"The Bible is about life—all of life, real life. Not life as we imagine it, or even as we might live it, but life as it truly is whenever we enter into authentic life," began Fr. Harry Pappas as he commenced our seminary's annual public lenten retreat. "And we have a God who, among all the other gods and goddesses that were around during the Old Testamental period, takes great delight in life, in his creation."
Fr. Harry, who is adjunct professor of Pastoral Theology at St. Vladimir's, chose as his overall theme for this year's retreat, "Back to Basics: Old Testament and Life." He focused on the biblical books that the Orthodox Church prescribes for reading during the period of Great Lent—Genesis, Proverbs, and Isaiah—and drew from them images and themes that exemplify life in and with God.
The lenten retreat began with many participants attending the Divine Liturgy in our seminary chapel, and continued with three presentations by Fr. Harry: "How Life Begins" (Genesis); "How Life Works" (Proverbs); and "How New Life Appears" (Isaiah). You may listen to all three of Fr. Harry's presentations in the "Voices from St. Vladimir's" section of Ancient Faith Radio.
View a photo gallery of this day of fellowship, prayer, and instruction.
St. Vladimir's Seminary Press began as a response to the urgent need for English-language books about the Orthodox Christian faith, which arose in the mid-1950s. At that time, our multi-ethnic Orthodox student body were hearing lectures in English, but textbooks were available only in foreign languages, in particular, Russian and Greek. To address this need, lecture notes of the professors were hand typed or mimeographed for student use, and sometimes collated for distribution.
Simultaneously clergy in parishes were clamoring for educational material. To address this need, Fr. Alexander Schmemann (Dean from 1962–1983) produced a series of small pamphlets, including “Clergy and Laity” and “Great Lent." When Fr. Alexander published the full version of his Great Lent in book form in 1969, it sold out within the season of the Great Fast, demonstrating the hunger by clergy and laity for English-language titles about their faith.
Today "SVS Press" is the largest and most active publisher of Orthodox Christian books in the English language, with more than 400 titles in print. It continues its reputation of insisting on works of theological excellence, as evidenced in its 2011 releases, recently showcased in its Spring Brochure.
In addition to its usual scholarly releases, the press welcomes to its collection a children's book, St. George and the Dragon, engagingly written by well-known author Jim Forest and strikingly illustrated by iconographer Vladislav Andreyev. The book will be available in summer 2011, and SVS Bookstore is taking advance orders. Click here to order the book.
"St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press has been really active recently," notes Fr. Benedict Churchill, Associate Director of SVS Press. "In the past few months, we’ve added four books to the Popular Patristics Series, and introduced two new books, with Metropolitan Hilarion's Orthodox Christianity series, vol.1, History and Canonical Structure, and Archbishop Dmitri’s commentary on The Epistle of St. James.
"I’m delighted to have a role in helping these important works see the light of day, and in helping the Press in its mission of making Orthodox materials available in English," he says.
Saturday, October 1, 2011 • Annual Orthodox Education Day
When you come to our annual Orthodox Education Day (OED) this year, look for some surprises: bagpipes, a military honor guard, icon displaying soldiers and peacemakers, folk dancers wielding swords, special workshops to help our service men and women and the church communities ministering to them, and a campaign to send care packages to those deployed in the armed forces—all in conjunction with this year's theme: "For God and Country."
Throughour the day, we will be honoring (and especially praying for, as our liturgy bids us to do), all our men and women "in the armed forces everywhere," and especially our Orthodox military chaplains.
Our keynote speaker will be The Rev. Dr. Philip LeMasters, a member of the seminary's Board of Trustees; Professor of Religion, Director of the Honors Program, and Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Religion at McMurry University; and rector of St. Luke Orthodox Church, Abilene, Texas, under the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCANA). Fr. Philip is the author of an article titled "Orthodox Perspectives on Peace, War and Violence," published recently in The Ecumenical Review (Vol. 63:1, 54–61, March 2011).
Our primary workshop leader will be Dr. Stephen Muse, director of the Counselor Training Program at the Pastoral Institute, Inc. in Columbus, Georgia, who also teaches and supervises with the U.S. Army Family Life Chaplain Training program at Fort Benning. Dr. Muse has taught and led workshops throughout the U.S. and internationally, both in the civilian sector and also for the U.S. Army Chaplains, in areas such as special problems of clergy and helping professionals, marriage, and the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
We are inviting clergy, with their parishioners, from all area churches to attend the keynote lecture by Fr. Philip, which will be based upon his aforementioned article, and the workshop by Dr. Muse, which will explore the potential support that churches can offer veterans and their families in the mission of returning home—psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually—as well as what civilians have to learn from those have gone to “hell for us” (in the words of Dr. Muse) and returned. We also are planning to have a panel of Orthodox Christian military chaplains, who will be discussing various aspects of service in the Armed Forces; and a panel relating to military family life "states-side," while loved ones are deployed.
