The audiobook version of How to Be a Sinner may be purchased at Amazon.com.
If you are interested in sponsoring an audiobook of your favorite SVS Press title, please contact us at media@svots.edu.
About How to Be a Sinner
We call ourselves “sinners” in much of our church life. Yet the sinner identity—when done right—brings peace of mind, a clear conscience, and love for others. Addressing topics like guilt, shame, and self-care, this compassionate guide will help you reflect on your life in surrender to God’s mercy. Written by an internationally recognized professor of Orthodox theology, this book will speak to you wherever you find yourself. This book is available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook, narrated by the author, Peter Bouteneff.
About the Orthodox Vision Foundation
The Orthodox Vision Foundation (OVF) continues the nearly five decades of the philanthropic vision begun by Charles and Marilee Ajalat in 1971. As a newly married couple, Charles and Marilee were driven by an unshakable belief in the power that the Historic, Orthodox Christian Church has to transform people’s lives, and indeed the world. It was then that they committed to a lifelong pursuit to do what they could to implement that belief. The Orthodox Vision Foundation was created at the beginning of this century to formalize and maximize their ability to continue to scale that belief and create real impact on a national and international level.
OVF funds a broad range of issues and organizations that tackle everything from feeding and equipping the homeless and working poor, to spreading the Orthodox Church’s worldview, to church governance and policy issues, to ongoing education for our clergy and lay leaders, and launching new ministries.
The Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) program at St. Vladimir's Seminary is recruiting a new batch of ordained and lay ministers to complete the degree program together, starting in the summer of 2022.
Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) is pleased to announce the hiring of noted scholar Dr. Michael C. Legaspi.
“Dr. Legaspi is a biblical scholar of worldwide renown, a gifted teacher, thoughtful mentor, and dedicated servant of Christ and His Church,” said SVOTS Academic Dean Dr. Ionuț-Alexandru Tudorie.
“With this addition of a new full-time professor of Old Testament, following similarly successful searches in liturgical theology and patristics, the process of rejuvenating and strengthening the faculty of St. Vladimir’s Seminary has passed a decisive milestone. We are now in a better position to serve the Church by teaching and forming our seminarians.”
After a long and labor-intensive search process, the Seminary received applications from a large number of well-qualified candidates for the biblical studies position. A search committee comprised of Seminary faculty invited three of the candidates, including Legaspi, to campus for a full round of interviews and public lectures. The on-campus visits yielded valuable information about their suitability for the faculty position, and the qualifications of the candidates were also evaluated by an external advisory board of three exceptional scholars in the field of biblical studies from the United States and Europe. Important feedback was also sought from the Seminary’s student body and staff before the search committee recommended, and the SVOTS Board of Trustees confirmed, Dr. Legaspi as professor of Biblical Studies (Old Testament).
“I am deeply grateful and excited to begin, as opportunities to serve the Orthodox churches in an academic capacity do not come along often,” said Legaspi.
“At St. Vladimir’s, I hope to play a useful role in preparing clergy and church leaders for ministry in a world that, by and large, remains ignorant of Orthodoxy. I am eager to help seminarians understand how Orthodoxy relates to the study of the Bible in the wider academic world. As a member of SVOTS faculty, I will enjoy learning from colleagues at the Seminary, and I will work hard to produce and promote scholarship that is both faithful to the Tradition and consequential within the broader world of biblical studies.”
Michael Legaspi, Ph.D., joins the Seminary from Phillips Academy in Andover, MA where he has been teaching philosophy and religious studies. He also taught from 2014–2021 at Penn State University, where he was tenured as associate professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies and Jewish Studies. Legaspi taught at Creighton University as assistant professor of theology from 2006-2010. A biblical scholar by training, Dr. Legaspi holds a master’s and doctoral degree in the Hebrew Bible from Harvard University and a B.A. in Near Eastern Studies from Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Legaspi has given talks at several national and international conferences, has been invited as a keynote speaker, and his published works have been widely cited by other scholars. He has authored The Death of Scripture and the Rise of Biblical Studies (Oxford University Press, 2010), Wisdom in Classical and Biblical Tradition (Oxford University Press, 2018), a commentary on the Book of Job (forthcoming from Eerdmans), and a number of academic articles.
Due to his most recent positions teaching in two states, Legaspi calls two parishes home: St. George Orthodox Church (Antiochian Archdiocese) in Altoona, PA, pastored by SVOTS Alumnus Fr. Isaac Danevicius, and St. Xenia Orthodox Church (ROCOR) in Methuen, MA.
