For the third year in a row, a teaching team from St. Vladimir's Seminary flew north to Alaska to spend a week teaching at St. Herman Seminary in Kodiak. The team consisted of Chancellor/CEO Archpriest Chad Hatfield; Priest David Mezynski, associate dean for Student Affairs; and Ian Jones, a 2009 alumnus and Ph.D. candidate in Theology at Fordham University.
St. Vladimir’s has a long-standing history of supplying its northern sister school with faculty and library books. Since 2008, Fr. Chad Hatfield, who also acted as Dean of St Herman’s from 2003 to 2007, has conducted retreats and seminars within the Alaskan Diocese and at St. Herman’s.
This year, Fr. Chad conducted classes for St. Herman's seminarians on "Priestly Character," essential for the formation of students preparing to be pastors. Fr. David lectured on "Desert Spirituality," focusing on the role of asceticism in Christian life and using the letters of St. Barsanuphius as core material. Mr. Jones spoke about "Humans and Animals in Orthodox Theology," a topic of particular interest, given the Native Alaskan hunting ethos and historical interaction with the created world; Mr. Jones focused on texts by certain Fathers of the Church, discussing quotations from Ss. Basil the Great and Isaac the Syrian, as well as Ss. Ambrose of Milan and John Chrysostom, and also including thoughts from contemporary writer Fr. Dumitru Staniloae.
Besides speaking to the seminarians, Fr. Chad met with the seminary wives over "tundra tea" and led their retreat at the women's monastery on nearby St. Nilus Island. The St. Vladimir's team also joined in prayer for the service of the Akathist to St. Herman with the Kodiak community and venerated the saint's relics. Following the service, Fr. David providing a reflection.
This ministry organized by Fr. Chad is the result of an $80,000 endowment generously established by an anonymous supporter of St. Vladimir's Seminary, and it provides the continuing opportunity for an ongoing and growing relationship between the two seminaries, both of which are under the auspices of the Orthodox Church in America.
View a gallery of photos by alumnus and seminar presenter, Ian Jones, here.
View a slideshow of photos on the Website of St. Herman Seminary, here.
Professor Richard Schneider, visiting professor of Liturgical Arts at St. Vladimir's, will deliver a free and public lecture titled "Armenian Architecture: Local Culture or World Architecture?" on Tuesday, May 8th at 7:30 p.m. at nearby St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, 150 Stratton Road, New Rochelle, New York.
Professor Schneider will discuss whether Armenian church architecture typified the building style of a regional single culture or many cultures (e.g., Armenian, Byzantine, Syrian), all of which led to the development of the "Middle Byzantine" design that today is thought to characterize the "model" Orthodox church building.
The St. Vladimir's Alumni Association welcomes alumnus Gregory Abdalah ('07) as the new Chair of the Alumni Association Board. Mr. Abdalah was selected for the position during the spring election, which resulted in adding three new at-large members to the Alumni Board as well. Mr. Abdalah, who succeeds Archpriest David Barr as Chair, currently serves as the Director of Youth and Family Ministries at St. George Orthodox Church, Worcester, Massachusetts.
The 9-member Alumni Board now consists of: Mr. Abdalah, chair; Popodeia Michelle Jannakos, vice-chair; Khouria Stefanie Yazge, secretary; Archpriest Andrew Morbey; Priest Angelo Artemas; Priest Abraham (Abi) Chacko; Priest Theodore Paraskevopoulos; Priest Christopher Rocknage; and Vitaly Permiakov.
"Much gratitude is owed to Fr. David for seeing through the work of the Alumni Board, and for representing St. Vladimir's Seminary in that capacity," said Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak, director of Alumni Relations and Recruitment at the seminary. "Fr. David's leadership and input will certainly be missed, both on the Alumni Board and on the Board of Trustees, where he has sat as an ex officio member since his tenure as Alumni Board Chair began in 2007.
"We wish Fr. David and his family continued health, and good blessings," said Pdn. Joseph.
In speaking of his vision for the Alumni Association, Mr. Abdalah noted, "The Alumni Association of St. Vladimir's exists primarily to serve and keep its members connected to the St. Vladimir's community, and we value and enjoy hearing from and spending time with our alumni.
"We take great pleasure in maintaining our community by keeping it up-to-date with life on campus, connecting old friends and classmates, and listening to our alumni's ideas, concerns, and stories," Mr. Abdalah concluded.
View more news about our graduates in the Alumni section of our Website, here.