St. Tikhon's Monastery Museum houses a good collection of military chaplains uniforms and kits from WWII to current U.S. wars, and the entire display will be on loan to SVOTS for OED 2011. Archpriest John Perich, museum curator, and Igumen Sergius, abbot of the Monastery, who are graciously lending our school this memorabilia, note that each item in this exceptional display is annotated with a specific chaplain's name.
Master iconographer Vladislav Andreyev will be displaying his beautiful illustrations from our new children's book, St. George and the Dragon, a timeless account of the brave saint who conquored demons through martyrdom, written by author Jim Forest.
We'd like to have your voice included in this lively day of discussion and prayer. Please join us for our annual campus open house, and bring your family, parish family, and friends. We'll warmly welcome you to St. Vladimir's!
If you or your parish would like to help with donations to the ethnic food booths, or for further information on the event, please e-mail our Events Coordinator, Tanya Penkrat, or call her at 914-961-8313 x351.
Download a flyer of Orthodox Education Day 2011 as a PDF here.
Download a flyer of Orthodox Education Day 2011 in JPG format here.
Share the news with your family, parish family, and friends!
Download a full schedule of Orthodox Education Day here.
New York and Alaska are worlds apart, but an ongoing exchange between St. Vladimir's Seminary in Yonkers and St. Herman Seminary in Kodiak has helped shrink their cultural and geographical divides—at least in the sphere of Orthodox Education. Most recently, our chancellor, Archpriest Chad Hatfield, accompanied by two SVOTS seminarians, spent four days at our Alaskan "sister seminary," lecturing and sharing ideas on missiology and the relationship between religion and culture.
“This most recent exchange between our two seminaries is building on a firm foundation of several decades," observed Fr. Chad. "The street is two-ways, and it benefits both our seminaries and our seminarians, giving each group a broader picture of Orthodoxy.”
Father Chad, who served as the dean of St. Herman's from 2002 to 2007, focused on the topics “Missiology Basics" and "Where Do Protestants Come From?" during his part of the exchange program. Seminarian Dn. James Bozeman spoke about his faith journey from Evangelical Protestantism to Orthodoxy, while his brother, Seminarian Ephraim (Lee) Bozeman, gave illuminating sessions on "Culture and Orthodoxy," a subject escpecially apropos to missionary endeavors in Alaska because of the multi-cultural population.
Seminarian Dn. James experienced the "two-way street" between the schools first hand during his premier Alaskan experience."The 'official' intention of our trip was to offer two days of teaching sessions, covering culture and theology, missiology, and the distinctions between the doctrines and theology of Protestants and Orthodox Christians," he said. "My impression of this was that we were going to go to Alaska to offer something to the students.
"What I found was that we had much to offer each other," he continued. "I was very impressed with the humble sincerity of the students. They quickly welcomed us and gave us much of their time, showing us around Kodiak and the surrounding area. There is a straight-forward simplicity in their approach to their church worship and to their education that I found refreshing and inspiring. Celebrating services with them in the presence of St. Herman's relics was an incredible joy and a real honor."
His brother Ephraim expressed similar sentiments, saying, "It is difficult to describe the beauty of Kodiak and the deep impression this trip has made on me. As a student at St. Vladimir's Seminary, I am used to people coming to experience our community, but this opportunity allowed us to become ambassadors in some respects to our fellow seminarians in Alaska. We were received with tremendous hospitality and a genuine affection that was wonderful to see. The authentic faith of the seminary community was inspiring for me and I hope to be able to carry that with me as I continue my education at St. Vladimir's."
Speaking further of this connection between the two seminaries, Archpriest John Dunlop, dean of St. Herman's, stated, "The historical link between the two schools is paving the way to closer cooperation, particularly in the fields of missions and evangelism. We trust that God will give more opportunities for our seminaries to cooperate in our common vision to serve the Church."
Read about other recent exchanges that strengthen the bond between our two seminaries, including a visit by Alaskan students to St. Vladimir's for the March 2011 Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement (OISM) meeting, and Fr. Chad's trip to the Kuskokwim River region in January 2011 for a clergy wives retreat—be sure to watch the video of him "mushing" up the tundra!
