St Vladimir's Seminary was a big part of this year's Paideia Conference at Antiochian Village, as faculty, staff, and alumni joined discussions about the life of the mind, the creation of culture, and our life in Christ.

Around fifty Orthodox Christians convened for the conference, held May 29 through June 1, 2024. Paideia held its second annual event this year as a “society of Orthodox Christians drawing upon the riches of holy tradition to address issues of modern and postmodern thought and culture.”  Paideia comes from the ancient Greek word meaning “education” or “learning,” and most importantly “culture” as a whole.

Notable contributions from members of the seminary community included keynote addresses by St Vladimir’s Seminary President Fr Chad Hatfield and Alumnus Fr Thomas Soroka; talks were given by Professor Fr Bogdan Bucur; Alumnus and St Vladimir’s Seminary (SVS) Press Senior Editor Fr Ignatius Green; Alumnus and Assistant Professor of Literature Fr Anthony Gilbert; Associate Professor of Medicine Dn Sampson Ryan Nash; Alumnus Fr Alexander Earl; and SVS Press author Dr Edith Humphrey (read more about each paper and speaker here). Fr Chad was also named a co-convener of the Paideia Conference moving forward.

Listen to Fr Chad Hatfield’s Keynote Address

To learn more about the conference and register for future editions, visit the Paideia Society’s website: paideiasociety.org. 

Paideia was the first of two gatherings of theologians and scholars the seminary community participated in this June. The following week, from June 6 through 8, faculty and alumni joined the annual gathering of the OTSA.

Photos courtesy of the Paideia Society

Over the winter and spring months of 2024 one new bishop, five new priests, and five new deacons were added to St Vladimir’s Seminary’s student body and alumni fellowship. Together with ordinations and elevations occurring last fall and summer, twenty-four seminarians and alumni of St Vladimir’s Seminary were ordained to holy orders during Academic Year 2023–2024 and the summer preceding it; another three faculty/alumni were elevated in rank. Glory be to God!

We keep them all in prayer as they continue in their ministries. AXIOS!

HOLY EPISCOPATE

Bishop Nektarios (Papazafiropoulos; M.Div.,’99)
Jurisdiction: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA)
Consecration: 13 April 2024 Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York, NY
Current Ministry: Bishop of Diokleia, Archdiocese Chancellor

HOLY PRIESTHOOD

Priest Joshua Birdsall (M.Div. ’24)
Jurisdiction: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCANA)
Holy Priesthood: Ordained 7 January 2024 at St Mary’s Antiochian Orthodox Church, Brooklyn, NY

Priest Peter Ries (M.Div. ’24)
Jurisdiction: Orthodox Church in America (OCA)
Holy Priesthood: Ordained 30 March 2024 at Holy Myrrhbearers Orthodox Church, St Cloud, MN
 

Priest Giorgi Lomsadze (M.Div. ’24)
Jurisdiction: Orthodox Church in America (OCA)
Holy Priesthood: Ordained 13 April 2024 at St Athanasius Orthodox Church, Nicholasville, KY
 

Priest Gabriel Khoury (M.Div. ’22)
Jurisdiction: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Holy Priesthood: Ordained 24 March 2024 at St Ignatius Antiochian Orthodox Church, Franklin, TN
 

Hieromonk Jacob (Bogdan) Manga (M.Div. ’23)
Jurisdiction: Romanian Orthodox Metropolia of the Americas
Holy Priesthood: Ordained 16 June 2024 at St Dumitru Romanian Orthodox Monastery, Middletown, NY

HOLY DIACONATE

Deacon Richard Okello (M.Div. ’25)
Jurisdiction: Holy Diocese of Gulu and Northern Uganda, under the Archdiocese of Kampala of the Patriarchate of Alexandria
Holy Diaconate: Ordained 7 January 2024 at St Basil Orthodox Parish in Gulu, Uganda
 

Hierodeacon Stephen Guirgis (M.Div. ’25)
Jurisdiction: Orthodox Church in America (OCA)
Holy Diaconate: Ordained 30 January 2024 at Three Hierarchs Chapel, St Vladimir’s Seminary, Yonkers, NY
 

Hierodeacon Cyril Hanna (M.Div. ’25)
Jurisdiction: Orthodox Church in America (OCA)
Holy Diaconate: Ordained 22 April 2024 at Three Hierarchs Chapel, St Vladimir’s Seminary, Yonkers, NY
 

Deacon Mark Sultani (M.Div. ’23)
Jurisdiction: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCANA)
Holy Diaconate: Ordained 27 April 2024 at St George Orthodox Christian Cathedral, Wichita, KS
 

Deacon Justin Taylor (M.Div. ’25)
Jurisdiction: Orthodox Church in America (OCA)
Holy Diaconate: Ordained 19 May 2024 at Three Hierarchs Chapel, St Vladimir’s Seminary, Yonkers, NY

St Vladimir’s Seminary Alumnus Antwian (Anthony) Davis (‘19) has been experiencing and witnessing God's miraculous grace from a time beyond his own memories as a small child, and seemingly at every turn since: through the profound faith of his parents; in his journey from serious illness and near death in childhood to health and adulthood; from ordained Baptist minister to seminarian at St Vladimir's Seminary; and during his encounters with the sick, suffering, and incarcerated. In this episode of Voices from St Vladimir's Seminary on Ancient Faith Radio (AFR), Antwian shares powerful stories from his life and conversion to Orthodox Christianity—including why he's thankful to his Baptist parents, who he says "actually raised me to be Orthodox." Antwian, who currently serves as SVS Press Bookstore manager, also reveals his favorite Press books and announces the next stop in his grace-filled journey, this time away from St Vladimir's Seminary.

