On Tuesday, October 19, 2010, His Grace Tikhon (Stepanov), bishop of Archangelsk and Kholmogory, reposed in the Lord, at age 47.
Archbishop Tikhon (Stepanov) was born March 2, 1963, in Kostroma. His Eminence studied at the Leningrad Theological Seminary from 1984–1986, at the Leningrad Theological Academy from 1986–1990, and at St. Vladimir's Seminary from 1990–1991. On August 28, 1991, Archbishop Tikhon took monastic vows and was ordained to the Holy Diaconate and Holy Priesthood on August 29 and September 1, respectively. On June 16, 1992, Archbishop Tikhon was elevated to the rank of igumen.
His Eminence was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite on January 1, 1996, and consecrated to the Holy Episcopacy as Bishop of Arkangelsk and Kholmogory on February 4, 1996, by the late Patriarch Alexy II in Moscow's Holy Epiphany Cathedral.
The entire seminary community is praying for the soul of Archbishop Tikhon.
In late September, Professor Paul Meyendorff, SVOTS faculty member, traveled to the Orthodox seminary in Joensuu, Finland, to discuss the future of Orthodox theological education in Europe in light of the Bologna Process. The Bologna Process is a recent initiative within the European Union to reform and standardize higher education. The meeting in Joensuu was called to discuss the implications of this process for Orthodox seminaries in Europe. The meeting concluded with a proposal to develop a pan-Orthodox agency to monitor the quality of Orthodox theological education.
At the meeting, Dr. Meyendorff described the accreditation process for North American seminaries through the Association of Theological Schools (ATS), as well as the SVS Strategic Plan and the New Curriculum. He also spoke to seminary students about the history and life of St. Vladimir’s.
Also attending the meeting were Fr. Rauno Pietarinen, a SVOTS alumnus and rector of the Orthodox Seminary in Finland; Archimandrite Cyril Hovorun, vice-chairman of the Educational Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church; Dr. Konstantinos Kenanidis, director of the Orthodox Academy of Crete; and several other representatives from the Orthodox Church of Finland.
A follow-up workshop is scheduled for April 2011 at the Orthodox Academy of Crete, with observers and representatives from the major theological schools and observers from the ATS, the EU Bologna Process, and Roman Catholic theological institutions. Participants in the Joensuu meeting agreed that this new initiative would make possible the mutual recognition of degrees and foster a closer partnership between theological institutions, as well as foster greater unity among all Orthodox.
Our November 2010 Open House for prospective students will provide those contemplating ministry or a deeper study of the Orthodox faith with first-hand experience of seminary life. Participants will attend classes, worship in the chapel, tour the campus and its resources, and meet faculty members and seminarians. Detailed information on the Seminary's various degree programs, financial aid, and admissions process also will be provided.
A special feature of this year's Open House will be the extraordinary opportunity for participants to venerate the relics of our patron saint, the Holy Great Prince Vladimir, on November 12th, with our seminary community, prior to public veneration the following two days. Additionally, prospective students will have the pleasure of sharing our Annual Pre-Thanksgiving Day meal.
There is no cost to participants, other than their transportation costs. Prospective students may explore their transportation options on our Website. Participants needing help in navigating their way from the New York Metropolitan Airports or Railway/Bus Stations, however, may contact Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak, Director of Alumni and Recruitment, at the Seminary's Recruitment Office: 914-961-8313, EXT 342 or email jmatusiak@svots.edu. Please also contact PDn. Joseph to obtain more information, a schedule of activities, or an Open House registration form.
Saint Vladimir Seminary, a graduate school of theology, offers Master of Divinity, Master of Arts (Theological Studies), and Master of Theology degrees.
As a guest lecturer to our campus, Dr. Yelena Kolyada gave an absorbing public presentation about "Musical Instruments of the Bible" on October 5th. Using accompanying illustrations of the "harps, strings, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals" mentioned in the Psalms and other biblical books, she described the role these instruments played in the religious, social, public, and private life of ancient Israel. Further, she traced the historic path of musical instruments in worship, from their use in the synagogue to their demise in early Christian churches.