Dr. Legaspi will begin teaching at St. Vladimir’s as a tenured associate professor in the fall semester of 2022.
The St. Vladimir's community celebrated a beautiful blessing this month as Eugenia, the daughter of Seminarian Giorgi Lomsadze and his wife Barbara Mindiashvili, was baptized in Three Hierarchs Chapel.
Giorgi, a seminarian from the Republic of Georgia, is in his first year studying in the Master of Arts program. He and Barbara are also parents of a son, Gabriel.
Seminary President Fr. Chad Hatfield presided over the baptism Thursday, February 3. Presbytera Nino Tskitishvili, whose husband Fr. Giorgi Tskitishvili graduated from St. Vladimir's Seminary in 2021, is Eugenia's godmother along with Hannah Vazquez. Hannah's husband William is a classmate of Giorgi's at St. Vladimir's.
May God grant the newly illumined Eugenia and her family many years!
Archbishop Elpidophoros with Archimandrite Nektarios (right). Photo: goarch.org
Saint Vladimir's Seminary Alumnus The Very Rev. Archimandrite Nektarios Papazafiropoulos has been appointed chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA). His Eminence, Elpidophoros, the archbishop of America, announced that Fr. Nektarios would assume the position of chancellor March 1.
Archimandrite Nektarios was born in Jersey City, NJ and grew up in Astoria, NY, raised by devout Christian immigrant parents who emphasized his Orthodox faith. Upon completing Long Island City High School, he enrolled at Polytechnic University to study electrical engineering, completed his Bachelor’s Degree in electrical engineering in 1985, and subsequently his Master’s Degree in the same field. He spent the next ten years in the industry.
Having received the calling to serve the Church, he enrolled in the Master of Divinity program at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. Upon completing those studies in 1999, he went to Greece to prepare for ordination in 2001.
In June of 2002 he was tonsured a monk and given the name Nektarios, and immediately after was ordained to the diaconate by Metropolitan Daniel of Kaissariani, Byronos and Ymittou, in Athens. He was made archdeacon and served in the position for a year. On January 18, 2004, he was ordained to the priesthood, bestowed the offikion of archimandrite, and was assigned to the Church of the Holy Trinity in Byrona. Upon the election of Metropolitan Pavlos of the Metropolis of Kozani in 2004 (the Metropolitan was a former proïstamenos of his parish in Astoria), Archimandrite Nektarios asked permission to go and serve with him. He was then assigned as proïstamenos to the Church of Ss. Constantine and Helen in Kozani. In 2005, he was assigned the position of vicar general of the Metropolis and served in Kozani up to 2008.
At the direction of Archbishop of America Demetrios, Fr. Nektarios was invited to return to the United States in 2008 and served at St. Nicholas Church Greek Orthodox in West Babylon, NY until 2012. He was then assigned as the proïstamenos of St. Demetrios Cathedral in Astoria, where he has served since. In 2019, Archimandrite Nektarios was appointed by His Eminence, Archbishop Elpidophoros of America as one of the five vicars in the Archdiocesan District, and he also serves as the spiritual advisor to the Archdiocesan District Philoptochos.
Philip and Kristiana, along with their three children Irene (7), Simon (2), and Miriam (2 months), are preparing to travel to the city of Medan through the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC). There Philip will lecture at the St. Paul Theological School and teach youth at local Orthodox schools under His Eminence, Metropolitan Konstantinos of Singapore.
"Having OCMC missionaries on the ground will greatly contribute to the efforts of the growing Church in Indonesia," read a statement about the McClanahan family from OCMC. "His education and skills will make him a great asset for the St. Paul Theological School in Medan and the local Church."
The McClanahans will become the first missionaries sent by OCMC to Indonesia.
"Before I was Orthodox I did some mission work in the Middle East," Philip said in an interview during his studies at St. Vladimir's. "Then I went on a long spiritual quest and entered into Orthodoxy in 2010.
"When I met my wife one of the things we had in common was an interest in missions. We even contacted OCMC prior to coming to seminary. So it’s been a number of years in the making."
The McClanahans plan to move to Medan as soon as they've raised the support they’ll need for their service. To support and follow their missionary ministry, visit the OCMC webpage for the family.
May God abundantly bless and guide the McClanahans in their ministry, and May He grant them many years!