View a gallery of photos from Fr. Chad's and the Bozeman brothers' recent journey.
In recent decades, we have seen several important conferences about women in the Church. These have reflected on women’s gifts, and their joys and frustrations in trying to fulfill their Christian calling; some have produced recommendations for parishes and local churches.
This year, for our annual summer academic conference, we've chosen "Women Disciples of the Lord" as the theme. The goals of this particular conference are:
to explore and articulate the Christ-centered context out of which lay, and especially women’s, ministries are to be expressed;
to listen to women pursuing Gospel-bearing vocations in the Church and parish, home and society; and, building on previous meetings,
to help our parishes and Churches foster women’s and lay vocations.
The primary questions we will be addressing towards these goals are:
How did our female forebears understand and live in Christ—as women? And how may we follow their examples today?
Christ empowered the women among His disciples. How can women’s talents enrich the work of the Church today, energize parishes, and bring the Gospel into the world?
How can the Church’s institutions better participate in the preparation of women and other laity for service? How can the Church validate women in their ministries: hiring them, blessing them, and sending them to attend to the Church’s missions? How can it establish positions worthy of its women seminary graduates? What infrastructure needs to be created?
This conference is not for women only, but also for laymen and clergy interested in building and broadening lay vocations and ministries in the Church. We seek to foster a creative, constructive, and inspiring encounter, through lectures, panel discussions, and workshops, with table fellowship and daily worship.
Our list of topics and speakers includes:
Opening Address: "The Joy to Serve" • Matushka Juliana Schmemann (via video)
"Eve, Mary, and Us" • Dr. Kyriaki Karidoyanes Fitzgerald
"Light from the Past on Vocations Today" • Dr. Mary Ford
"Confessions of a Free-lance Writer: Discerning God's Will in an Unpredictable Vocation" • Khouria Frederica Mathewes-Green
"Orthodox Women in America: A Recent History" • Ms. Eleana Silk
On Friday, June 17, 7:30 p.m., Archpriest John Behr, dean of St. Vladimir's Seminary, will present a free and public lecture, "Male and Female Created He Them," in the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium of the John G. Rangos Family Building, with reception to follow.
Through workshops and panels participants will also examine ministry within such church agencies as the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), and St. Catherine’s Vision; and by means of topical sessions, including, how science serves the Church and chaplaincy in prisons, hospitals, and other settings.
After Divine Liturgy in Three Hierarchs Chapel on Sunday, June 19, there will be a meeting of women alumnae of theological seminaries, to draw up recommendations regarding resources for women’s theological education and vocations.
All, especially our alumnae, may continue to shape the conference by emailing the co-coordinators, Tanya Penkrat, tpenkrat@svots.edu, and Dr. Peter C. Bouteneff, pcb@svots.edu.
On March 20, 2011, our dean, Fr. John Behr, and our assistant professor of Canon Law, Fr. Alexander Rentel, attended the ordination of Archmandrite Elpidophoros (Lambriniadis), to his episcopal position as Metropolitan of Proussa (now known as “Bursa”), in Istanbul, Turkey. His Eminence’s consecration to the episcopacy was held at the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. George. In June 2010
During their visit, Frs. John and Alexander met with and received the blessing of the His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew, who received the degree of Doctor of Divinity honoris causa from St. Vladimir’s in 1997, and they presented him with an icon of the Holy and Great Prince Vladimir. They were also able to greet His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, who attended the ordination, along with a number of representatives from other local churches.
Both dean and professor reflected upon their exceptional visit. Fr. Alexander— whose doctoral work had examined the patriarchal liturgy of Constantinople in the fourteenth century—commented upon how wonderful it had been to experience first hand the same “taste of heaven” that the emissaries of the Holy Prince Vladimir had found in the patriarchal services in the 10th century.
Fr. John reflected on the catholicity of Orthodoxy that he had observed: “It is very important,” he noted, “that Orthodoxy not only be local, but also one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. It is this particular synthesis of local and catholic, particular and universal, that we strive to represent here at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. It was wonderful to have attended the event, and to see such Orthodoxy in action.”
During his recent visit to the Greater Chicago area, our Dean, Archpriest John Behr, focused on theological controversies, old and new. He consistently challenged his varied audiences to find personal identity, communal unity, and spiritual growth in and through Christ alone, drawing on themes associated with the Church's Feast of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, which highlighted the weekend.
