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 In the new curriculum the task of preparing students for pastoral ministry is
divided into three distinct, but interrelated, areas. These areas are the three
pillars upon which education for ministry at St Vladimir’s Seminary is
established:
- Academic Study
- Liturgical Practice
- Pastoral Education
Academic Study
The primary purpose of the seminary’s ministerial program is to prepare
clergy and laity to serve the Orthodox faithful and promote study in Orthodox
theology. St Vladimir’s has long believed that this purpose is best achieved
when students are trained to appropriate the Orthodox tradition critically and
integrate different aspects of the tradition holistically, and are able to continue
the process on their own. The seminary’s commitment to ongoing critical
appropriation and holistic integration is strengthened in the new curriculum
in a variety of ways.
Another important point of emphasis in the new curriculum is effective communication.
Although success in an academic institution is traditionally measured in terms
of academic performance, it is the seminary’s conviction that successful
students are able to communicate their knowledge in a variety of media, bearing
witness to the gospel as understood in the tradition of the Orthodox Church.
Seminary graduates must be able to communicate the gospel in a powerful way both
in writing (print and internet media), and verbally. They also need to address,
in a pastorally sensitive way, such issues as Orthodox unity, authority in the
Church, ethical conundrums, and ecumenical and inter-religious activity. The
new curriculum puts a greater emphasis on training students to communicate effectively
by providing more opportunities to practice their rhetorical, pedagogical, conversational,
and literary skills.
Finally, in lieu of teaching a specific course of ethics, in the new curriculum
ethics will be fully integrated into every course.
Liturgical Practice
Worship is at the heart of seminary life, and by it the student is also fed,
enriched, challenged, and instructed in chapel. As important as academic achievement
is, it cannot be separated from worship. Fr Alexander Schmemann, dean from 1962
to 1983, was fond of saying that the student should only know three paths: to
the classroom, to the library, and to the chapel. The daily worship of God is
the context that gives meaning to both academic and communal life. The experience
of daily worship shapes the student and is the cornerstone of spiritual formation.
All students attend daily chapel worship. In addition, since music and liturgics
are integral to Orthodox corporate prayer life, a seminary education must offer
all students—regardless of their respective talents—dedicated training
in both musical and rubrical dimensions of worship.
The new curriculum takes full account of each jurisdiction’s requirements
for the education of its students in music and rubrics but does so in a manner
that is equitable with students from other jurisdictions. It standardizes course
material and establishes clear guidelines for the evaluation of student performance.
The new curriculum distinguishes between three forms of liturgical music activity:
the training of clergy in the musical components of liturgical service; through
the M.A. program in liturgical music, the training of liturgical music leaders,
especially choir directors, to advance liturgical music as a vital church ministry;
and performance of the musical elements of worship in chapel. Ideally, the musical
experience of the seminary chapel should agree with, extend, and elaborate on
what is taught in the classroom (and, from another point of view, the classroom
should not contradict the chapel). In other words, students need to experience
liturgically what they are learning in the classroom and allow that experience
further to shape and add insight into their studies. Therefore, the new curriculum
envisions a system of musical participation that relies on assigning students
to choral ensembles as a required component of their seminary education.
As well, the new curriculum proposes a new program for training students in the
discipline of liturgics. Students will be trained in the theory and practice
of the Divine Liturgy and the daily, festal, and seasonal cycle of services from
the first semester, thus providing the necessary framework for understanding
and learning liturgical movement, prescribed actions, and patterns of the liturgical
office. It is expected that this liturgical framework, together with daily participation
in the cycle of services, will prepare students not only to achieve course objectives
in other liturgics classes but also to serve competently and with dignity in
their parish ministry.
Finally, in the new curriculum, instruction in teaching and preaching is designed
to encourage proficiency on the part of students, rather than minimal achievement.
Although teaching and preaching are not formally disciplines of liturgical practice,
the goals and format of instruction for these subjects will be the same as for
training in music and rubrics.
Pastoral Education
The new curriculum considers pastoral education to be more than just one of the
pillars upon which education for ministry is established. It also ensures that
the pastoral imperative is at the heart of the core academic courses of all the
degree programs. This reflects the conviction of the faculty that the discipline
of theology is holistic—that theology is simultaneously academic and pastoral.
A theology that is purely academic and abstract becomes disconnected from the
living reality of the Church. Pastoral practice uninformed by the theological
tradition of the Church inevitably devolves into formalism or ritualism. Students
will learn and practice their pastoral skills informed by the theological tradition
in two major ways: in their parish assignments and in hospital visitation.
In their weekend parish assignments, students will benefit from increased pastoral
mentorship of local, seasoned priests from all jurisdictions. These pastoral
mentors will ensure that the network of teachers is broader than our own faculty.
Students under the mentorship of theses parish priests will follow a coherent
and meaningful program of assignments intended to expose them to the diverse
aspects of parish life (preaching, teaching, council meetings, the full range
of services and ministry to parishioners). The seminary hopes that students will
be able to spend one year in a parish of their own jurisdiction and a second
in another jurisdiction, in the conviction that graduates who know, from the
inside, the variety of Orthodox experience in this country will better serve
the cause of Orthodox unity.
The seminary believes that hospital ministry provides the best opportunity for
students to learn, use, and refine their pastoral skills in a structured setting.
Sick persons in a hospital do not need someone to “play priest.” Rather,
they need other human beings, whether lay or ordained, who are able to minister
to their needs in a loving way, bearing the gospel in the quality of their care.
The skills learned in the hospital are the same ones needed to communicate effectively
in any parish setting, thus well preparing the students to fulfill their vocation
after graduation. The new curriculum reaffirms the central role of hospital ministry
in the students’ pastoral education by retaining the degree requirement
to complete 80 hours of hospital ministry in the second year of the M.Div. program
under the supervision of specially-trained hospital chaplains.
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