The St. Vladimir's Seminary community bid a fond, bittersweet farewell to Chief Financial Officer Melanie Ringa on Monday. Melanie, a longtime member of Seminary staff, officially retired January 31.
"We will miss Melanie profoundly at St. Vladimir's," said Seminary President Fr. Chad Hatfield. "It is no exaggeration to say that her passion to serve the Church and Seminary shone brightly each and every day in her work.
"Her diligence, skill, and care were vitally important to St. Vladimir's. She guided the financial health of the Seminary with stable hands throughout her fifteen years here, getting us through challenges whenever they arose."
Melanie, a certified public accountant, graduated from the University of Scranton with a bachelor's degree in accounting. She worked in public accounting in New York City for several years and almost twenty years as CFO of an ethanol company in Connecticut before coming to work at St. Vladimir's in 2007. By God's grace, it was a dream fulfilled for Melanie. She shared with colleagues at her farewell gathering that she knew she would someday work at St. Vladimir's, after setting foot on campus years earlier to take a class from Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko (+2015). For many of her years at St. Vladimir's she also served simultaneously as treasurer of the Orthodox Church in America.
Melanie cared deeply for the seminarians at St. Vladimir's, and would open her office doors at a moment's notice whenever a student needed to talk about financial aid or any other issue.
Outside of work, she sings in church choirs and frequently directs them. Melanie lent her beautiful alto voice to Seminary choirs often during liturgical services. She also enjoys running and is an avid supporter of her beloved Penn State football—she holds season tickets to this day!
The seminarians, faculty, and staff of St. Vladimir's wish Melanie a blessed, well-deserved retirement. May God grant her and her husband, Chuck, many years!
In celebration of the Feast of the Three Hierarchs Sunday—the patrons of the Seminary chapel—the community of St. Vladimir's Seminary gathered together for Divine Liturgy and the 39th Annual Father Alexander Schmemann Memorial Lecture.
His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon presided over Divine Liturgy Sunday morning at Three Hierarchs Chapel. His Beatitude offered beautiful remarks for the occasion, drawing on metaphors of song and instruments:
And, indeed, throughout the service to the Three Hierarchs, these great teachers of the Church are compared to instruments: to panpipes or flutes, to lyres or harps .... The three saints we celebrate today contribute different, but harmonious, sounds to the music of theology. And this image of theology, and of Christian life, as harmonious music is an image of perennial—and indeed, eternal—significance. The service of the three saints teaches us that we Christians, across space and time, have no higher purpose than to contribute our harmonious notes to the great music of God. The Christian who desires to imitate these three great saints must allow himself to be played by the Spirit as a supple, obedient instrument, in harmony with all the music of past ages, and in harmony with his fellow-faithful in his own time. God is able to raise up stones as sons of Abraham, but instead He has chosen each of us to make a humble but irreplicable contribution to His great music.
On Sunday evening the Seminary community gathered again, this time in the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium for the Father Alexander Schmemann Memorial Lecture. Another five hundred people from around the country and abroad signed up to watch the lecture online. This year's lecture was delivered by The Rev. Dr. Khaled Anatolios, the John A. O'Brien Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.
"The significance of this event is for me deeply personal," Fr Khaled began in the introduction to his lecture. "Though I never met Fr. Alexander Schmemann in person, his writings have had so great an impact on me over the years as to warrant my counting him as both a theological mentor and even, I would say, a spiritual father."
Father Khaled, a scholar of the early Church, went on to speak to “Salvation as Liturgy: Alexander Schmemann’s Liturgical Theology and the Renewal of the Joy of Salvation.” During his talk, as Fr. Khaled discussed the idea of "doxological contrition" and the correlation between joy and repentance as found in the theological vision of Schmemann.
"If we accept Fr. Schmemann's witness to the indispensability of Christian joy, then we have to recognize that the psalmist's prayer, 'Restore to me the joy of your salvation [ps. 50:12a LXX],' has already been fully answered in Christ our Savior," explained Fr. Khaled. "To confess Christ as savior is to partake of the joy of His resurrection and to disseminate that joy. But this is not a matter of superficial emotionality, but rather an effort of constant conversion. Christian joy is a repentance whose starting point and ending point is always the glory of the risen Christ."
The 39th Schmemann Lecture concluded with words of sincere gratitude to Fr. Khaled from Seminary President The Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield, who thanked Fr. Khaled for his "remarkable" and profound message to everyone listening.
A replay of the 39th Annual Father Alexander Schmemann Memorial Lecture is available to watch on the Seminary's YouTube channel.
