View a list of earlier presenters of the Father Alexander Schmemann Memorial Lecture

The Reverend Dr. John Chryssavgis, Archdeacon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, will be the presenter at the 33rd Father Alexander Schmemann Memorial Lecture on Sunday, January 31, 2016, at 7 p.m. The lecture is titled, "Toward the Holy and Great Council: Retrieving a Culture of Conciliarity and Consensus," and will be held in the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium of the John G. Rangos Family Building on our campus. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Prior to the lecture, the seminary Board of Trustees and Faculty will award a Doctor of Divinity degree honoris causa to Fr. John. It will also award a Doctor of Canon Law degree honoris causa to former Trustee Charles Ajalat.

Father John was born in Australia (1958), where he matriculated at The Scots College (1975). He received his degree in Theology from the University of Athens (1980), a diploma in Byzantine Music from the Greek Conservatory of Music (1979), and was awarded a research scholarship to St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (1982). He completed his doctoral studies in Patristics at the University of Oxford (1983).

After several months in silent retreat on Mount Athos, he served as Personal Assistant to the Greek Orthodox Primate in Australia (1984-94) and was co-founder of St. Andrew’s Theological College in Sydney (1985), where he was Sub-Dean and taught Patristics and Church History (1986-95). He was also Lecturer in the Divinity School (1986-90) and the School of Studies in Religion (1990-95) at the University of Sydney.

In 1995, he moved to Boston, where he was appointed Professor of Theology at Holy Cross School of Theology and directed the Religious Studies Program at Hellenic College until 2002. He established the Environment Office at the same school in 2001. He has also taught as Professor of Patristics at Balamand University in Lebanon. A member of the Office of Ecumenical and Inter-Faith Affairs of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, he coordinates the Social and Moral Issues Commission of the Orthodox Churches in America. Currently, he serves as theological advisor to the Ecumenical Patriarch on environmental issues.

Father John is the author of over twenty books and numerous articles in several languages on the Church Fathers and Orthodox spirituality, including Letters from the Desert: A Selection from Barsanuphius and John, published St. Vladimir’s Press in 2003. He is also the editor of three volumes containing the select writings of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (Fordham University Press, 2010-2012).

On November 20, 2015, the Henry Luce Foundation announced a grant award of $250,000 to St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, to fund a three-year study of the Sacred Arts, with an emphasis on “material spirituality.” Through a series of conferences, workshops, and seminars to be held fall 2016 through spring 2018, the grant award will allow seminary faculty to survey the current landscape of the field of Sacred Arts, and to explore the distinctive contribution Orthodox Christian theology can make within it.

“More often than not, the Sacred Arts are studied in isolation, as ‘sacred music,’ ‘sacred art,’ or ‘sacred texts,’” noted Dr. Peter C. Bouteneff, professor of Systematic Theology at the seminary, “but the liturgy, among other things, impels us towards a holistic approach to the Sacred Arts.

“Instead of thinking exclusively in terms of history, culture, or aesthetics, the Sacred Arts ought to invite a consideration of how the holy, the true, is enfleshed through human creativity,” he explained. “The opportunity to partner with the Henry Luce Foundation with a grant award of $250,000 will allow our faculty to lead such an integrated exploration and help us identify and refine our unique contribution.”  

Dr. Bouteneff, along with the Reverend Deacon Evan Freeman, doctoral candidate in the Department of the History of Art at Yale University and lecturer in Liturgical Art at St. Vladimir’s, will be directing the exploration through 5 events, based on the seminary campus:

-   September 2016, “The State of the Sacred Arts” workshop: a survey of the landscape;

-   February 2017, “Arvo Pärt: Sounding the Sacred” conference: an exploration of Pärt’s music as sacred embodiment in sound;

-   June 2017, “Sacred Arts and Public Engagement” workshop: a presentation by Krista Tippett, host of the radio program “On Being,” at an internal seminary workshop and at a public panel in NYC, examining why the Sacred Arts appeal to the “spiritual but not religious”;

-   Autumn 2017, “Byzantine Materiality” seminar: a collaboration of select scholars of Byzantium, sharing their research in preparation for a larger conference in Spring 2018; and

-   Spring 2018, “Byzantine Materiality” conference: an exploration of the roles and meanings of “matter” and “materiality” in Byzantium.