On Saturday, March 12, Fr. John offered a public presentation on the meaning of icons at St. Joseph Church, Wheaton, Illinois, where Fr. John Matusiak is rector. The following morning, he preached at the Divine Liturgy and afterward met informally with area college students and young adults.
On Sunday evening, he was the guest homilist for the "Triumph of Orthodoxy" Vespers, held at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, Cicero, Illinois, where Fr. Nicholas Dahdal is rector. The evening was hosted by the Orthodox Christian Clergy Association of Great Chicago (OCCA). In his homily, Fr. John spoke about the ecclesial disunity among Orthodox Christians in North America and challenged the congregation to be "in a very concrete and material way—one."
"Only if we realize that our identity does not lie in whatever identities we create in this world or have foisted upon us by the circumstances of our birth, education, and society, but rather that our identity lies hidden with Christ in God, then, and only then, can we actually begin to find and manifest our unity together, here and now, as the one body of Christ," he stated. "This, it is clear, is our challenge today, our own 'Christological controversy'—how to be his body in an organized manner, as every body must be—and it is as every bit as momentous as the controversies of old. To accomplish this requires that we accompany Christ to his Passion,that we—just like the prophets in their suffering, and like the martyrs in theirs—become images, icons, of Christ. This and nothing else is our task: that we conform ourselves to Christ."
On Monday, March 14, Fr. John concluded his visit by acting as retreat master for the OCCA's annual clergy retreat at New Gracanica Serbian Orthodox Monastery, Third Lake, Illinois. He spoke on three topics: “Through the Cross,” “For This We Were Created,” and “Glorify God in Your Body.”
The seminary community turned out in force for the 41st Annual Pan-Orthodox Vespers, sponsored by the Westchester Orthodox Clergy Fellowship and hosted by the Virgin Mary Antiochian Church in Yonkers. The service drew Orthodox Christians countywide to mark what is typically known in the Church's calendar as the "Sunday of Orthodoxy" or the "Triumph of Orthodoxy," a feast that memorializes the final defeat of iconoclasm and the restoration of icons in the Church, which occurred on the first Sunday of Great Lent in AD 843.
The seminary Men's Choir sang portions of the service, under the direction of Hierodeacon Philip Majkrzak. Seminary clergy Fr. Alexander Rentel, assistant professor of Canon Law, and Fr. Steven Belonick, chaplain, along with seminarians Frs. Photius Avant, Jason Blais, Lucas Rice, and Michael Sakran, concelebrated the service with priests and deacons from four other area Orthodox churches. Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi, Adjunct Professor of Old Testament at St. Vladimir's, delivered the homily. Several seminarians, some with family members, also attended.
Triumph over sin, rather than triumphalism, marked the spirit of service. Reminding the congregation that the commemoration was "not a time to boast or to pontificate," but rather a time "to adhere to the faith of Scriptures," Fr. Paul in his homily especially focused on the duty of Christians to give alms and to extend mercy to the needy. "This is an opportune time," he said, "to imitate the Father of mercy, and to perform acts of mercy, first to the household of faith, and then to all."
After the service, Fr. Dimitri Darwich, rector of the parish, and his parishioners, extended a warm Middle Eastern welcome to visitors, by inviting them to a reception in the church hall.
“Like many new students,” says Adam Horstman, “I came to seminary desiring to learn about my faith, but even more, to learn how to put that faith into practice. Recognizing the significance of caring for the ones Jesus loves as well as the importance of preparing seminary students for a life of ministering to others, St. Vladimir’s Seminary provides a Prison Ministry Field Experience for first-year students in the Master of Divinity program. Thus, I was able to enter into the world of those who spend their days behind bars.”
The Prison Ministry Field Experience began as a glimmer in the mind of SVOTS Trustee Eric Namee about 18 months ago. It blossomed into a collaborative venture that included St Vladimir's administration, faculty, staff, trustees, the Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry (OCPM), particularly Chaplain Patrick Tutella, and The Rev. Nicholas J. Solak, a SVOTS alumnus (M.Div. ’02 and D.Min. ‘08) and current rector of Holy Trinity Church in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.
This past fall, sixteen incoming seminarians, along with one second-year seminarian—under the supervision of Frs. Nicholas and Chaplain Patrick—visited The Westchester County Department of Correction's Penitentiary Division, which houses males sentenced to prison terms of one year or less. The students went to the facility for six visits (plus an extensive orientation) and met in seminar on the seminary campus for six follow-up sessions. Prison visits were in the format of Bible studies; Fr. Nicholas led and modeled the first study, and seminarians led subsequent studies and small group discussions.