This coming fall semester, Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) will become a requirement for all new students enrolled in the Master of Divinity program at the seminary. This means that beginning in academic year 2012–2013, incoming seminarians who are M.Div. candidates will be required to complete 400 hours of hospital visitation and related self-reflection under the watchful eye and direction of a certified CPE supervisor.
“And that’s great news,” says Dr. Albert S. Rossi, adjunct professor of Pastoral Theology and supervisor of Hospital Field Ministry at St. Vladimir’s. “Our students will be receiving training that’s ‘off-the-charts’ enlightening: CPE will not only challenge our seminarians to face their own fears and demons regarding providing pastoral care and their own prejudices, but it also will provide them with skills that are transferable to their future pastoral ministries.
“This new requirement will benefit our seminarians greatly,” Dr. Rossi continued. “Besides earning 1 full CPE unit from an accredited CPE program, they will be simultaneously earning 3 academic credits counted toward their M.Div. degree.
“More importantly,” Dr. Rossi noted, “they will hone their listening skills and discover the value of being ‘present’ to hurting people. I always claim that ‘listening is love delivered’—whether that’s in a hospital setting or at a church coffee hour—and learning to listen is exactly what CPE will train our students to do.”
Clinical Pastoral Education began in 1925 as a form of theological education that takes place in clinical settings where ministry is being practiced: hospitals and health care facilities; hospices; psychiatric and community care facilities; geriatric and rehabilitation centers; and even parish-based settings. In the case of St. Vladimir’s seminarians, all CPE learning will take place in hospital settings, either during their Middler academic year or during their summer recesses.
“For many years,” noted Dr. Rossi, “our seminarians were required to do 100 hours of hospital field work under the supervision of Dr. Sarah Fogg, director of Pastoral Care at St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers, which was very beneficial to them.
“During the past couple of years, however” he continued, “we have slowly begun to allow our students to substitute 1 unit of CPE in lieu of their hospital field work.
“Surprisingly, we found that most of our seminarians preferred to do more work—400 hours of hospital work and self-reflection instead of the required 100 hours of fieldwork—in order to earn the 1 CPE unit,” he said.
“This showed that they recognized the value of the skills they were learning in CPE, in particular the value of skills ‘transferable’ to their future pastoral ministry, such as knocking on a hospital door while not knowing what they may face when they open it; or, being challenged regarding their mannerisms, expressions, and conversations with patients as they discuss their experiences in debriefing sessions with their CPE peers and supervisor,” he explained.
Dr. Rossi himself is an integral part of the new CPE requirement, in that he conducts both “intake” and “exit” interviews for participating seminarians. At their intake interviews, students receive an overview about the Orthodox Christian perspective of suffering, an understanding of a basic pastoral counseling model, and a fundamental orientation about the CPE program. At their exit interviews, students review their CPE supervisor’s report, discuss their experience with the program, and constructively create guidelines for the future. Their CPE unit certificate goes into their permanent student record, with the option of also including their CPE supervisor’s report.
Students who complete their first CPE unit often go on to fulfill three more units, in order to be certified as “institutional chaplains,” Dr. Rossi noted. He also remarked on the “extraordinary success” that SVOTS graduates have in being accepted to CPE residency programs, which have included such venues as Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City; Veteran’s Administration Hospitals in the Bronx; Westchester County Medical Center; and St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers.
“I’m joyful and humbled (but proud of our students) to say that being a SVOTS seminarian is known as a ‘credential of integrity’ among CPE supervisors nationwide,” Dr. Rossi concluded. “Many of our students, after earning their M.Div., are going on to some of the most prestigious programs in the country.”
Kids in our campus Church School finished out their program with a celebratory field day—fun games and grilled food capped their year-long learning experience. Second-year seminarian Ashley Lear served as the director of this year's program, which she designed to provide much longer but less frequent learning sessions: focused retreats that included praying, singing, reading, listening, creating, and fellowship. Seminarian Lear was assisted by 3rd-year seminarian Tim Dooley in the endeavor.
"This was the last church school event of the (school) year so I'd like to thank the parents for sending their children and the teachers for their commitment to teach those children," said Seminarian Lear. "We had fun, and I believe the children learned a lot about Jesus and what He has done for us.
"Personally, I will say that teaching the children has been extremely rewarding," she added. "They've given me so much."
Teachers of this year's program included: Gretchen Dooley, Tim Dooley, Audra Wooten, and seminarians Logan Johnson, Richard Ajalat, Vjekoslav Jovanovic, Dn. Jason Ketz, Pradeep Hatcher, and Jeff Hoff.
View a sermon delivered by senior seminarian Deacon David (Chandler) Poling, here.
