Grant White is an Orthodox layperson and a member of the Orthodox Church of Finland. A native of central Kansas, he has taught history of Christian liturgy, liturgical theology, historical theology, church history, patristics, Orthodox theology, history of the ecumenical movement, and history of Christian-Jewish relations in the United States, Finland, and the United Kingdom. He has served as Principal of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies in Cambridge, England, and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Filantropia, the international missions and development agency of the Orthodox Church of Finland. His interests include: Orthodox theology in the (post-)modern age, the work and legacy of Fr. Lev Gillet, art and spirituality in the modern world, Orthodox theological approaches and pastoral responses to suffering, and Orthodox-Evangelical dialogue. He and his family live in Turku, Finland.

 

Teaching Interests

• Liturgical Theology
• History of Liturgy
• Christian Spirituality
• History of Christian Spirituality

Current Projects and Research Interests

• Book-in-progress (co-authored with SVOTS faculty member Rev. Dr. J. Sergius Halvorsen): on journeying to faith in a world beyond modernity
• Article-in-progress: a theological reflection on meanings of "welcoming the stranger" in the context of Orthodox Christian liturgical life

Research interests

• The intersections of spirituality, art, and tradition in 20th-century and 21st-century art
• Liturgy and digital technology
• The concept of presence in the context of Christian liturgy, virtual reality, and religious uses of digital technologies
• The intersections of liturgical life and prophetic witness
• Contemporary Orthodox ecumenical engagement
• Theological anthropology
• Christian-Jewish relations
• Orthodox theological approaches to other world religions
• The interpretation of Scripture in the life of the Church
• Liturgy and mission
• Contemporary interpretations of catechesis and mystagogy in Orthodox practice today
• Oriental Orthodox liturgical and theological traditions
• Orthodoxy in the "west" in the 20th and 21st centuries
• constructions of Orthodox spirituality in modernity
• The work of Fr. Lev Gillet
• Forms of Orthodox theological education
• Orthodox liturgical renewal and revision
• Formation of an Orthodox vision of the baptismal vocation of all Christians
• Historical and contemporary uses of the idea of kenosis in Orthodox theology