The fieldwork, according to seminarian Horstman, was life altering. “The prisons hunger for the Church to invite them to the table, for He came to call not the righteous, but sinners,” he reflected. “Spending time with prisoners joined their stories to ours. We bear these men in our hearts and lives. It is with great sadness but also much hope that we conclude our prison ministry experience. I hope that this great gift hides itself in our hearts until we leave this place to put our faith into action. I hope that we, in the words of Fr. Paul, a chaplain at the prison, ‘become the face of love.’ ”
Fr. Nicholas noted the importance of the field experience, saying, “Prison ministry is a part of parish life today. Our parishes are located in close proximity to prisons and jails—and some of these correctional institutions are large facilities with large inmate populations. They are in need of prison ministries. Additionally, our parishioners work in correctional settings or have family, friends, and neighbors experiencing some form of correctional supervision. It is important our seminarians receive a strong introduction to prison ministry so they can feel confident when they enter their pastoral ministry.”
Fr. Nicholas had ten years of professional experience working in corrections prior to enrolling at St. Vladimir’s in September 1999: five years as a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Specialist for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and five years as a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Specialist for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. “But, mostly my experience in corrections has been coupled with parish ministry—I’m nine years now in parish life,” he explained.
“My correctional training was strongly influenced by Stanton Samenow, whose work Inside the Criminal Mind (1984) hugely influenced the Correctional Industry in the ‘80s and ‘90s,” he continued. “I used that resource with the seminarians, and we also talked about the similarities and differences between doing bible studies in parish and prison settings. Further, we discussed some core pastoral counseling skills: active listening, disarming, and empathy.”
During the first Memorial Divine Liturgy of Great Lent, third-year seminarian Dn. John Culbreath-Frazier was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by His Grace Bishop Seraphim (Sigrist) in Three Hierarchs Chapel. The eucharist celebration drew together not only the campus community and family and friends but also people and places representing important threads in the lives of both Fr. John and his wife, Mandy, and Bishop Seraphim.
Co-celebrating at the liturgy was Fr. William Mills of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, the place where Fr. John was received into the Orthodox faith and the place where he and his wife were married. Also co-celebrating were Fr. Alexis Vinogradov, rector of St. Gregory the Theologian Orthodox Church, Wappingers Falls, New York, and Fr. Michael Plekon, who is attached to that same parish. Fr. John, with Matushka Mandy, attends St. Gregory's each Sunday, as a parish intern. Fr. Alexis, who gave the homily during the liturgy, expressed his gratitude and joy at having the couple as part of his parish community for this academic year.
His Grace Seraphim, former bishop of Sendai, Japan and seminary alumnus ('67), who met and got to know the Culbreath-Fraziers at St. Gregory's Church as well, offered prudent words to the couple following the liturgy. He spoke about two dimensions of the priesthood—poverty and service—but outside of their usual secular connotations.
Poverty, he noted, suggests something beyond material lack. "With reference to the priesthood," said His Grace, "it implies a person without a specific vocation, a person whose only vocation is to offer the world the ministry of Christ. Just as in the Book of Acts, when Peter looked at the begger and said, 'Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you,' so the priest brings to the world what it chooses to forget, and he reminds the world of what it dare not hope for. As a priest, you will represent healing and wholeness in life."
Speaking about service, Bishop Seraphim observed that the secular mind linked service to servility. "But Christian service," he said, "implies a freely given heart—to be with others and to share with them; to learn as well as to teach. This type of service, imitating the Lord who said, 'My yoke is easy and my burden is light,' enables the Church to be the Church."
Bishop Seraphim's words about poverty and service were especially cogent: first, because Fr. John and Mat. Mandy had met and been drawn together through their life in the Church and mutual interest in community service; and, more broadly, because His Grace informed those gathered for liturgy about the devastation to his former diocese, Sendai, Japan, just the prior day, due to a massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami. "Sendai is a poorer region of Japan," the retired bishop said, "and the faithful there will need our help to rebuild churches that were destroyed by this natural disaster."
In light of Bishop Seraphim's words, Fr. Alexander Rentel, chapel ecclesiarch, asked that a special collection be taken to benefit the Orthodox faithful and all those suffering in Sendai—a fitting conclusion for a eucharistic celebration and an ordination rite that embraces the virtues of poverty and service.
