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Tõnu Kaljuste. The all-Pärt program will include two major compositions inspired by St. Silouan of Mount Athos, as well as a new setting of the Prayer from the Kanon of Repentance that will be performed for the first time in the United States.

As part of the evening, in view of the musical tribute to St. Silouan’s legacy, the Arvo Pärt Project has invited Elder Zacharias of Essex—one of the living elders of the Orthodox Church—to take part in a pre-concert lecture on St. Silouan and repentance in the music of Arvo Pärt. Fr. Zacharias is a disciple of St. Silouan’s own disciple Elder Sophrony, and is a monk in the community founded by Elder Sophrony, the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Essex, England. The pre-concert lecture will begin at 6:45 p.m. in Wallace Hall, below the main level of the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola.

To purchase tickets to Arvo Pärt: The Sound of the Sacred, click here.

• Download the flyer

Alumnus Archpriest Michael Oleksa (’73) delivered a powerful, enlightening, and heart-felt message on the campus of St. Vladimir's Seminary (SVOTS) Saturday as part of the Seminary's celebration of the Ecclesiastical New Year.

 The New Year festivities were organized by the St. Herman’s Society for Orthodox Ecology, one of several student-led interest groups on campus, in keeping with the day’s traditional association with thankfulness for God’s providence and care for His creation. The day began with an Akathist and Supplication Service, followed by a walking tour, Fr. Michael’s keynote address, and the blessing of a replanted tree on campus, and concluded with Great Vespers.

 During his address, Fr. Michael beautifully weaved the history of the Alaskan Mission and the work of St. Herman of Alaska and others into the present, as the Orthodox Church continues to defend the native peoples of Alaska and uphold the sanctity of the created world. Fr. Michael passionately implored Orthodox Christians everywhere to draw upon the past and modern-day experience of Orthodoxy in Alaska in witnessing Christ to all nations.

 “This was our Church standing up for what we believe,” Fr. Michael said, as he wrapped up his narration of an environmental struggle taken up by the Orthodox in Alaska in recent years. “It’s not an economic issue. It’s not a political issue. It’s a moral issue involving our theological and spiritual concern for the natural world which God so loved.”

 Listen to Fr. Michael’s full address, “The Legacy of St. Herman and the Alaskan Mission Today.”

 Fr. Michael, now retired, has served as village priest, university professor, and consultant on intercultural relations and communications in Alaska. He has authored several books on Alaskan native cultures and history, including Alaskan Missionary Spirituality (SVS Press) and Orthodox Alaska(SVS Press). A 1969 graduate of Georgetown University, he earned his M.Div. at St. Vladimir’s in 1973, and went on to complete his doctoral degree at the Orthodox Theological Faculty in Presov, Slovakia, with an emphasis in Alaska Native History during the Alaska-Russian period (1741–1867). He is recognized as an “Elder” by the Alaska Federation of Natives, a “Distinguished Public Servant” by the Board of Regents of the University of Alaska, and has been honored by the Alaska State Legislature and the National Governors Association.

Surf Club on the Sound & St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary,280 Davenport Avenue,10805,New Rochelle,NY,US

This November, we invite you to join us in worship, celebration, service, and dialogue at St. Vladimir’s Seminary’s Fall Benefit and Theological Convocation.

The two-day event is multi-faceted: it is a celebration of the local feast of the reception of St. Vladimir’s relics to the Seminary’s Three Hierarchs Chapel five years ago; it is a fundraising benefit to help SVOTS seminarians graduate without tuition debt as they go forth to serve the church; it is a celebration of forty years of ordained ministry for The Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield, president of SVOTS; it is a theological convocation setting the vision for SVOTS, titled, “Theological Education in the Twenty-First Century.”

All events are free, with the exception of the Gala Dinner – the benefit to help boost SVOTS’ scholarship funds and the celebration of a milestone in Fr. Chad Hatfield’s priestly ministry – at Surf Club on the Sound Thursday evening, November 1. Tickets for the Gala are available through this page (see below). The price of admission helps us cover costs for the Gala, but a number of sponsorship packages are available as well. So, even if you cannot attend the gala, you can still help seminarians receive the education and formation they need as they work to become your next priest, deacon, missionary, iconographer, scholar, musician or lay leader or teacher. 