Dr. Kolyada is the author of A Compendium of Musical Instruments and Instrumental Terminology in the Bible (Equinox Publishing, 2009), a reference book that draws on biblical translations and works by rabbinic teachers, church fathers, medieval exegetes, and contemporary scholars. She graduated from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and completed a doctoral thesis at the Vilnius Conservatory in 1987. In the early 1990s she was a Senior Research Fellow at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she gave lectures on early Russian hymnography.
Her public presentation may be found as a podcast in the "Voices from St. Vladimir's" section of Ancient Faith Radio.
Father Ilie Toader, a member of the theological faculty of Buzau, Romania, is writing a doctoral thesis about St. Vladimir’s Seminary. He visited the Seminary during the course of a month, during September and October 2010, to perform his research. Dr. Peter Bouteneff, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at SVOTS, spoke with him about his project, about the Seminary, and about his expectations and findings.
Fr. Ilie, tell us about your project, your doctoral thesis.
In 2007, when I was admitted in the doctoral program at the Bucharest Faculty of Orthodox Theology, I decided, with the consent of my director, Rev. Prof. Dr. Viorel Ioniţă, to write my thesis about the contribution of St. Vladimir's to contemporary Orthodox thought. The provisional title of my thesis is “St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary and its contribution to modern Orthodox thinking.” I was able to come and visit here, at the invitation of Fr. John Behr, for the purposes of completing my research, using your library and meeting with your faculty and students.
What provoked your interest in our seminary?
While a student, I was taught—and always imagined—that Dogmatics and Church History were completely distinct subjects. I was therefore very struck when I read Fr. John Meyendorff’s Byzantine Theology, because it is a dense analysis and synthesis that is at the same time dogmatic and historical. Soon after that I discovered Fr. Schmemann’s works. And I realized that both writers belong to a common and enriching tradition. Reading more about them I was able to locate the epicenter of this remarkable tradition at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary. Then I also read Fr. Florovsky and others. I saw more and more a common thread, one that had to do with understanding “Tradition.” Florovsky, through the “neo-patristic synthesis,” Schmemann through the revitalizing of the liturgical Tradition, Meyendorff, through his writing about “living” or “dynamic” Tradition. These approaches were each distinct but had a common perspective—this is one of the greatest contributions of St. Vladimir’s.
Does St. Vladimir’s have a particular reputation among your colleagues in Romania? Are there particular supporters and critics?
Myself, I knew that St. Vladimir's isrepresentative of North American Orthodoxy and one of the most prestigious and prolific centers of education and spirituality in contemporary Orthodoxy anywhere.
As for serious critics, in fact I found that it’s more here in America, than elsewhere, that St. Vladimir’s has detractors! In Romania almost no one has this spirit of criticism of this Seminary. Of course, some of the theology faculty in Romania haven’t heard of SVOTS. Among those who have, the ones I spoke with have this idea that SVOTS is very open in its outlook. For some, this quality of “open” is a very positive thing; for others, that same quality is not so positive.
What were your expectations of the life and ethos of the Seminary before you came? And what has your impression been now that you are here?
Before I came I had a “Romanian” image of the Seminary: I imagined it as a large and cold institution, where faculty and students meet together only in the classroom, in the morning, and then everyone leaves the building “lifeless.“ What I found here is both smaller than what I expected, but also much more communal, on the part of both faculty and students. I was also surprised at many of the activities that students do here as part of their training: hospital visitation, prison ministry, et cetera.
I was very surprised to find such a heterogeneous body of students, coming from very different ethnic and religious backgrounds—Indians, Serbians, Albanians, Armenians, Americans, et cetera, and born-Orthodox and converts—and yet proving to be a numerous and friendly family. But the place that had the biggest impression on me, the place which struck me as the heart that gives cohesion and strength to this family most of all, and where I could really feel the living memory and legacy of your predecessors, was the chapel. When I saw you—professors and students—serving together, taking Eucharist together, praying together, I felt myself connected to your past and present, to your Tradition.
Some who come here from Eastern Europe, like yourself, are surprised that in many places in North America, the people receive Holy Communion at nearly every Divine Liturgy, whether or not they have confessed the same day or the day before.
As a student of history, I look back to the writings of the Holy Fathers, like St. Justin Martyr in his first Apology, where the evidence is that everyone communed at every liturgy, and, even more, those who were absent for various reasons had Holy Communion brought to them by the deacons. And I read Fr. Schmemann’s writings on this subject, and agree with this. So I am completely supportive of this practice, and will try to be an ambassador for it in Romania. Yet, while I was here with you, I had to remain faithful to the actual position and practice of my Church.