Listen Now on AFR

Photo: SVS Press Bookstore Manager Anthony (Antwian) Davis (M.Div. ‘19) is raised to the rank of reader at the seminary's Three Hierarchs Chapel on the Feast of Annunciation, March 25, 2023, by the hand of His Eminence Metropolitan Tikhon.

With faith in Christ and hope in the resurrection, we share news of the repose of Archpriest James Bernstein, an alumnus of St Vladimir’s Seminary. Fr James fell asleep in the Lord in the morning hours of June 17, 2024, surrounded by his family.

The Very Rev. A. James Bernstein was born in Lansing, MI on May 6, 1946, and was raised in a conservative Jewish family in Queens, NY. A teenage chess champion, Fr James had a dramatic conversion experience at the age of sixteen after reading the New Testament. His spiritual journey included a number of twists and turns: he was chapter president of Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship at Queens College, helped found the Jews for Jesus ministry in San Francisco, was a staff member of the Christian World Liberation Front in Berkeley, served as a pastor of an Evangelical Orthodox Church near Silicon Valley, and in the 1980s was received into the Eastern Orthodox Church. Fr James went on to attend St Vladimir’s Seminary and graduated with a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree in 1989. He was ordained to the holy priesthood the year prior.

Fr James’ priestly ministry took him to the state of Washington, where he was assigned pastor of St Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church in Brier. He served there for more than twenty-five years before retiring in 2017. During his parish ministry he also authored numerous works through Ancient Faith Publishing and was a contributor to the Orthodox Study Bible: New Testament and Psalms (Thomas Nelson, 1993).

Fr James is survived by his wife, Kh. Martha (Bonnie); children Kh. Heather (Fr David) Sommer, Holly Bernstein, Peter Bernstein, and Mary (James) Curry; grandchildren John (Audrey), Nicholas, Ephramia, Elizabeth, and Irene Sommer; Violet Bernstein; and Noah, Levi, Lina, and Sarah Curry.

Funeral information may be found on the Antiochian Archdiocese website, here.

May the memory of Archpriest James be eternal!

A section of this article was adapted from Ancient Faith Ministries’ website.

Photo: St Paul’s Antiochian Orthodox Church

By the grace of God, two members of the St Vladimir’s Seminary community were ordained as the most recent academic year came to a close.

On April 13, Dn Giorgi Lomsadze was ordained to the holy priesthood by His Eminence The Most Reverend Alexander, archbishop of the Diocese of the Dallas, the South, and the Bulgarian Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), at St Athanasius Orthodox Church in Nicholasville, KY. Fr Giorgi, who graduated from the seminary’s M.Div. program just a few weeks later, will now serve St Athanasius as associate priest.

The day following St Vladimir’s Seminary’s 2024 Commencement, OCA seminarian Justin Taylor joined the ranks of the holy diaconate. His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon ordained Dn Justin at the seminary’s Three Hierarchs Chapel on May 19. Dn Justin will begin his third year of studies in the M.Div. program next fall.

Fr Giorgi, who hails from the Republic of Georgia, holds a bachelor’s degree in Georgian philology from Tbilisi State University and a master’s degree in medieval studies from Ilia State University. He worked as a literature teacher in Tbilisi and at the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia before completing his studies at St Vladimir’s Seminary. Fr Giorgi and his wife Popodia Barbare are parents of a son, Gabriel, and two daughters, Eugenia and Dorothea.

Before joining the seminary, Dn Justin worked in the medical supply and logistics industry. He holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, with a minor in history, from Liberty University. Dn Justin and his wife Matushka Rachel have three sons: Theodore, Nikolai, and Rafael.

May God grant Fr Giorgi, Dn Justin, and their families many years!

Clean, safe water is finally on its way to a community suffering from severe drought in Gulu, Uganda, thanks to an initiative organized by St Vladimir’s seminarians this past spring.

Back in April, over 100 community members and friends of St Vladimir’s Seminary attended an in-person rendition of Patriarch Abraham, a theatrical performance staged by seminarians and faculty on campus. The seminarians directed proceeds from the performance toward the construction of a new well in Gulu, the hometown of their seminary classmate Dn Richard Okello (M.Div., ‘24) and his family. Dn Richard’s wife, young children, and his entire community had been suffering from severe water shortages and accompanying health hazards due to recent regional droughts. The seminarians also set up a GoFundMe page, and in total more than $6,000 was raised, ensuring immediate construction of the much-needed new well in Gulu could begin.

In June, and back in Uganda following his graduation from St Vladimir’s Seminary, Dn Richard shared updates with the seminary community about the well’s progress.

“Finally, we reached clean and safe water from deep underground after a long labor of three days,” wrote Dn Richard, who added that well installation was completed shortly after.

“My own words are not enough to appreciate all of you from [my] heart for this life-saving initiative and the discussions we had together with my fellow seminarians, faculty, brothers, and sisters, who worked and put extra effort to make this possible!” he continued. “May our Heavenly Father, the Almighty God, yield the desires of your heart. Your action has touched people thousands of miles from you. Your love has reached them!”

May God preserve and protect Dn Richard, his family, and his community, and may the Lord abundantly bless all those whose generosity and love brought much-needed help to them!