Deacon Evan explained the particular significance of the final two events, saying, "Although Orthodox liturgy and liturgical arts are often described in spiritual terms—sometimes even in opposition to the material world—it is precisely through the matter and materiality of iconography and architecture, liturgical vestments and vessels, and even the sacraments themselves that the Spirit is revealed to us.

“In a time when most of our lives are becoming increasingly ‘digital’ and ‘virtual,’ this project aims to explore the importance of matter and materiality in the Orthodox tradition," he added. 

The grant award was given through the Henry Luce Foundation’s Theology Program, which aims to “advance understanding of religion and theology,” through projects that "cross religious, disciplinary, and geographic borders," and through support for "scholarship that is theoretically sophisticated, historically informed, critically reflexive, and practically invested.” Read more on the Luce Foundation’s website. 

Theologians and book lovers in the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area can look for St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press (SVS Press), the publishing house of St. Vladimir’s Seminary, at the Annual Meetings 2015, hosted by the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) and held November 21-24, 2015.

“Exhibiting at the Annual Meetings is a highlight of the year for us,” commented Press Marketing Director Dn. Gregory Hatrak. “It gives us the opportunity to speak with the best religion scholars and connect with other theological publishers.”

The Annual Meetings of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and the Society of Biblical Langagues (SBL) is the largest gathering of scholars interested in the study of religion in the world. Approximately 10,000 members and exhibitors were present at last year’s meeting in San Diego, California.

“We are looking forward to sharing our recent releases with the Annual Meetings participants,” said Production Manager Michael Soroka. “Several of our series—including the well-known Foundations Series and our new Scholarly Monographs Series—have volumes released this year which make significant contributions to the study of Orthodox theology.” One of those new volumes is the much-anticipated work exploring the role of the Virgin Mary in the history of the Church: Gateway of Life: Orthodox Thinking on the Mother of God, by scholar Mary B. Cunningham.

The newest series at SVS Press, the Scholarship Monographs Series, aims to encourage the study of the Orthodox Church in academia through the publication of in-depth scholarship of the highest academic rigor. The first offering in this new series edited by seminary Dean The Very Reverend Dr. John Behr is Orthodox and Greek Catholics in Transylvania (1867–1916): Convergences and Divergences. It examines the relationship between the two Romanian communities by incorporating a wealth of archival information.

Other new and noteworthy releases include Church in the Making: An Apophatic Ecclesiology of Consubstantiality, an important contribution to the field of ecclesiology by The Reverend Nicholas Loudovikos; and Prayer: Encounter with the Living God, a simple set of talkstranscribed and translated from television episodes presented on Russian television by His Eminence The Most Reverend Hilarion (Alfeyev), metropolitan of Volokolamsk and chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations.

“We are also pleased to announce that our most exhaustive work on St. Isaac the Syrian will be formally released at the Annual Meetings,” continued Dn. Gregory. St. Isaac the Syrian and His Spiritual Legacy, edited by Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), compiles papers delivered at the inaugural International Patristics Conference held in Moscow, 2013.

“For the first time, AAR/SBL will open the exhibit hall at the Annual Meeting to the public free of charge on Tuesday morning, November 24,” noted Deacon Gregory. “We hope this will give us an opportunity to catch up with many of our friends and seminary alumni living in the Atlanta area who may not be attending the conference.”

Visitors can find SVS Press at Booth 509 during the Annual Meetings 2015.

O marvelous depth of wonders!
Those who were hard-hearted in understanding and wandering in vain,   
rejoice now in the holy Church,
for this is the day of Vladimir.
Christ our God reigns, and has found another Paul,
setting him as faithful prince in his land,
for by holy baptism he has enlightened his people.
—Aposticha for the Feast of St. Vladimir

View the gallery by Mary Honoré

 On the weekend of October 31–November 1, 2015, the community of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) gathered to honor its heavenly patron, the Great and Holy Prince Vladimir, by commemorating the translation of his holy relics to Three Hierarchs Chapel.

In November 2013, a delegation from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate, led by His Eminence the Most Reverend Metropolitan Philip, archbishop of Poltava and Myrhorod, presented the community with the relics of St. Vladimir and a rare Book of Gospels. The precious gifts were presented on behalf of His Beatitude Vladimir (Volodymyr), metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine, of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Moscow Patriarchate, who reposed in 2014.