Purchase Tickets and Sponsorship Packages

Thursday, November 1

The day begins with a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy on the campus of St. Vladimir’s Seminary. A gala dinner in the evening at Surf Club on the Sound is a special fundraiser to support our free-tuition initiative—which allows seminarians to graduate without tuition debt—and the gala celebrates forty years of ordained ministry for The Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield, President of St. Vladimir’s Seminary.

• 9 a.m. - Hierarchical Divine Liturgy Three Hierarchs Chapel (celebrating our reception of the relics of St. Vladimir)
• Following Liturgy - Reception Metropolitan Philip Auditorium (located in the John G. Rangos Family Building)
• 6 p.m. - Gala Dinner Surf Club on the Sound (black tie optional)

GALA SPECIAL GUESTS 

His Beatitude, the Most Blessed Tikhon, D.D.
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada (Orthodox Church in America)
Chairman of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary
St. Vladimir’s Seminary Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa (2015)

Very Rev. Archimandrite Gerasim (Eliel)
Dean of St. Seraphim of Sarov Cathedral, Dallas, TX
Administrator, Diocese of Dallas and the South (Orthodox Church in America)
St. Vladimir’s Seminary Alumnus (’12)

Rev. Fr. Vasily Fisher
Rector of St. James Orthodox Church, Napaskiak
Diocese of Alaska

Master of Ceremonies
Mr. Sean Hatfield, Esq.

Friday, November 2

On Friday, St. Vladimir’s Seminary hosts the Theological Convocation, “Theological Education in the Twenty-First Century,” featuring distinguished Orthodox speakers and and a panel discussion.

• 1 p.m. - Dr. Ionut-Alexandru Tudorie (Church History)
• 2 p.m. - Rev. Dr. George L. Parsenios (Scripture)
• 3 p.m. - Coffee & Snack Break
• 3:20 p.m. -  Dr. Vigen Guroian (Dogmatics & Ethics)
• 4:30 p.m. - The Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield (Concluding Reflections)

Arrive early Wednesday, October 31, and join us for Great Vespers at 5pm as we begin celebrations for our local feast.

This November, worship with us, celebrate with us, and engage with us at this very special Fall Benefit and Theological Convocation.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Crowne Plaza
66 Hale Ave.
White Plains, New York 10601
914.682.0050 or 877.834.3613
cpwestchester.com
GROUP CODE: VL1
RATE: $149.00 plus tax
RESERVATION DEADLINE: October 22, 2018

Hampton Inn & Suites YONKERS/WESTCHESTER
559 Tuckahoe Rd.
Yonkers, New York 10710
914.963.3200
GROUP CODE: K or Q
RATE: $139.00 plus tax

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St. Vladimir’s Seminary’s 2018-2019 Academic Year has begun!

Thirty-three seminarians comprise the incoming class. Thirty-one of them are new students, including 8 in the Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) Cohort of 2021, 9 in the Master of Arts (M.A.) program, and 14 in the Master of Divinity (M.Div.) program. Two returning graduates from the Class of 2018 are beginning the Master of Theology (Th.M.) program.

Those 33 seminarians represent an incredibly diverse group. They range in age from 22 to 55 years and hail from 17 jurisdictions and non-Orthodox churches, 15 states, and six countries—which means SVOTS’ student body (of full-time students) is now made up of seminarians from a total of 16 different countries. Five of the first-year seminarians are women (16 percent of the group).

“I love the inter-Orthodox focus of St. Vlad’s—that’s really near and dear to my heart,”said first-year M.Div. seminarian Philip McClanahan (Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America). “I had been wanting to go to seminary for years…and it just all came together.”

“I was really interested by the academic name [SVOTS] has,” said incoming seminarian Catherine Alexandres (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America), who transferred into the M.A. program from another theological school.

Catherine and Philip are among the 22 incoming seminarians from Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions. Another 8 new students represent Oriental Orthodox churches and 3 are from other Christian churches.