Are there other things you feel you have learned here, not just about the Seminary?
By coming here, I learned a lot of things, concrete and abstract. The concrete ones will be reflected in my doctoral thesis, so let me tell you more about the others. First of all, this is my first major work in the field of Church History and I realized how difficult is the task of a historian. A “scientific” approach to history can easily obscure the facts. For example, If I go back to Romania and say simply that St. Vladimir’s is a Seminary founded in 1938, with a number of outstanding personalities and with its own Press; or if I reduce Fr. Schmemann only to his life and works—no matter how dense and precise the data of my thesis will be—I will fail to present the real place and contribution of St. Vladimir’s to American and worldwide Orthodoxy. So, the historian’s mission is more creative than simply gathering and collating information.
Do you have any feelings or hopes for Orthodoxy in America, or for the Seminary, that you’d like to share with us?
One thing is that I think that Orthodoxy in the world today needs more communication between the spiritual, educational, and cultural centers of the Orthodox world. Another impression: as I come to know the Seminary and its context better, I understand better the importance of your contribution. You had to struggle here to survive here in America in a way that we, in the more homogenously Orthodox context of Romania, have not. We struggled as well, of course, under communism, but in my opinion we have lost more believers after the Revolution (in 1989), because we lack a clear sense of mission to our own people. We haven’t woken up to this new reality, this missionary imperative. It’s very different here in the U.S., where there are not so many Orthodox Christians.
I hope that you at the Seminary will continue to grow and develop yourselves in the same direction as you have done since 1938, following the goals of your founders: you have students from all over the world; you bring Orthodoxy all over the world through your books, alumni, and professors; you have always represented Orthodoxy in the ecumenical or inter-Orthodox dialogue. I think there are enough reasons for me to hope that in 2038, at your centenary, all of Orthodoxy will be speaking about St. Vladimir’s Pan-Orthodox Theological Seminary!
Read more about Faculty and visiting Faculty activities in the “Faculty Footnotes” section of the Voices page on our Website.
The Dean of St. Vladimir’s has a rather heady job description. According to the Statutes of the school, his duties are to “supervise of all spiritual and academic activities of the Seminary” and to “represent the Seminary before ecclesiastical, educational, and religious agencies.”
But how does that sizable black and white description translate into flesh and blood action? Moreover, what’s on our Dean’s mind, as well as on his daily planner?
Besides teaching a full course load in patristics, including a summer session, during the past year, SVOTS Dean Archpriest John Behr wrote one major book and published four articles, gave fourteen public presentations, and logged 44,449 in land and air miles. This year, he’s likely to surpass that travel mark, as he traverses the globe lecturing, teaching, presenting retreats, and representing the ethos of St. Vladimir’s in multifold settings.
Among his most important ministries is to cultivate friendships that strengthen the nexus between SVOTS and other Orthodox theological schools throughout world. To that end, in October 2010, Fr. John will be visiting the Theological Faculty of the University of Belgrade, joining in the celebrations for their (and his) patronal feast of St. John the Theologian. He will speak with both faculty and students; and he will continue the connection that began with the visitations of the Student Choir from School of Theology at the University of Belgrade, with their faculty advisor, Nenad Milosevic, during the past two years on our campus. Fr. John will also be visiting the new Patriarch, His Holiness Irinej, as well as various monasteries throughout the country. He will travel with one of the episcopal members of our Board of Trustees, His Grace The Right Rev. Maxim (Vasiljevic), bishop of the Western Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America (SOC).
“I look forward especially to this visit to Serbia,” said Fr. John, “amid my travel schedule for this semester. Being a ‘face’ for St. Vladimir’s is one of my greatest joys and privileges as Dean, and during this trip, I hope to build deep and lasting ties with their faculty.
“Another privilege as Dean is to share my experiences with our friends and alumni through my monthly reflection in the “On Our Minds” section of our new Website. I invite everyone to ‘travel’ with me—virtually!—and to find out what 'the Dean' is up to, and what I’m thinking about within the ever-changing landscape of world Orthodoxy.”
