god and spiritual

Listen, Witness, and Weep: What Can the Church Offer Service Men and Women?

Dr. Stephen Muse speaks at the St. Vladimir’s Seminary 2011 Orthodox Education Day.




god and spiritual

Meeting the Crucified Christ in Sierra Leone

There is no "Missionary's Handbook" for post-war countries such as Sierra Leone. But Orthodox Christian missionary Fr. Themi (Adamopoulo) is writing one from scratch as he meets the challenge of spreading the Good News in West Africa.




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Realities of Life in Orthodox Christian Mission Churches

Fr. John Parker, the new chairman of the OCA's Department of Evangelization, describes how his parish, Holy Ascension Orthodox Church in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, went from having a handful of believers to being a lively and growing body of Christ.




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Great Lent: Gift of God in Christ: Part 1

Touching upon all the gifts that the season of Great Lent offers for spiritual growth, Fr. John Behr, Dean of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, delivers four reflections on the emergence of life through suffering, brokenness, and death. With astute attention to the teachings of Scripture and the Fathers, Fr. John centers on the necessity of dying for true life in Christ—life eternal—to emerge.




god and spiritual

Great Lent: Gift of God in Christ: Part 2

Touching upon all the gifts that the season of Great Lent offers for spiritual growth, Fr. John Behr, Dean of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, delivers four reflections on the emergence of life through suffering, brokenness, and death. With astute attention to the teachings of Scripture and the Fathers, Fr. John centers on the necessity of dying for true life in Christ—life eternal—to emerge.




god and spiritual

Great Lent: Gift of God in Christ: Part 3

Touching upon all the gifts that the season of Great Lent offers for spiritual growth, Fr. John Behr, Dean of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, delivers four reflections on the emergence of life through suffering, brokenness, and death. With astute attention to the teachings of Scripture and the Fathers, Fr. John centers on the necessity of dying for true life in Christ—life eternal—to emerge.




god and spiritual

Great Lent: Gift of God in Christ: Part 4

Touching upon all the gifts that the season of Great Lent offers for spiritual growth, Fr. John Behr, Dean of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, delivers four reflections on the emergence of life through suffering, brokenness, and death. With astute attention to the teachings of Scripture and the Fathers, Fr. John centers on the necessity of dying for true life in Christ—life eternal—to emerge.




god and spiritual

Reading the Fathers Today

The Very Rev. Dr. John Behr, Dean of St. Vladimir'’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, delivers the annual Father Georges Florovsky Lecture, Friday, September 21, 2012, on the seminary campus. Father John's presentation, titled "“Reading the Fathers Today,"” addresses the meaning of “theology” and its study within an academic context.




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St. Ambrose Society

Ian Jones, a graduate of St. Vladimir's Seminary and a doctoral candidate at Fordham University, speaks to the St. Ambrose Society, the pro-life group at St. Vlad's, following a screening of the film It's a Girl, which is about sex-selection abortion.




god and spiritual

Constantine, Eusebius, and the Future of Christianity

Princeton University's Philip and Beulah Rollins Professor of History Emeritus Dr. Peter Brown presented the 30th Annual Father Alexander Schmemann Memorial Lecture to a standing room only crowd in the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium of the John G. Rangos Family Building at St. Vladimir's Seminary.




god and spiritual

Mary, Mysteries, and Mission

At the annual Lenten Retreat for SVOTS Seminarians, Fr. Chad Hatfield, the Chancellor of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, discusses three assured paths to spiritual renewal as we participate in the Great Fast: Mary and the Incarnation, the Mysteries of Baptism and the Eucharist, and our vocation to Mission. This is part one of four forthcoming presentations.




god and spiritual

Mary, Mysteries, and Mission: Part Two

At the annual Lenten Retreat for SVOTS Seminarians, Fr. Chad Hatfield, the Chancellor of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, discusses three assured paths to spiritual renewal as we participate in the Great Fast: Mary and the Incarnation, the Mysteries of Baptism and the Eucharist, and our vocation to Mission. This is part two of four presentations.




god and spiritual

Mary, Mysteries, and Mission: Part Three

At the annual Lenten Retreat for SVOTS Seminarians, Fr. Chad Hatfield, the Chancellor of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, discusses three assured paths to spiritual renewal as we participate in the Great Fast: Mary and the Incarnation, the Mysteries of Baptism and the Eucharist, and our vocation to Mission. This is part three of four presentations.




god and spiritual

Mary, Mysteries, and Mission: Part Four

At the annual Lenten Retreat for SVOTS Seminarians, Fr. Chad Hatfield, the Chancellor of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, discusses three assured paths to spiritual renewal as we participate in the Great Fast: Mary and the Incarnation, the Mysteries of Baptism and the Eucharist, and our vocation to Mission. This is part four of four presentations.




god and spiritual

Commencement 2013

The Rev. Dr. Sarah Fogg, Director of Pastoral Care at St. John's Riverside Hospital in Yonkers, New York, delivers the commencement address to the SVOTS Class of 2013.