Beginning fall semester 2012, Scripture and Homiletics courses offered at St. Vladimir’s will be augmented in accordance with planned curriculum revisions begun by the Dean and faculty in 2007. The reinforced curriculum, according to Dr. John Barnet, associate dean for Academic Affairs, is being implemented to strengthen even further the preaching and exegetical skills of our seminary graduates.
"It goes without saying that good pastors and preachers need to know the Bible well,” notes Dr. Barnet. “They need to know what it says, of course, but they also need to know what it doesn't say.
“Correct understanding of Scripture begins with the recognition that each book of the New Testament is a distinctive witness to the gospel of the crucified and risen Lord,” he explains. “Good pastors and preachers must convey this understanding in effective preaching. The goal of the Scripture-Homiletics program at St. Vladimir's Seminary is to train our students to become effective preachers."
The Rev. Dr. J. Sergius Halvorsen, currently assistant professor of Homiletics and Rhetoric at the seminary, further explained the newly developed curriculum, saying, “This past year, we began teaching our students the theological and rhetorical skills necessary to craft a homily based on a biblical text from the lectionary. We paid particular attention to the difference between written language (e.g. writing an essay) and oral language that is spoken and heard in a homily. We also focused on homiletical structure: strategies to clearly and persuasively convey the gospel of Jesus Christ in a form that is meaningful and engaging for all the hearers. In the first semester students focus primarily on 'basic' sermons, the kind that would be expected at a morning matins service in Three Hierarchs Chapel, or at a Sunday Divine Liturgy.”
“This coming fall,” Fr. Sergius continued, “We will add some more advanced rhetorical techniques, and we will focus on preaching at baptisms, weddings, and funerals. We'll also focus on preaching the gospel in other challenging contexts and situations, such as during times of crisis or in communities that are struggling with serious pastoral issues.
“Homiletics,” he explained, “is an interesting discipline inasmuch as it combines theological knowledge with liturgical art. Just like the icons in the Church, effective preaching creates an image of the biblical text, the living Word, in the mind and heart of the hearer. The effective preacher must know Scripture, and doctrine, and be steeped in the wisdom of the Fathers. However, merely possessing that knowledge is not enough. The preacher must craft language that is appropriate for the particular community, and then, like a skilled liturgical musician, deliver that message in a way that is beautiful, compelling, and inspiring. So, in both semesters of homiletics, we place a great emphasis on actually crafting and delivering homilies.”
“The coordination of assignments between the homiletics courses that I teach and the New Testament courses that are taught by Dr. Barnet is important because Scripture is the foundation of all Orthodox preaching," Fr. Sergius concluded. "Effective preachers must have the ability to read the Bible (including basic analysis in the original language) and understand how that particular text not only spoke to an ancient community, but how that text also speaks to us today. Great preachers are not only able to exegete faithfully the Scripture, but they also allow the Scripture to correct, shape and form them. These are the skills and the kind of pastoral formation that Dr. Barnet's Scripture courses provide.”
This coming academic year, a second course in homiletics will be added to the program, and student assignments between the homiletics and the New Testament courses will be coordinated so that seminarians may learn how to ground their preaching even more firmly within a biblical context. Also, seminary Dean Archpriest John Behr will teach a new introductory Old Testament course, “Introduction to Scripture, which will provide a foundation for seminarians developing homilies from the texts of the Old Testament (as seminarians are required to do during the season of Great Lent).
"I am really excited about teaching the new introductory course to Scripture this coming fall," commented Fr. John Behr. "After working, teaching, and writing for the last twenty years and more, on the Fathers of the first centuries, concentrating especially on their interpretation of Scripture, hermeneutics, and the Scriptural texture of all theology, as well as reading more broadly in contemporary scriptural scholarship and modern philosophy and hermeneutics, it will be a wonderful opportunity to teach the Scriptures themselves. My goal will be to familiarize students with the Scriptures, to introduce them to the Scriptural world of early Christianity, and to help them understand and respond to contemporary problematics."
The new courses scheduled (OT= Old Testament, NT= New Testament, and HO=Homiletics) are:
Junior year (fall)
OT 100 "Introduction to Scripture” (replacing OT 101 “Survey of Old Testament Literature”)
Junior year (fall)
NT 100 "Introduction to the New Testament: Text, Translation, Interpretation"
Junior year (spring)
NT 202 "St. Paul and His Epistles"
Junior year (fall)
NT 203 "The Gospels and Acts of the Apostles"
Middler year (spring)
HO 204 "Introduction to Homiletics: From Scripture to Spoken Word"
Senior year (fall)
HO 205 "Advanced Topics in Homiletics: Challenging Contexts and Special Occasions”
“These new courses represent just a few of the curriculum changes we’re now implementing to keep pace with our 2007 plan,” concluded Dr. Barnet. “We’ve also bolstered our fieldwork programs—in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) and prison ministry—and our iconology and missiology programs. Additionally, we’re working on a D.Min. Hybrid Program, which is foremost on our minds right now. By continuing to strengthen our programs, we believe that we are better preparing our graduates for their ministries."
