The Very Rev. David Barr, President of the SVS Alumni Association, presents a gift to Archpriest Paul Lazor, honoree at the 5th Annual Alumni reunion held on the seminary campus from October 21–23, 2008.

Thirty-six  alumni of St. Vladimir’s Seminary honored Archpriest Paul Lazor and the classes of ‘58 and ‘83 during the 5th Annual Alumni Reunion held October 21–23, 2008 on the seminary campus. 

The Very Rev. David Barr, Alumni Association President, lauded Fr. Paul, recently retired Associate Dean for Student Affairs at SVS, as “a man who loves the Church and loves the altar” and “as a man who loves the students” in his introductory remarks. Fr. David noted that the Alumni Association had chosen Fr. Paul as this year’s honoree because of his reputation as a parish priest, instructor, dean of students, and retreat speaker, and in recognition of his 30 years of full-time service to the seminary.

In his remarks to the alumni at a ceremonial banquet, Fr. Paul centered his talk around a verse from I Corinthian 4.7, “What do you have that you did not receive?,” and enumerated the myriad blessings bestowed upon him following his decision not only to attend but also to persevere at St. Vladimir’s, first as a student and then as a faculty member and dean.

Fr. Paul recalled the “turning point” early on in his life as a seminarian: a realization that seminary education was not simply a training ground for priestly duties, but rather a surrender of his life and will to Jesus Christ. He also specified the elements of seminary life that shaped him spiritually, including daily participation in matins and vespers; formal and systematic teaching about the Orthodox faith by excellent professors; the presence in the seminary community of prayerful people; personal prayer and study; dutiful performance of community service assignments that enriched and deepened his experience; development of a close knit spiritual connection with fellow seminarians; and participation in three seminary “Octets,” the mission-minded choral groups made up of eight seminarians that traveled during their semester breaks.

(from left) Seminarians Dn. Peter Robichau and Troyen Hamilton joined Fr. John Erickson in presenting “SVS goes to Africa!”—a program about their recent and varied missionary experiences on that continent—to the St. Vladimir’s community.

“Things that you read about in the New Testament and in the lives of the saints are happening in Africa today,” observed The Very Rev. John Erickson, as he began a lively presentation entitled “SVS goes to Africa!” to the St. Vladimir’s community on October 15, 2008.

Fr. John, who is the Peter N. Gramowich Professor of Church History at SVS, along with two seminarians—second-year M.Div. student The Rev. Dn. Peter Robichau and third-year M.Div. student Troyen Hamilton—related their missionary experiences in the African continent during the summer of 2008, under the auspices of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), the official international missions agency of the Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops in America (SCOBA).

Fr. John served for five weeks in Tanzania during the Paschal season as an OCMC “mission specialist.” His first days were spent serving with His Eminence Jeronymos, Metropolitan of Western Tanzania, during the last days of Holy Week (in the archbishop’s new headquarters in the city of Mwanza) and Pascha (in a remote village about four hours to the south). Fr. John then spent most of his time working at an Orthodox seminary in the village of Kisikizi, where he “enjoyed the daily rhythm of services and classes, and the simplicity of life without electricity and running water.”