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Chancellor Addresses Poverty Conference at SVOTS

Fr. Chad Hatfield, Chancellor and CEO of St. Vladimir's Seminary, explains the reasoning behind the school's upcoming conference on poverty.




god and spiritual

Poverty Conference One

Discovery Institute Senior Fellow and noted author Jay Richards was the keynote speaker at the Conference on Poverty, May 31 - June 1, 2013, at St. Vladimir's Seminary. Co-hosted by the Acton Institute, the event featured speakers from diverse backgrounds and disciplines who offered fresh ideas for Orthodox Christians on how to effectively minister to the poor. Other speakers and panelists included Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, St. Vlad's alumnus and officer in the National Council of Churches; Seminary Trustee Dr. Nicholas Pandelidis; Fr Philip LeMasters, Dean of Social Sciences and Religion at McMurry University in Abilene, TX; Michael Miller of the Poverty Cure at Acton; John Couretas of Acton; and director of FOCUS North America in Pittsburgh, Subdeacon Paul Abernathy.




god and spiritual

Poverty Conference Two

Discovery Institute Senior Fellow and noted author Jay Richards was the keynote speaker at the Conference on Poverty, May 31 - June 1, 2013, at St. Vladimir's Seminary. Co-hosted by the Acton Institute, the event featured speakers from diverse backgrounds and disciplines who offered fresh ideas for Orthodox Christians on how to effectively minister to the poor. Other speakers and panelists included Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, St. Vlad's alumnus and officer in the National Council of Churches; Seminary Trustee Dr. Nicholas Pandelidis; Fr Philip LeMasters, Dean of Social Sciences and Religion at McMurry University in Abilene, TX; Michael Miller of the Poverty Cure at Acton; John Couretas of Acton; and director of FOCUS North America in Pittsburgh, Subdeacon Paul Abernathy.




god and spiritual

Poverty Conference Three

Discovery Institute Senior Fellow and noted author Jay Richards was the keynote speaker at the Conference on Poverty, May 31 - June 1, 2013, at St. Vladimir's Seminary. Co-hosted by the Acton Institute, the event featured speakers from diverse backgrounds and disciplines who offered fresh ideas for Orthodox Christians on how to effectively minister to the poor. Other speakers and panelists included Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, St. Vlad's alumnus and officer in the National Council of Churches; Seminary Trustee Dr. Nicholas Pandelidis; Fr Philip LeMasters, Dean of Social Sciences and Religion at McMurry University in Abilene, TX; Michael Miller of the Poverty Cure at Acton; John Couretas of Acton; and director of FOCUS North America in Pittsburgh, Subdeacon Paul Abernathy.




god and spiritual

Poverty Conference Four

Discovery Institute Senior Fellow and noted author Jay Richards was the keynote speaker at the Conference on Poverty, May 31 - June 1, 2013, at St. Vladimir's Seminary. Co-hosted by the Acton Institute, the event featured speakers from diverse backgrounds and disciplines who offered fresh ideas for Orthodox Christians on how to effectively minister to the poor. Other speakers and panelists included Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, St. Vlad's alumnus and officer in the National Council of Churches; Seminary Trustee Dr. Nicholas Pandelidis; Fr Philip LeMasters, Dean of Social Sciences and Religion at McMurry University in Abilene, TX; Michael Miller of the Poverty Cure at Acton; John Couretas of Acton; and director of FOCUS North America in Pittsburgh, Subdeacon Paul Abernathy.




god and spiritual

The Truth of Nature

Dr. Bruce Foltz, a professor of Environmental Philosophy at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, delivers a talk titled “The Truth of Nature.” The occasion for this lecture was the ecclesiastical new year, which St. Vlad’s marked by gathering to offer praise and thanksgiving to God the Creator and to contemplate the many gifts He has bestowed.




god and spiritual

Does Christian Tradition Have a Future? Fr. John Meyendorff's Questions Revisited

The Very Rev. Dr. John H. Erickson, former seminary Dean (2002-2007), speaks at the first annual "Father John Meyendorff Memorial Lecture" at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary on September 15, 2013.