View all courses offered by the seminary in our 2011–2012 Academic Catalog, here.New courses will appear in the 2012–2013 Academic Catalog, which will be available in July 2012.
Interested in attending the seminary? Please contact Dr. David Wagschal, director of Admissions and Financial Aid: admissions@svots.edu or 914-961-8313 x328.
More than thirty-five St. Vladimir's Seminary alumni, representing twelve graduating classes, as well as friends and prospective seminarians, gathered at St. Joseph Church, Wheaton, Illinois for a Bright Friday dinner sponsored by the SVOTS Alumni Association. Archpriest Alexander Rentel, assistant professor of Canon Law and Byzantine Studies at the seminary, together with Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak, director of Alumni Relations, joined the group for an evening of prayer, fellowship, and good food.
Father Alexander gave a short presentation on the current state of the seminary and spoke about exciting programs and projects planned for the future. Protodeacon Joseph spoke briefly about the plans of the Alumni Association for the upcoming 75th Anniversary Year commemorating the founding St. Vladimir's (2013). Protodeacon Joseph also thanked the alumni for their good work in supporting the seminary, especially in terms of identifying young men and women interested in a seminary education, and he reported an increase in inquiries and applications to the seminary for the coming academic year over last year.
The dinner was facilitated by the rector of St. Joseph Church, Archpriest John Matusiak, with help and support from the parishoners of the parish.
Read more Alumni News in the "Voices" section of our Website, here.
A mission team from the seminary community, led by Chancellor/CEO Archpriest Chad Hatfield, will be in Guatemala May 31–June 7 to lend much-needed hands to Hogar Rafael Ayau Orphanage. The team will assist in moving the orphanage from "Zone 1," a crime-ridden and dangerous area of Guatemala City, to Hogar San Miquel, a new orphanage in the mountains outside of Guatemala City.
"This is the first ever mission team organized from St. Vladimir's Seminary," noted Chancellor/CEO Archpriest Chad Hatfield, "and our team members consist of Claudia Bazil, Mary Roth, Ian Jones, Seminarian Scott Miller, Dn. Andre Paez, Fr. David Wooten, and myself.
"I do hope the campus, chapel, and local communities support our team's efforts to aid the Hogar at this critical time," he continued. "Their support will help children move from a place of danger to a safe, serene place in which to grow."
If you would like to support the St. Vladimir's Hogar Mission Team, please push the "DONATE NOW" button at the top of our Home Page and fill in the required information under "One Time Gift"; under "Donation Information" on the 2nd page of the on-line form choose "2012 SVOTS Mission Trip to Guatemala" as the designation for the funds. Or you may send a check payable to "St. Vladimir's Seminary" at 575 Scarsdale Road, Yonkers, NY 10707, and note "HOGAR SVOTS Team" in the memo line.
MUCHAS GRACIAS & DIOS LOS BENDIGA!
On Bright Thursday, April 19, 2012, St. Vladimir's Seminary community served up a Fiesta Dinner with an authentic Hispanic flair to benefit the Hogar Rafael Ayau Orphanage in Guatemala. The dinner included main courses of "arroz con pollo" (chicken) and "pernil" (pork) cooked up by our own Rafael Rivera, a native of the Dominican Republic and the ever smiling and effervescent Plant Manager at the seminary. Fiesta-goers also enjoyed guitar music, a piñata game, and some salsa and mirimba dancing, demonstrated by Ramon Contreras, a member of our campus maintenance crew. Here are some fun photos:
Truly the "Cherubim" and the "Seraphim" sang on our seminary campus on the Feast of the Holy and Righteous Lazarus, when the St. Vladimir's Seminary's Children's Choirs presented their Spring Concert, with His Grace The Right Rev. Michael, bishop of the Diocese of New York and New Jersey, Orthodox Church in America, in attendance. The choirs, which are made up of two groups—the Cherubim (singers ages 5–7) and the Seraphim (ages 7–14)—had separate weekly rehearsals for the academic year and put together their combined literature during their last three rehearsals. The children sang in four languages for their concert: German, French, English, and Swahili, and they were able to execute a 4-part treble piece as a combined choir (see a PDF of the concert program, here).