St. Vladimir’s Seminary alumnus The V. Rev. Dr. Alexander Atty (’79) will be installed as the seventh dean of our sister school, St. Tikhon’s Seminary, South Canaan, PA, on Saturday, October 30, 2010. The Installation Service will begin at 11 a.m. at St. Mary Antiochian Church, Wilkes-Barre, PA.
Fr. Alexander had been the rector of St. Michael the Archangel Orthodox Church, Louisville, KY, a parish in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCANA), since 1980. He was born August 7, 1951 in Johnstown, PA, and holds a B.S.in engineering from Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science. After earning his M.Div. at St. Vladimir’s Seminary, he went on to study at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, earning his D.Min. in 2008. Ordained a priest on December 9, 1979 at St. Nicholas Cathedral, Brooklyn,NY, he was elevated to the rank of archpriest in 1988.
Last year, we were privileged to have Fr. Alexander present our annul public lenten retreat, focused on the theme “Good and Faithful Servants.” His three talks, “The Good and Faithful Pastor,” “The Good and Faithful Parishioner,” and “The Good and Faithful Parish,” are available as part of the “Voices from St. Vladimir's Seminary” podcast.
Atop our “New Facility” building, gleaming solar panels lie like sleek sunbathers. Soaking up the sun’s rays, they’re storing energy to power two buildings on our seminary campus.
The sparkling panels are being installed this week, September 20–24, and from now on they will provide clean, renewable energy for both our Three Hierarchs Chapel and our New Facility building, which houses classrooms and faculty and staff offices. Through the newly mounted solar grid, the Seminary expects to reduce its energy costs for the two structures by nearly 78%.
“We’ve been pursuing this project since 2007, when we decided to make a concerted effort at St. Vladimir’s Seminary to ‘Go Green’,” said The Very Rev. Chad Hatfield, Chancellor and CEO. “Renewable energy was a keystone in that plan, since statistics have proven that the largest controllable budget category in a school is typically energy related.
“Our seminary took those statistics to heart. Thus, in November and December 2007, we invested in complete energy audits for nine campus buildings, and in turn received detailed analyses and reports on these structures from the New York State Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Each report included ‘Energy Cost Reduction Opportunities,’ which our Board of Trustees reviewed. In the end, we decide to partner with NYSERDA, as a participant in the New York State Solar Electric Incentive Program, to install a solar grid.”
In June 2010, the Seminary received notice that NYSERDA had awarded them a government grant in the amount of $72,556.50 for the solar project, which represents half of the cost of the project. The Seminary is approaching private foundations and individuals to fund the full cost.
NYSERDA is an agency that provides energy audits and analyses to small businesses, churches, schools, and other facilities to help them make informed decisions and implement energy-efficient strategies. The other “partners” in the solar venture at St. Vladimir’s are D.C. Power Systems, a distributor of renewal energy products based in California, which is supplying the structural materials for the project, and Best Energy Power, a local installer.
On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, September 14th, our seminary community richly celebrated sacramental life and theological study. Highlights of the day included two student ordinations and an academic convocation in honor of Professor Christos Yannaras, making the solemn feast full and joyous from beginning to end.
We were particularly blessed by a host of distinguished guests who participated at various points in the daylong celebration, which included His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America; Archpriest Alexander Atty, dean-elect of St. Tikhon’s Seminary; Archpriest Alexander Garklavs, chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America; Professors Aristotle Papanikolaou and George Demacopoulos from Fordham University; and Professor George Parsenios from Princeton Theological Seminary.
The extraordinary day also brought together three episcopal members of our Board of Trustees, who concelebrated the morning Divine Liturgy: His Beatitude Metropolitan Jonah, primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA); His Grace The Right Rev. Maxim, bishop of the Western Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America (SOC); and His Grace The Right Rev. Savas (Zembillas) of Troas, director of the Office of Church and Society at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America (GOA).
During the Divine Liturgy, Dn. Maximus Cabey was ordained to the priesthood, and seminarian John Frazier was ordained to the diaconate. Fr. Maximus and Dn. John, both third-year students at St. Vladimir’s, were ordained by Metropolitan Jonah, and were given a “word” by Bishop Savas at the Liturgy. “Today,” said Bishop Savas, “you have become ‘cross-bearers’ in a special way, but in a way that is meant to be joyful. May God give you the strength, wisdom, and gifts needed to fulfill your priestly ministries."
