The Rev. Fr. Gregory Edwards, Ph.D., was raised in Virginia and eastern Pennsylvania, and became a member of the Orthodox Church while studying for his bachelor's degree in religious studies at Brown University. After completing a master's degree in New Testament and early Christianity at Florida State University, he conducted doctoral studies in Greece at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, graduating summa cum laude in 2012. Ordained in 2007, he served parishes in Thessaloniki and Volos for nine years. Fr. Gregory and his wife, Presvytera Pelagia, lived in Greece from 2006 to 2016, where their four children were born. Since March 2019, Fr. Gregory has served as Dean of Holy Trinity-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Birmingham, Alabama.

 

Educational Background

• A.B., Brown University, Religious Studies, 2003
• M.A., Florida State University, New Testament and Early Christianity, 2005
• Ph.D., Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Theology, 2012

Teaching Interests

Missiology, New Testament

Current Projects and Research Interests

Fr. Gregory is working on case studies of contemporary Orthodox missionary efforts in North America.

Recent Courses Taught at SVOTS

• PT570: Missiology (D.Min.)

Selected Publications

Editing and translations:

• Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon, The One and the Many: Studies on God, Man, the Church, and the World Today, edited by Fr. Gregory Edwards, Los Angeles: Sebastian Press, 2010.
• Christos Yannaras, The Meaning of Reality: Essays on Existence and Communion, Eros and History, edited by Fr. Gregory Edwards and Herman A. Middleton, Los Angeles and Athens: Sebastian Press and Indiktos, 2011.
• Nenad Milosevic, To Christ and the Church: The Eucharist as the All-Encompassing Mystery of the Church, translated by Fr. Gregory Edwards and Dushan Radosavljevic, Los Angeles: Sebastian Press, 2011.
•  Pantelis Kalaitzidis, Orthodoxy and Political Theology, translated by Fr. Gregory Edwards, Geneva: WCC Publications, 2012.
•  Pantelis Kalaitzidis (ed.), The Church and Eschatology, translated by Fr. Gregory Edwards, Geneva: WCC Publications, 2012 [forthcoming].
• Pantelis Kalaitzidis, “From the 'Return to the Fathers' to the Need for a Modern Orthodox Theology,” translated by Fr. Gregory Edwards, St Vladimir's Theological Quarterly, v. 54, n. 1 (2010), pp. 5-36.
• Pantelis Kalaitzidis, “Orthodoxy and Hellenism in Contemporary Greece,” translated by Fr. Gregory Edwards, St Vladimir's Theological Quarterly, v. 54, n. 3 & 4 (2010), pp. 365-420.
• Pantelis Kalaitzidis, “Christians in the Middle East: Building Bridges between East and West, Old and New,” translated by Fr. Gregory Edwards, The Ecumenical Review, v. 64, n. 1 (March 2012), pp. 61-68.
• Christos Karakolis, “Church and Nation in the New Testament: The Formation of the Pauline Communities,” translated by Fr. Gregory Edwards, St Vladimir's Theological Quarterly, v. 57, n. 3 & 4 (2013), pp. 361-380.
• Grigorios D. Papathomas, “Ethno-Phyletism and the [So-called] Ecclesial ‘Diaspora’,” translated by Fr. Gregory Edwards, St Vladimir's Theological Quarterly, v. 57, n. 3 & 4 (2013), pp. 431-450.
• Metropolitan John Zizioulas of Pergamon, “Primacy and Nationalism,” translated by Fr. Gregory Edwards, St Vladimir's Theological Quarterly, v. 57, n. 3 & 4 (2013), pp. 451-460.
• Athanasios N. Papathanasiou, “Signs of National Socialism in the Greek Church?”, translated by Fr. Gregory Edwards, St Vladimir's Theological Quarterly, v. 57, n. 3 & 4 (2013), pp. 461-478.
• Pantelis Kalaitzidis, “Ecclesiology and Globalization: In Search of an Ecclesiological Paradigm in the Era of Globalization (After the Previous Paradigms of the Local, Imperial, and National),” translated by Fr. Gregory Edwards, St Vladimir's Theological Quarterly, v. 57, n. 3 & 4 (2013), pp. 479-502.

Recent Conference Presentations and Activities

•  “Chariots of the Soul and Garments of Skin: Platonic and Biblical Imagery in Gregory of Nyssa's On the Soul and the Resurrection.” Presented at The First Annual Archbishop Iakovos Graduate Student Colloquium of Patristic Studies, 15-16 April 2005, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline, MA.
• “The Parable of the Elder Son: Patristic Perspectives on Judaism in Luke 15:11-32.” Presented at The Second Annual Archbishop Iakovos Graduate Student Colloquium of Patristic Studies, 23-25 March 2006, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline, MA.
• “The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat: The Contest for Christian and Jewish Identity in Martyrdom Literature.” Presented at The Fourth Annual Archbishop Iakovos Graduate Student Colloquium of Patristic Studies, 17-19 April 2008, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline, MA.
• “Local Leadership in the Pauline Communities: Rereading 1Clement.” Presented at The Fifth Annual Archbishop Iakovos Graduate Student Colloquium of Patristic Studies, 19-21 March 2009, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline, MA.
• “The Charisma of Administration (1Cor 12:28): Leadership in the Pauline Communities and Its Interpretation.” Presented at The Sixth Annual Archbishop Iakovos Graduate Student Colloquium of Patristic Studies, 11-13 March 2010, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline, MA.
• “Ministry and Church Structure in Eastern Orthodox Perspective: Metropolitan John Zizioulas's Contribution to the Study of the Pauline Literature.” Presented at The Seventh Annual Archbishop Iakovos Graduate Student Colloquium of Patristic Studies, 10-12 March 2011, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline, MA.
• “Theology of Mission in the Work of N. Nissiotis.” Presented at Theological Portraits, No. 2 in a Series of Theological Conferences: Nikos Nissiotis, Orthodoxy’s Ecumenical Theologian, 6 April 2013, The Volos Academy for Theological Studies, Volos, Greece.
• “Ecclesiastical Music and Mission.” Presented at the First International Interdisciplinary Musicological Conference: The Psaltic Art as an Autonomous Science. Scientific Branches, Related Scientific Fields, Interdisciplinary Collaborations and Interaction. 29 June-3 July 2014, The Volos Academy for Theological Studies: Department of Psaltic Art and Musicology, Volos, Greece.
• “Orthodox Mission, the Ecclesiastical Arts, and Peace Among Peoples.” Presented at the Third St Petersburg International Cultural Forum. 7-9 December 2014, hosted by the Russian Federation, St Petersburg, Russia.
• “Contextual Understandings of the Gospel: A Comparison of Mission in the U.S. and Greece.” Presented at the Third Orthodox-Evangelical Consultation of Senior Leaders: The Gospel as Good News. 1-5 September 2015, hosted by the Lausanne-Orthodox Initiative, Sophia Cultural Center, Helsinki, Finland.
•  “Orthodox Christian Witness for the Third Millenium: Improving the Mission Document.” Presented at the Eighth International Conference of Orthodox Theology. 21-25 May 2018, hosted by the Faculty of Theology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.