"We were incredibly honored to have Bishop Michael in attendance at this concert for the second year in a row," said Danielle Miller, director of both choirs. Mrs. Miller is a veteran music teacher, choral conductor, and church musician. She has served in churches nearly continuously since her teens, and has 18 years teaching experience in public and private schools. She currently teaches not only the Children's Choirs at the seminary, but also K–8 music at Blue Rock School in West Nyack, and the choirs for the summer program of Hoff-Barthelson Music School in Scarsdale. She also sings in the Boston Byzantine Choir and the St. Vladimir's Seminary Chorale. She is the wife of seminarian Scott Miller and mother of two budding musicians.
Recently this year, the Children's Choirs received a wondrous gift: a vespers setting specifically arranged for them, by renowned classical composer, Priest Ivan Moody.
"We will now turn our attention to this beautiful work for 3-part treble voices," noted Mrs. Miller. "Starting April 28th, the children will meet in Kunett auditorium (under the seminary chapel) and rehearse this work at 5:45 p.m. before going upstairs and singing in the weekly Saturday vespers service. The children can now apply their singing and musicianship learned as a concert choir towards the service of the worship of God.
"As we saw on Lazarus Saturday under the capable direction of Seminarian Ashley Lear," she continued, "when children help lead worship, it is a formative experience for the singers and for all who hear them." (Seminarian Lear is the director of the campus Church School program, and she regularly leads the church school children in chapel singing.)
Parents interested in having their children join the Children's Choirs may contact Mrs. Miller for a vespers rehearsal CD and to arrange to join the choir on Saturday evenings at the seminary chapel. Returning children's choir members, as well as all children ages 6 and up, boys and girls, are welcome and encouraged to sing! Contact: danielletmiller@aol.com, or call 914-319-0153.
Watch a video of the Spring Concert 2012 by the Children's Choirs of St. Vladimir's Seminary—directed by Danielle Miller, with accompanist Jnanayoga Gross—here!
On Bright Thursday, April 19, 2012, St. Vladimir's Seminary community will be serving up a Fiesta Dinner with an authentic Hispanic flair to benefit the Hogar Rafael Ayau Orphanage in Guatemala. The dinner will include main courses of "arroz con pollo" (chicken) and "pernil" (pork) cooked up by our own Rafael Rivera, a native of the Dominican Republic and the ever smiling and effervescent Plant Manager at the seminary.
Proceeds from the dinner will help meet the travel expenses of a mission team from the seminary community, which will be in Guatemala May 31–June 7. The St. Vladimir's Mission Team will lend much-needed hands in moving the orphanage from "Zone 1," a crime-ridden and dangerous area of Guatemala City, to Hogar San Miquel, a new orphanage in the mountains outside of Guatemala City.
"This is the first ever mission team organized from St. Vladimir's Seminary," noted Chancellor/CEO Archpriest Chad Hatfield, "and our team members consist of Claudia Bazil, Mary Roth, Ian Jones, Seminarian Scott Miller, Dn. Andre Paez, Fr. David Wooten, and myself.
"I do hope the campus, chapel, and local communities support our team's efforts to aid the Hogar at this critical time," he continued. "So if folks have had their fill of ham, lamb, and kielbasa after the Paschal feast, I invite them to come join us for some Hispanic fare, and lots of fun, including guitar music and a taking a whack at a piñata; and, I want them to realize how greatly their eating dinner with us is helping children move from a place of danger to a safe, serene place in which to grow."
The cost of the Fiesta Dinner, which includes not only the main course but plenty of side dishes and dessert, is $30 for adults and $10 for children. The Fiesta Dinner will be held in the Boich Courtyard, near the chapel, from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m.
You may sign up and pay for the Fiesta Dinner online here.
Or you may send a check payable to "St. Vladimir's Seminary" at 575 Scarsdale Road, Yonkers, NY 10707, and note "HOGAR DINNER" in the memo line to indicate you are coming to the dinner.
If you cannot be at the Fiesta Dinner but would like to support the St. Vladimir's Mission Team, please push the "DONATE NOW" button at the top of our Home Page and fill in the required information under "One Time Gift"; under "Donation Information" on the 2nd page of the on-line form choose "2012 SVOTS Mission Trip to Guatemala" as the designation for the funds. Or you may send a check payable to "St. Vladimir's Seminary" at 575 Scarsdale Road, Yonkers, NY 10707, and note "HOGAR SVOTS Team" in the memo line.
Download a PDF flier here, and please share it with your friends.
Download a JPG flier here, and please share it with your friends.