Bishop Savas also congratulated our Dean, Fr. John Behr, on the ninth anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. Additionally, Fr. David Mezynski, our Associate Dean for Student Affairs, was awarded the nabedrennik, a priestly vestment in the shape of shield, for his service to the Church, by Metropolitan Jonah.
Punctuating the evening was the academic convocation honoring Dr. Christos Yannaras, professor emeritus of philosophy at the Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences in Athens and leading Greek Orthodox ethicist. Dr. Yannaras has authored more than fifty books on ethics, theology, and modern religious philosophy, including one by St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press entitled The Freedom of Morality.
Following a chapel vespers service and surrounded by faculty in their colorful academic regalia, Fr. John Behr warmly welcomed guests and enthusiastically opened the convocation. “Although we have gathered many times in the chapel over the past few weeks,” he said, “this if the first time that we have gathered together for academic purposes, gathered together to reflect upon what it is that we do as a seminary, a school of theology.”
First, Fr. John presented the “St. Basil Award for Academic Achievement” to this past year’s “Junior” seminarian Jason Ketz and to “Middler” seminarian Michael Soroka. Established in 2003, the St. Basil Award recognizes excellence in theological studies and is given to students who rank first among their classmates in the Master of Divinity program.
Fr. John then proceeded to introduce Professor Yannaras, saying, “From its beginning, seventy-two years ago, St. Vladimir’s Seminary has been committed to standing in the tradition of the great Fathers of the Church, thinking through what they said, to be able to address our own contemporary world. Today, we honor someone who exemplifies all this in an extraordinary manner throughout his long and distinguished scholarly career.”
Dr. John Barnet, associate dean for Student Affairs at St. Vladimir’s, reiterated Professor Yannaras’s expertise in critical engagement with church tradition and the contemporary world, as he read the citation that officially bestowed the degree of Doctor of Divinity honoris causa upon him.
In his remarks just prior to his address to the audience, titled “The Trinitarian God as the Causal Principle of Existential Freedom,” Professor Yannaras expressed his gratitude to the Seminary. “The theological ‘climate’ that St. Vladimir’s has represented for so many decades,” he noted, “has been for me a real ‘nursery,’ a point of reference, a place that I have always experienced, even from a great distance, as a place I belong to.
“Today,” he continued, “you are bestowing on me a great academic honor. But for about fifty years you have been nourishing me with something of great importance: with criteria of theological orientation. The brief lecture that, as is customary, I shall now deliver, has as its title, ‘The Causal Principle of Freedom.’ I should like it to evoke a sense of the presence of Father John Meyendorff and Father Alexander Schmemann.”
Also participating in the liturgical services and the convocation was the Student Choir from the Theological Faculty at the University of Belgrade, with their faculty advisor, Nenad Milosevic. The choir visited the seminary campus after completing a tour of parishes in the Western Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
St. Vladimir’s welcomes back to our campus alumnus (’06) Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak, as he assumes his new position as Director of Alumni and Recruitment. “I am excited to use my experience, both growing up in the Church and also being a student here, to encourage other students in their vocations and service to the Church,” he said. “I want to create a similar excitement in other students to attend our seminary and to re-ignite the relationships of our alumni with their alma mater.
“Especially, I want to see my work, and that of the seminary, as meeting our alumni where they are. In other terms, what can we do from here, in the areas of continuing education and assistance to them? What can we offer?”
PDn. Joseph formerly spent four years as the deacon and secretary to Archbishop Job, bishop of the Diocese of the Midwest of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), of blessed memory. He also is on the Board of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF), a nationwide college campus ministry.
PDn. Joseph will be employed by both SVOTS and the OCA. He will continue with his current positions at the OCA—as Youth and Campus Minister and as the Protodeacon for Metropolitan Jonah—in addition to his new duty of overseeing the departmental ministries of the Church.
PDn. Joseph’s wife, Nina, and sons, Alexander (5) and Daniel (3), have settled into their new campus apartment, and the SVOTS community is pleased to have them!
View our Alumni Association activities and message from Alumni Board Chairman, Fr. David Barr, and catch up with our Alumni in our Voices section.
