Amber Bennett is a 27-year-old first-year student in the Master of Divinity program at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS). Bennett has wanted to be a missionary ever since she was a child. She and her family converted to Orthodoxy from a nondenominational background when she was 18 years old...

Saint Vladimir’s Seminarian Deacon Andrew Eskandar was born and raised in Egypt until the age of thirteen, when his parents decided to move with Dn. Andrew and his two sisters to America to offer their children a more stable future. Since then, Dn. Andrew has lived in Staten Island, NY...

Philip McClanahan is a third-year M.Div. student from the Antiochian Archdiocese. Philip and his wife, Kristiana, have a daughter, Irene, and a son, Simon. How has your seminary experience been since the pandemic started? When COVID really kicked in at the beginning of March [2020], it was obviously challenging for...

Donna Karabin, the Chairperson for the Orthodox Church in America's Department of Christian Service and Humanitarian Aid, came and spoke to the St. Juliana's Society on the evening of October 13, 2014. She introduced us to several resources (such as oca.org/resource-handbook ) and elucidated the plans the OCA has for...

By Robyn Bishop, wife of 2nd-year seminarian Ryan On Monday night the St. Vladimir's Women's Group got together to cook for the HOPE soup kitchen, a service of HOPE Community Services located in neighboring New Rochelle, NY. Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, also in New Rochelle, graciously let us use...

By Jillian Rettig, wife of 2nd-year seminarian Will "I am married too, to Christ," began Madre (Mother) Ivonne of the Hogar Rafael Ayau orphanage in Guatamala. Madre was visiting the seminary for a week in September, and on the evening of September 29, she presented her life and work to...

On September 22, the Women's Group at St. Vladimir's kicked off the 2014–2015 year with a campfire and s'mores. The casual and cozy event started at 7 pm with ladies coming and going over the course of the evening. Hosted on the lawn of Dn. Gregory and Mat. Robyn Hatrak's...

On Saturday August 7th, seminarians, children, spouses, faculty and staff worked together on a campus clean up. The clean-up part of a very hot day began at 9 a.m. outside the North Dorm where a crowd gathered to collect tools and receive instructions. The first task was laying new mulch...

The St. Juliana Society at St. Vladimir's plans a variety of events with a wide range of speakers who cover topics that have been suggested by former graduates and 2nd- and 3rd-year student wives. For one of our last meetings of the year on Monday evening, May 5, we greatly...

Dr. Peter Bouteneff During this year’s Orthodox Education Day at our seminary I moderated a panel discussion between two (Eastern) Orthodox professors and two Oriental (Non-Chalcedonian) professors. Although the estrangement between these two bodies has lasted since the middle of the fifth century, for the past five decades a dialogue...