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75th Anniversary Gala - Part 1

On November 7, 2014, St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary celebrated its 75th Anniversary with a banquet at the Glen Island Harbor Club in New Rochelle, NY. Guest speakers included Fr. John McGuckin and Bishop Basil. Several surprise announcements were made and can be read about HERE. We've broken the evening into 3 segments. This is part 1.




god and spiritual

75th Anniversary Gala - Part 2

Part 2 of the 75th Anniversary Gala.




god and spiritual

75th Anniversary Gala - Part 3

Part 3 of the 75th Anniversary Gala.




god and spiritual

Ecclesiology and Nationalism in the Postmodern Era

Bobby Maddex interviews Dr. Paul Meyendorff, the Alexander Schmemann Professor of Liturgical Theology and the editor of the St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly journal, about a 2012 conference on Orthodox ecclesiology and nationalism that took place at the Volos Academy for Theological Studies, the papers from which have just been published in St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly.




god and spiritual

On the Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church

Fr. John McGuckin, professor of church history at Union Seminary, delivers the 2014 Fr. Alexander Schmemann Lecture.




god and spiritual

Archimandrite Zacharias Speaks about “Domestic Theology”

In a presentation centering on Christian identity, Archimandrite Zacharias, a monk of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist, Tolleshunt Knights by Maldon, Essex, England, inspired an audience of more than 100 people with what he termed "domestic theology," that is, "simple things, in Church life that bear profound consequences. Father Zacharias, a disciple of Father Sophrony (of blessed memory) who was a disciple of St. Silouan of Mount Athos, emphasized the importance of each Christian becoming a living temple of God, but in particular, priests.




god and spiritual

Preaching the Word of the Lord

Professor Herman Tristram Engelhardt, Jr., a professor of ethics at Rice and emeritus professor of medicine at Baylor University, delivers the St. Ambrose Society lecture on "Preaching the Word of the Lord: Being an Orthodox Christian in a Post-Christian Public Square.” The outline for Dr. Engelhardt's speech is attached here as a PDF.




god and spiritual

The Call of God: Part 1

Here is the first of Archpriest John Behr's four meditative talks to St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary's community during the first two days of Great Lent on the topics "Our Response to the Call of God," "Holding Our Tongue," and "Holding Our Mind." Father John, the Dean of St. Vladimir's, was this year's leader of the rigorous annual retreat that marks the beginning of the Great Fast for seminarians, faculty, and staff at St. Vladimir's.




god and spiritual

The Call of God: Part 2

Here is the second of Archpriest John Behr's four meditative talks to St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary's community during the first two days of Great Lent on the topics "Our Response to the Call of God," "Holding Our Tongue," and "Holding Our Mind." Father John, the Dean of St. Vladimir's, was this year's leader of the rigorous annual retreat that marks the beginning of the Great Fast for seminarians, faculty, and staff at St. Vladimir's




god and spiritual

The Call of God: Part 3

Here is the third of Archpriest John Behr's four meditative talks to St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary's community during the first two days of Great Lent on the topics "Our Response to the Call of God," "Holding Our Tongue," and "Holding Our Mind." Father John, the Dean of St. Vladimir's, was this year's leader of the rigorous annual retreat that marks the beginning of the Great Fast for seminarians, faculty, and staff at St. Vladimir's.




god and spiritual

The Call of God: Part 4

Here is the fourth of Archpriest John Behr's four meditative talks to St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary's community during the first two days of Great Lent on the topics "Our Response to the Call of God," "Holding Our Tongue," and "Holding Our Mind." Father John, the Dean of St. Vladimir's, was this year's leader of the rigorous annual retreat that marks the beginning of the Great Fast for seminarians, faculty, and staff at St. Vladimir's.




god and spiritual

Mayan Orthodoxy in Guatemala

Jesse Brandow, a longterm missionary with the Orthodox Christian Mission Center, talks about the Orthodox mission efforts in Guatemala.




god and spiritual

2014 Commencement

At its commencement exercises on Saturday, May 31, 2014, St. Vladimir's Seminary awarded diplomas in three programs to 21 graduates: four Master of Theology, eight Master of Divinity, and nine Master of Arts degrees. Among the graduates were five priests and one deacon, who will join the ranks of alumni clergy serving the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches in the U.S. and around the world. Archbishop Job (Getcha) gave the commencement address.