Here is a breakdown of the incoming class by jurisdiction:

• Orthodox Church in America = 22%
• Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America = 18%
• Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, Patriarchate of Serbia, Patriarchate of Romania, Georgian Apostolic Orthodox Church, Armenian Apostolic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Malankara Churches, Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Episcopal Church, and Free Methodist Church together = 60%

With the incoming seminarians included, SVOTS’ current student body is 82 (96 including continuing, and non-degree students).

Orientation for the new seminarians began Friday, August 24, and continued into the weekend and following week.

“Where you are right now is the center of everything we do,” Professor Archpriest Alexander Rentel, the Seminary’s ecclesiarch, told the incoming class Saturday as they gathered inside Three Hierarch’s Chapel for one of the day’s orientation sessions.

Fr. Alexander also spoke to the seminarians about the blessings and challenges they would encounter during their time at SVOTS in their community, spiritual, and academic life. During orientation, the seminarians met with Fr. Alexander and other members of SVOTS faculty and staff, including President Archpriest Chad Hatfield, Interim Academic Dean Professor John Barnet, and Director of Admissions and Residential life Priest David Mezynski.

Members of the incoming class and returning seminarians gathered in the chapel the following day for Sunday Divine Liturgy, presided over by Fr. David along with Fr. Chad and incoming seminarian Fr. Giorgi Tskitishvili. The priests were assisted by another incoming seminarian, Dn. Peter Runyon, and third-year seminarian Dn. Larry Soper.

Monday, August 27, marked the first day of Fall 2018 Semester courses.

May this new academic year—the first as Vision 2020 unfolds—be blessed for all seminarians, faculty, staff, and their families!

Fr. Michael Oleksa
St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary,575 Scarsdale Road,10707,Yonkers,NY,US

We have a very special event planned for the Ecclesiastical New Year. On Saturday, September 1, our student-led St. Herman’s Society is bringing SVOTS Alumnus and SVS Press author Archpriest Michael Oleksa to campus to headline a full day of events!

Fr. Michael, who has ministered and worked for decades in Alaska, will speak to "The Legacy of St. Herman and the Alaskan Mission Today." The special day will also include an Akathist and Supplication service for the New Year, a walking tour, and the planting and blessing of new trees. Here is the full schedule:

• 11 a.m. – Akathist & Supplication Service for the New Year
• Following Service – Lunch, Walking Tour
• 2-4 p.m. – Fr. Michael Oleksa Keynote (Bashir Auditorium)
• 4:15 p.m. – Planting & Blessings of New Trees
• 6:30 p.m. – Great Vespers

*The St. Vladimir's Seminary Bookstore will be open from 1 to 4 p.m.

Fr. Michael, now retired, has served as village priest, university professor, and consultant on intercultural relations and communications in Alaska. He has authored several books on Alaskan native cultures and history, including Alaskan Missionary Spirituality (SVS Press) and Orthodox Alaska(SVS Press). A 1969 graduate of Georgetown University, he earned his M.Div. at St. Vladimir’s in 1973, and went on to complete his doctoral degree at the Orthodox Theological Faculty in Presov, Slovakia, with an emphasis in Alaska Native History during the Alaska-Russian period (1741–1867). He is recognized as an “Elder” by the Alaska Federation of Natives, a “Distinguished Public Servant” by the Board of Regents of the University of Alaska, and has been honored by the Alaska State Legislature and the National Governors Association.

 The New Year event is free and open to the public.

St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) is beginning to roll out Vision 2020, a plan for the future of formation and education at the Seminary.

Vision 2020 incorporates changes in academic and community life at SVOTS to meet the increasingly diverse needs and vocational trajectories of our students. Through Vision 2020, SVOTS is firmly committing itself to residential programs as the ideal for Orthodox Christian theological education and formation in the twenty-first century—but the plan also opens the door for more hybrid/online programs.