“When St. Vladimir’s Seminary was founded in 1938, the decision was made to give our seminary a missionary saint as its patron,” said seminary Chancellor/CEO the Very Reverend Dr. Chad Hatfield. “The presence of St. Vladimir’s relics are a constant reminder that we too are called to carry out the Great Commission.”

Vladimir Sviatoslavich the Great was the prince of Novgorod, the grand prince of Kiev and ruler of Kievan Rus’ from 980 to July 15, 1015. St. Vladimir introduced Orthodox Christianity to the Kievan Rus’ in the year 988. Orthodox Christians around the world have organized events in 2015 to commemorate the 1,000th year anniversary of the blessed saint’s repose.

“It is a great blessing to have relics of our patron saint, and the ‘transfer’ of the relics has given us a wonderful opportunity to celebrate this feast annually and combine it with an early Thanksgiving community meal, remarked seminary Dean the Very Reverend Dr. John Behr. “The presence of St. Vladimir amongst us constantly reminds us of the missionary purpose and character of all that we do together, on behalf of the Church and for the Church.”

The weekend’s events began with a beautiful vigil on Saturday evening, sung antiphonally by the St. Damascene and St. Cassia chapel choirs. His Beatitude the Most Blessed Tikhon, primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) and president of the seminary, presided at the celebration of the Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning. Concelebrating were His Grace Bishop Alexander, bishop of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese of the OCA, and His Grace Bishop John, bishop of Naro-Fominsk and administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, Moscow Patriarchate (read the story from their website).

“St. Vladimir’s Seminary was always intended to have a missionary focus, and this is why St. Vladimir, Equal-to-the-Apostles, was chosen as its heavenly patron,” commented His Beatitude in his Sunday morning homily. “As the seminary has evolved and changed, it has always kept this missionary focus. It has always remained an apostolic seminary.” (View the gallery of the Divine Liturgy by Glen Mules and Roman Ostash)

The community continued its joyous celebration that evening with a cherished—and delicious—St. Vladimir’s tradition: a pre-Nativity Fast Thanksgiving dinner. Seminarians, faculty, and staff, and their families, enjoyed a delightful feast prepared by Chef Nat Fasciani.

On Tuesday, December 1, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) will continue its new tradition of participating in #GivingTuesday, a national movement that celebrates generosity.

“Giving is at the very foundation of St. Vladimir’s Seminary’s mission, so we are enthusiastic again this year about taking part in this day dedicated to philanthropy,” said seminary Chancellor/CEO the Very Reverend Dr. Chad Hatfield. “Our professors give their hearts to teach the gospel of Christ. Our students give their time to prepare for service in the Church. Our graduates give their lives to minister to Christ's flock.”

Last year, the Seminary’s highly successful #GivingTuesday campaign raised $80,000. In an expression of love and solidarity with the suffering peoples in the Middle East, St. Vladimir’s offered a tithe of $8,000 to His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East, to alleviate the dire conditions of people in his care.

“Because we believe in giving back at St. Vladimir’s, we will donate 10% of whatever we raise on #GivingTuesday,” continued Fr. Chad. “This year’s tithe will support the Orthodox Patriarchal Ecclesiastical School of Makarios III, our sister seminary in Nairobi, Kenya. This great center of Orthodoxy in Africa is in serious need of books for their library, and we want to help.”

Archimandrite Philip Mugadizi (SVOTS alumnus ’03), deputy dean of the Nairobi seminary, has been instrumental in arranging this year’s tithe. “We are delighted to partner with St. Vladimir’s for #GivingTuesday,” remarked Fr. Philip. “The relationship between our two theological institutions is growing stronger by the day, as evidenced by the upcoming visit of Dr. Paul Meyendorff, The Father Alexander Schmemann Professor of Liturgical Theology at St. Vladimir’s. It is our hope to continue this exchange and dialogue between our seminaries, offering opportunities for our seminarians, faculty, and staff to learn from one another. I hope that many people will support our schools on #GivingTuesday.”

“Given the response to #GivingTuesday last year, an anonymous supporter has challenged us to raise $50,000 on #GivingTuesday this year—and if we do, every penny will be matched. With this incredible matching opportunity, it would be within reason to expect that we could potentially take in $100,000 on December 1, with $10,000 going to our brothers seminarians in Nairobi, Kenya,” explained Fr. Chad. “These donations will spread the gospel across North America and Africa.