god and spiritual

Cosmic Liturgy and the Problems of Human Priesthood

One of the most important theologians working in the Orthodox Church today, Dr. Elizabeth Theokritoff recently lectured at St. Vladimir's Seminary on theological images describing human personhood and our role in creation.




god and spiritual

Force Your Mind to Descend into the Heart

Bishop Alexander of the Bulgarian Diocese of the OCA gave the Second Annual Meyendorff Lecture at SVOTS on September 14, 2014. The title of his lecture was "Force Your Mind to Descend into the Heart: Some Resemblances between Byzantine Hesychasm and Merkavah Mysticism."




god and spiritual

Orthodox Christian Laity Open Forum

Orthodox Christian Laity hosted an open forum at St. Vlad's on the work of the Episcopal Assembly. Speakers included Alexei Krindatch, Bishop Michael of New York and New Jersey, and Archbishop Nathaniel of the Romanian Episcopate.




god and spiritual

Missions Night 2014

On October 27, 2014, Fr. Nicholas Andruchow from Project Mexico was the Missions Night speaker at St. Vladimir's Seminary.




god and spiritual

Primacy in Preparation for the 2016 Great and Holy Council

Well-known theologian, composer, and author Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, Chairman of the Department of External Relations for the Moscow Patriarchate, delivered an academic address at St. Vlad's on November 8, 2014, on the topic of primacy in preparation for the 2016 Great and Holy Council. He was also given an honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree.




god and spiritual

Deaconesses

Archpriest Chad Hatfield, the chancellor of St. Vladimir's Seminary, interviews Fr. Lawrence Farley, author of the new St. Vladimir's Seminary Press book Feminism and Tradition: Quiet Reflections on Ordination and Communion, about deaconesses and the true extent of their role in Orthodox Church history. Enter discount code FT20 during checkout to receive a 20% discount on Fr. Farley's book.




god and spiritual

Commencement 2015

This year's commencement address was delivered by The Most Reverend Elia, Metropolitan of Oulu, Orthodox Church of Finland, the first St. Vladimir's Seminary graduate to be consecrated a bishop in Western Europe.




god and spiritual

Patriarch JOHN X of Antioch

Patriarch JOHN X of Antioch is awarded the degree Doctor of Divinity honoris causa at St. Vladimir's Seminary.




god and spiritual

Theology as a Hope for the Future of the Church

On Friday, September 11, 2015, the Board of Trustees and Faculty of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary bestowed a Doctor of Divinity degree, honoris causa, upon His Holiness Irinej (Gavrilovic), Archbishop of Peć, Metropolitan of Belgrade-Karlovci, and Patriarch of Serbia.




god and spiritual

Third Annual Father John Meyendorff Memorial Lecture

Dr. Predrag Matejić, the curator of the Hilandar Collection at Ohio State University, delivers the third annual Fr. John Meyendorff Memorial Lecture. Metropolitan Tikhon of the OCA and Metropolitan Joseph of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese were also given honorary doctor of divinity degrees at the convocation.




god and spiritual

Our Common Father: Saint Cyril

The Very Rev. Dr. John Anthony McGuckin, renowned author of 25 books, several of which are published by SVS Press, presented the keynote address at this year's Education Day at St. Vladimir's Seminary. Fr. John outlined a brief history of St. Cyril, highlighting the point that the Oriental and Eastern Orthodox traditions agree with much of the saint's theology.




god and spiritual

Our Common Saints: Hymns of Rome, Alexandria, Constantinople, and Sebaste

The St. Vladimir’s Seminary Octet, under the direction of Hierodeacon Herman (Majkrzak), presented a concert of liturgical music at this year’s Education Day at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. The program included hymns in celebration of saints venerated in both the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches.




god and spiritual

Women Disciples of the Lord: Part Five

Orthodox author, speaker, and AFR podcast host Frederica Mathewes-Green delivers a speech titled "Confessions of a Freelance Writer: Discerning God's Will in an Unpredictable Vocation."




god and spiritual

C.S. Lewis

Fr. Andrew Cuneo, the first Oxford University scholar ever to receive a doctoral degree on C.S. Lewis, and currently the founding priest of St. Katherine of Alexandria Orthodox Mission in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California, speaks about Christian themes in C.S. Lewis at the 2012 Orthodox Education Day.




god and spiritual

J.R.R. Tolkien

Dr. Christopher Mitchell, director of the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College, which houses a major research collection by and about seven British authors, including J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, speaks on Tolkien at the 2012 Orthodox Education Day.