Some of Vision 2020’s changes will be implemented starting in the 2018 fall semester. Among them, SVOTS is changing the number of credits required for the Master of Arts (M.A.) and Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degrees, previously 60 and 90 credits, to ATS-required standards: 48 and 72 credits. This change is happening, among other reasons, in anticipation of the Seminary designing and implementing hybrid degree programs in the future—a change that would make it possible for students to transition from a residential program or a hybrid program to the other (and back!), all the while continuing to make progress toward completing their degree program. SVOTS is also making adjustments to the daily schedule in order to maximize the effectiveness of residential life for seminarians. Gone are evening class sessions, except for hybrid courses during their onsite intensive; instead, evenings will be kept free after vespers to allow for more study and reflection, family time, and other student and community activities. The brief, thirty-minute lunch-period is also giving way to an extended two-hour, mid-day block that will allow more time for community fellowship and dialogue between students and faculty. Assignment to a chapel choir will continue to be a residential requirement for all Eastern Orthodox students in the M.Div. and M.A. programs; rehearsal will normally meet on Thursday evening.

Other Vision 2020 changes will be implemented in the years ahead, including the implementation of degree concentrations for particular disciplines (e.g., Chaplaincy, Missiology, Sacred Arts, and so forth), to help prepare students for diverse vocations. The Seminary will also be incorporating spiritual formation groups to help further educate, train, and sanctify the entire person—body, mind, and soul—in preparation for a life of service in the Church.

The Seminary’s emphasis on Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) will continue under Vision 2020, as SVOTS is working towards becoming the first Orthodox center for CPE, a supervised and nationally-recognized program. A full unit of ACPE-accredited CPE requires a minimum of 400 hours, combining no less than 100 hours of instruction (i.e., group work, reflection, and didactics on the practice of ministry) with time in supervised ministry (i.e., the practice of ministry to persons). Additionally, by immediately becoming a satellite CPE center, SVOTS plans to begin offering this fall (and eventually requiring) parish-based CPE. This is a truly noteworthy program (unprecedented in the Orthodox world) for the pastoral and priestly formation of our M.Div. students.

Vision 2020 is all about maintaining and growing SVOTS’ excellent standards in educating and forming servants for the Church in the twenty-first century. Watch this space as Vision 2020 moves forward and more elements are added.

• Download Vision 2020 Infographic

St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) has announced the 2018 St. Matthias Merit Scholarship Essay Contest as part of the school’s ongoing efforts to help its students afford the costs of theological education and formation.

The essay contest is open to current seminarians only. The winning student will see $3,000 in award money added to his or her scholarship fund to help pay for tuition at SVOTS.

The $3,000 St. Matthias Merit Scholarship Essay Contest will be offered annually, thanks to the generous contributions of a family of anonymous donors. These donors also selected the topic of the essay contest. Each year, the essay topic will be based on an inspiring, real-life event.

“We are most thankful for the creative way the donors have established this annual scholarship opportunity,” said Archpriest Chad Hatfield, president of SVOTS.

Requirements for the contest are as follows:

Background: In the past year, a picture of an American youth track champion and a picture of the children of the Holy Archdiocese of Cameroon arrived from unrelated sources to the same house. In the picture from Cameroon, the children are holding up an icon of the Theotokos with just as much joy and fervor as the gold medal shown by the track champion in the other photo.

Essay Topic: Pretend that you are a youth program director, and you have just watched the 2012 Olympic final for the women’s 5000-meter race (won by Ethiopia’s Meseret Defar) with a group of American youths and children of the Holy Archdiocese of Cameroon.  Write an essay describing your response to those who start asking, “Why is the winner (Defar) crying, kneeling, and holding up an icon of the Theotokos?” Limit your response to 250 words.

Submission Instructions: Entries for the 2018 St. Matthias Merit Scholarship Essay Contest should be submitted in PDF format—double-spaced and conforming to SVS Press House Style—to Ann Sanchez at aks@svots.edu. Entries must be submitted by September 14, 2018, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

The contest is one of many offerings by the Seminary to help its students graduate tuition-debt free as they go forth to serve the Church. SVOTS also administers need-based tuition grants, need-based scholarships, merit scholarships, continuing education grants, and matching grant opportunities for seminarians. These are made possible thanks to many benefactors who have graciously given funds to the seminary.