Voices From St Vladimir's Seminary

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."

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Part 3 of the 75th Anniversary Gala.

Part 2 of the 75th Anniversary Gala.

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.