“Right now, we’re asking Orthodox Christians around the world to help us get the word out on their social media networks, through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram,” Fr. Chad concluded, “and to stay in the loop about this venture by signing up for #GivingTuesday emails. Our website,  www.svots.edu/givingtuesday, contains a host of resources for anyone interested in supporting Orthodoxy in America and Africa this December 1.”

Donate directly to SVOTS #GivingTuesday here (all monies will be totaled December 1, 2015).

What:  Saint Ambrose Society, St. Vladimir's student-led pro-life advocacy group, is hosting a public seminar titled "ON THE PRO-LIFE FRONT LINES—Crisis Pregnancy Centers &  College Campuses"

When:  Friday, November 13, 2015, 1:30–4:30 PM

Who:  Maryl Turchi, the Executive Director of Life Options Center, a crisis pregnancy center in Yonkers, and Keri Landeche, the Northeast Regional Coordinator of Students for Life of America, will speak about the pro-life work in their respective fields. It's open to the public, and admission is free.

Where:  Metropolitan Philip Auditorium in the Rangos Building
St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary
575 Scarsdale Rd
Yonkers, NY 10707

View directions

For further information, contact St. Ambrose Society on Facebook or by email at SAS@svots.edu.

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Download flyer (PDF)

Listen to the Keynote Address, "Our Common Father: Saint Cyril"
Listen to the concert, "Our Common Saints"

On the first Saturday in October, St. Vladimir's Seminary welcomed hundreds of friends and alumni to campus for its annual Orthodox Education Day.

"This year's theme, 'East Meets East,' was inspired by the diversity of our student body," remarked seminary Chancellor/CEO, The Very Reverend Dr. Chad Hatfield. "At St. Vladimir's, Oriental and Eastern Orthodox students have been living, learning, and growing together in Christ for over fifty years."

Three Hierarchs Chapel served as the locus for the day's events. The day began with Sh'himo, a service comprising matins, 3rd hour, and 6th hour according to the Rite of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. The Reverend Dr. Varghese M. Daniel, newly-appointed Sessional Assistant Professor of Malankara Studies at St. Vladimir's, presided alongside Malankara Orthodox seminarians, alumni, and friends of the seminary. In the afternoon, Coptic Orthodox students and friends led the community in prayer at a raising of incense service. The day concluded with Eastern Orthodox Great Vespers.

The Very Reverend Dr. John Anthony McGuckin presented the keynote address, "Our Common Father: Saint Cyril." Renowned author of 25 books, several of which are published by SVS Press, Father John is The Ane Marie and Bent Emil Nielsen Professor of Late Antiquity and Byzantine Christian History at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Byzantine Christian Studies at Columbia University.

"We have preferred, because of political reasons, to relegate each other's traditions to poor apologetic representations," stated Fr. John. "We have to learn a dialogue of love and the truth of one another's traditions. We need to learn to love through prayer." Father John then went on to outline a brief history of St. Cyril and made the point that the Oriental and Eastern Orthodox traditions agree with much of the saint's theology. "It is not beyond us to restore the fallout of the last 1,600 years," he stated in closing.

Guests had the opportunity to explore a marketplace filled with Orthodox books and gifts and to eat their fill of barbecue, Indian cuisine, and delicious desserts prepared by the seminary community.

Workshops on topics ranging from Coptic iconography to a history of the dialogue between the Oriental and Eastern Orthodox Churches filled the late afternoon hours. A lively book discussion group, co-moderated by Three Hierarchs Chapel member Vera Hubiak and third-year seminarian Dn. Shiryl Mathai, mulled over the message and themes in Way of the Ascetics, by Tito Colliander. Eight seminarians performed a concert of Orthodox music titled "Our Common Saints: Hymns of Rome, Alexandria, Constantinople, and Sebaste," under the direction of Hierodeacon Herman (Majkrzak), lecturer in Liturgical Music and director of Chapel Music at St. Vladimir's.

"The day was replete with opportunities to explore the relationship between the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches, a relationship that is lived out daily at St. Vladimir's," commented the Very Reverend Dr. John Behr, seminary Dean. "Our seminary is a unique community where priests and leaders from both traditions are molded and prepared for ministry. We are grateful for our long history with the Oriental Orthodox churches."

