Dr. Peter C. Bouteneff could certainly be described as a “Renaissance man.” He is a theologian, widely traveled speaker, successful author, conservatory-trained musician, Luminous Podcast host, and devoted husband and father, with a myriad of passions, interests, and achievements.
After taking a degree in music in 1983, he lived and worked in Japan and traveled widely in Asia and Greece. He then obtained an M.Div. from St. Vladimir’s Seminary and a doctorate from Oxford University, where he studied under Metropolitan Kallistos Ware. Dr. Bouteneff is now a long-serving and beloved faculty member at St. Vladimir’s Seminary, where he is Professor of Systematic Theology and Kulik Professor of Sacred Arts.
Professor Bouteneff’s productivity and achievements are testament to his diverse talents. He worked for many years in theological dialogue, notably as executive secretary for Faith and Order at the World Council of Churches. He conceived of and edits both the Foundations Series and the recently launched Sacred Arts Series for SVS Press. Among his numerous books, his pastoral/theological reflection, How to Be a Sinner, has long been an SVS Press bestseller, and his book, Arvo Pärt: Out of Silence, has been hailed as “a triumph,” “a game-changer,” and “a must-read for any listener or performer of Pärt's music.” He co-founded and directs the Arvo Pärt Project and is founding director of St. Vladimir’s Seminary’s Institute of Sacred Arts. He frequently finds himself traveling across North America and internationally, as an oft-requested and invited speaker at parish retreats, conferences, and symposia.
With each passing year, it seems Dr. Bouteneff’s importance to the Seminary only continues to grow. Following his appointment as Associate Dean for Institutional Mission & Engagement, he kindly set aside time for us to explore his fruitful history with the Seminary and his new role.
With Arvo Pärt, the world’s most performed living composer (Photo: Birgit Püve).
St. Vladimir's Seminary has been a part of your life since you were a child, right? Could you describe your history with the Seminary?
My connection with the seminary is … prehistoric. The old seminary chapel was one of the places I attended church in my childhood in the 1960s—we would alternate between there, the ROCOR Nyack parish, and another parish in upper Manhattan. The sermons of Frs. Schmemann and Meyendorff, and Dave Drillock’s choir, are part of my mental and spiritual soundtrack to this day!
I began as a seminarian in the fall of 1987, coming just after two years in Japan and travels through Asia and Greece, and I graduated with an M.Div. in 1990. Fr. Tom [Fr. Thomas Hopko] invited me to be his teaching assistant in 1993–94, and also asked Patricia—whom I married in 1992—to teach New Testament and Modern Greek. I was eventually invited to teach Dogmatic Theology from fall 2000 onwards, and I have been here ever since.
So the Seminary has been in and out of my life for as long as I can remember. As for my more than twenty-five years on the faculty, riding on the wings of my revered predecessors has been a great blessing–but especially in the early years it felt like a daunting task. For a long time I felt like I had these crazy-large shoes to fill. I still carry these teachers (and Metr. Kallistos) in my heart and soul—I quote them all the time—but I’ve been coming into my own here, especially in recent years. I am grateful for it all.
Dr. Bouteneff as a seminarian at St. Vladimir’s in the late 1980s.
The Bouteneffs were married at the Seminary’s Three Hierarchs Chapel in 1992.
Over these years you have been deeply involved with the multiple facets of the Seminary, in addition to teaching. Talk about your new role as Associate Dean for Institutional Mission and Engagement. How did the appointment come about?
Our dean, Alex Tudorie, is an astute and listening leader who likes to maximize people’s gifts. He observed that I was naturally filling certain roles here, such as liaising between faculty and staff, listening to where people are within the institution, and reaching out to our constituents in parishes and advancement settings. So he drafted a job description that capitalized on all of those. As a result, on top of my teaching and other responsibilities, I continue to deepen my involvement in the school’s inner life, at the same time speaking more to people whom we serve and people who currently support us or might in the future. All the while I’ll also be working to ensure that we’re doing what we promise in our mission.
The Seminary is in the very beginning stages of a strategic plan process, and I am working on that alongside trustees and colleagues. I was just providentially elected to the OCA’s Metropolitan Council. It’s another way for me to deepen relationships, serving the Church and our school.
Following commencement in 2024.
So much happening! What are Patricia and the rest of your family up to these days?
My wife, Patricia, stays very busy with Axia Women, which she founded and runs with an outstanding team of women across the Eastern and Oriental jurisdictions. Axia is a fabulous organization that lifts up and celebrates the many things women are doing in the Church—making them visible and showing that they matter. She also continues to make time to further her research into the folktales of the Pontic Greeks; her latest article comes out in December. (Our evening conversations are endlessly entertaining!)
Our son Michael turns 30 this year (cue whiplash sound effect). He is a professional stagehand and sound equipment tech, as well as a touring drummer. Our daughter Elizabeth is well into her fourth year in Daejeon, South Korea, where she has moved from teaching English to schoolchildren to teaching it to corporate professionals; she is about to finish top of her class in the highest level course in Korean language offered at the university level, which will open an array of opportunities for her.
Dr. Peter and Patricia with their daughter, Elizabeth, in South Korea.
The Bouteneff Family: Patricia, Elizabeth, Dr. Peter, and Michael.
You're so firmly part of the fabric of St. Vladimir's Seminary. Though you have been around the seminary in some way or another since your childhood, what's something most people here may not know about you?
Some may not know about my passion regarding the relationship between Eastern and Oriental churches. I have a new book coming out in early 2026 about that schism and some of the ways it might be healed—it’s called Union Without Confusion: Councils and Christology Beyond the Chalcedonian Divide (T&T Clark). For decades now, the St. Vladimir’s Seminary community has been blessed with students and colleagues from both families. Our lack of communion is a thorn in the flesh, and we absolutely must be working on it. We pray, in St. Basil’s Liturgy, “Reunite the separated.” I believe God desires our unity.
Prof. Bouteneff regularly teaches the course Christology in Dialogue at the Seminary. Here, the class is pictured with guest speaker and Seminary alumnus Fr. Athanasius Farag of the Coptic Orthodox Church (October 2019.)
I think by now everyone knows I’m a jazz bassist. My first degree was a conservatory degree. Founding the Institute of Sacred Arts, and watching it flourish through my amazing colleagues and students, is more fulfilling than I can possibly say. All these elements of my life: music, theology, liturgy, writing, all come together here. I am blessed.
Headline photo: Dr. Peter Bouteneff delivers a presentation on St. Sophrony and the spiritual life, at the Arvo Pärt Centre in Laulasmaa, Estonia, April 2024.