View a gallery of Orthodox Education Day photographs on the seminary's Facebook page.
View the 2015 Program Book
View the Concert Program

Please donate to help us reach our $50,000 goal 

(remember: if we raise $50,000, it will be doubled!),

encourage others to give by sharing why you gave,

and follow us on social media for updates on our progress!

And remember - 10% of whatever we raise this #GivingTuesday
will help our sister seminary in Kenya.

Thank you for your support!

Seminary alumnus the Very Reverend Stavrophor Rastko Trbuhovich (M.Div. ‘73) fell asleep in the Lord on September 30, 2015. The entire seminary community expresses its condolences to his wife, Protinica Victoria, his children, Sarah and Basil, and his extended family.

Father Rastko was the much beloved priest of Saint Stephen Serbian Orthodox Church in Lackawanna, New York, where he served for three decades.

“He saw everything, good, bad, serious or joyful, as reason to ‘Thank God,’ and of course he was right,” said fellow SVOTS alumnus the Very Reverend Laurence Lazar (M.Div. ‘73), Dean of Saint George Romanian Orthodox Cathedral in Southfield, Michigan, and close friend of Fr. Rastko. You can read Fr. Laurence’s reflection on Fr. Ratsko’s life and influence here, and a letter of sympathy from Bishop Irinej here.

The Reverend Dr. Varghese M. Daniel has been appointed to the faculty of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary as Sessional Assistant Professor of Malankara Studies, effective for the academic year 2015-2016. In addition to teaching courses, Father Varghese will also oversee St. Thomas Chapel, a space dedicated to worship for the Malankara Orthodox students on campus.

“We’re delighted to have Fr. Varghese teaching at St. Vladimir’s,” said the Very Reverend Dr. John Behr, seminary Dean. “His classes in the history, language, liturgy, and patristics of the West Syriac tradition will provide a strong foundation for the theological study and future ministries of our Malankara seminarians.”

After completing his Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology, History, and Political Science at Osmania University in Hyderabad, India in 1995, Fr. Varghese earned his Bachelor of Divinity degree at Serampur University in Calcutta, India in 2001, and his Graduate in Sacred Theology degree at the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kottayam, India in 2000. In 2008 he completed a Master of Bioethics degree from Katholic University in Leuven, Belgium and was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Divinity in Melbourne, Australia in 2009. From 2010–2013, Father Varghese was a post-doctoral research fellow at the Yale School of Divinity in New Haven, Connecticut.

“Father Varghese brings a wealth of pastoral experience to his new position,” added the Very Reverend Dr. Chad Hatfield, seminary Chancellor/CEO. “As the founding vicar of not one, but two, parishes, he has firsthand knowledge of the mission field that lies before our Malankara graduates."

Father Varghese currently serves as the President and Vicar of St. John’s Orthodox Church in Orangeburg, New York.

Upon his appointment as a new faculty member, Fr. Varghese said, “I consider it a great privilege to become part of one of the most prominent Orthodox theological faculties in the world. It provides me with enormous energy and I look forward to enlightening my students through academic and ecclesiastical scholarship so they can be ‘fishers of men’ in the 21st century. Indeed, this new academic and spiritual expedition will be my personal pilgrimage, too.”

“Father Varghese comes with the highest recommendation from His Grace Zachariah Mar Nicholovos, metropolitan of the Northeast American Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC),” continued Fr. John Behr. “We have worked continually with His Grace to ensure that the education and formation we provide to Malankara students at St. Vladimir’s is of the highest possible level.”

The seminary currently has nine Malankara students enrolled in degree programs: seven students from the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, and two from the Malankara Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church in North America, which is under the Holy See of Antioch and All the East. Other Oriental Orthodox churches represented by the student body this year include the Armenian Apostolic Church (7 seminarians), the Coptic Orthodox Church (3 seminarians), and the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch (1 seminarian).

Also known as the Indian Orthodox Church, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox communion of over 2 million faithful, with 30 dioceses all over the world. The Northeast American Diocese is comprised of more than 50 parishes.

The Malankara Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church in North America has approximately 60 parishes and congregations in North America. Its ancient, apostolic roots hearken back to the churches established by the apostle Thomas, who brought the Gospel of Christ to India.