Fr Alexander Nelson (M.Div. ‘25) is a native-born New Yorker who came to Orthodoxy as an adult. He and his wife, Alexandra, had comfortable careers in Manhattan and Brooklyn before deciding to offer their lives in service to the Church. We sat down with Fr Alexander to hear more about his life leading up to entering the Orthodox Church, his time at seminary, and the lessons he will take with him in his upcoming ministry as a parish priest.
Please tell us a bit about your educational and professional background and your life before seminary.
I’m Fr Alexander Nelson. I’m from the OCA, Diocese of New York and New Jersey. I lived throughout New York City—most recently in Brooklyn—for 21 years before coming to seminary. Before that, I worked as a union handyman, and for about a year, I was a superintendent at a nice building on Park Avenue, a residential co-op on the Upper East Side. I spent around 11 years in the union, and part of the goal was to make sure I had at least a partial pension, so I aimed to get 10 years in before moving on to St Vlad’s.
I originally started my undergrad at the New School for Social Research, at Eugene Lang College, their liberal arts school. I studied the history of religion and a bit of comparative religion, though that field was fading at the time and shifting more toward historical and sociological studies of faith. It wasn’t faith-based, but it was about belief systems and the world around them. After a few years, I dropped out—I wasn’t sure what I’d do with that degree, and I needed to earn a living.
Later on, after becoming Orthodox, getting engaged, and then married, both my wife and my spiritual father encouraged me to go back to school. They said, “You’ve got a monkey on your back—this is something you’d also enjoy.” So I went back, transferred as many credits as I could to Fordham—they took about 75—and there I studied theology. From Fordham, I applied to seminary.
Serving as a deacon alongside Assistant Professor of Liturgical Theology, the Very Rev. Archimandrite Vasily (then the Rev. Dr Vitaly Permiakov), Fall 2024
What called you into the Orthodox Church? What was the process of becoming Orthodox like for you?
I grew up Roman Catholic—my parents were more nominal, but we went to church every Sunday. My grandmother, who raised me, was very devout. To me, she’s a saint; she had a profound impact on my life. So I was a believer from the start.
When I was about 17, living in Boston, the Catholic Church abuse scandals broke. My parents were really frustrated, and I started questioning things too. I used to walk to church—it was easy—but I began exploring other ideas. A high school teacher gave me a book comparing Living Buddha, Living Christ, and that got me thinking. I still loved Jesus, but I didn’t know where I stood on organized religion. Over time, I drifted into more of a spiritual-but-not-religious mindset.
Later, after struggling with alcoholism and getting sober, I started to think a bit more clearly, and I started asking myself what I really believed. I had seen 9/11 happen in real time. I was only a few miles away when I saw the towers come down—I had family working downtown—and I didn't realize how traumatic that was for me until I was sober. I had a lot of self-realizations, and now I was trying to figure out, “What about my faith? I believe in Christ as Lord and God, I’m seeking community. What do I do with this?”
For a while, I attended an Episcopalian “high” church. Through Archbishop Rowan Williams, I got into Dostoyevsky and icons. Eventually, I met Fr John McGuckin, who introduced me to the Jesus Prayer. I started to realize that the spirituality I was drawn to, silence and interior prayer, wasn’t divorced from Christianity—it was deeply connected.
Eventually, I found an English-speaking Orthodox church, Holy Virgin Protection Cathedral in Manhattan. I was received there. Fr Nilus of blessed memory, a former Jesuit and former dean of Students at St Tikhon’s, was there; he really connected with me and became my godfather and confessor. I also really connected with Archimandrite Fr Christopher, and Archdeacon Michael—they were deeply spiritual, deeply liturgical, but really down to earth and I looked up to them because they affected, and really served, so many different kinds of people, young, old, cradle, convert, ethnic, liberal, conservative etc. That’s how I came into the Orthodox Church.
I met my wife, Alexandra, at the cathedral. I was in my early 30s, and you know how people are like, "You want to meet a good woman, go to church!" But that is totally not why I went to Church! We actually both were considering monastic vocations… But anyway, it actually happened to work out like that for us. We got married there, our kids were baptized there—I have a lot of love for that place.
Fr Alexander with his wife Matushka Alexandra and their two children
How did your calling evolve for you to come to St Vladimir's Seminary?
Growing up, I wanted to help people. I thought I was going to be a doctor, but I was never good at math or science. After sobriety, I realized I needed to help others. I realized the Church was what gave me life, healed me, and kept me on track. Coming to seminary and pursuing this calling is about giving back what I have received, true life.
Archbishop Michael works tirelessly, and I was impressed by that. He put it out to the parishes, "If you have young men who seem sane, see if they have a calling." Fr Christopher and my spiritual father, Fr Nilus, were also talking to me about it. My wife also. A big part of me really didn’t want to; I wanted a quiet and low-key life, but it felt like the right thing to do. It really seemed like God’s plan. Everything in my life had led up to that point. It was a fulfillment of things in a way I never expected. It’s a sacrifice, but it’s a privilege and a blessing.
St Vladimir’s Seminary was a practical choice for my family. My parents are in Manhattan, I have a lot of extended family in New York and New Jersey, and I didn’t want to be too far from them. I also had a lot of respect for St Vladimir’s history and connection to very articulate, thoughtful Orthodox thinkers. I was interested in St Vladimir’s because I was reading a lot of works from the professors here. I was also intellectually interested in the engagement and the connection to the Jewish-Christian tradition and the Old Testament, which was a huge part of my growth.
Moving was tough, especially for my wife. I think it was mainly the logistics of it. She had a good life in Brooklyn, and we had a rent-stabilized apartment. She’s a painter as well, so leaving the city and going up to Westchester was a huge change. I also wanted to make sure her life would be better by moving, and it was rough at first, but we found her a studio on the other side of Yonkers, and there’s a good community there. The hardest part was leaving Brooklyn, but we supported each other. It’s also really good for our kids, lots of grass, other kids, nature, all things we couldn’t provide them where we were.
Coming to seminary is certainly a sacrifice; it’s not just taking a few classes, it changes your whole life.
Yeah, your whole life. Time and energy, but much of that stems from the chapel life. St Vladimir’s Seminary is deeply liturgical. It's rigorous, it's demanding, but that’s one of the most beneficial parts of it. It helps you integrate into the rhythm of the Church, and that’s a huge thing. That’s transformative. If you’re plugged into it, it really helps ground you. It reminds you of why you're here, and reinforces that sacrifice, that it's worth it, that the sacrifice is actually a privilege.
Fr Alexander at his ordination to the priesthood, December 25, 2024
Tell us about your experience in the M.Div. program.
I mean, honestly, I’ve loved everyone here. Every professor has taught me something meaningful, and often it’s the ones you don’t expect who end up making the deepest impact. Take Dr Barnet, for example—or any of the professors who aren’t ordained. Sometimes they seem even more pastoral in their way, and you don’t realize it at first. It's not just about learning from them in class, either. You might get a pastoral gem from a conversation outside the refectory. Or just seeing them in chapel every day—the devotion, the consistency—that’s part of the formation, too.
Academically, and in terms of personal development, studying with Fr Bogdan was huge for me. The whole Theophaneia school that His Eminence Archbishop Alexander (OCA) and Andrei Orlov have helped shape—it’s recalibrating how we understand the Orthodox tradition. It brings in this Jewish-Christian matrix that’s deeply connected to our ascetic and spiritual life. I was really affected by his Visio Dei class, on the different concepts of seeing God. That one really stuck with me.
It was technically a Patristics class, but Fr Bogdan tied in so much—from 2 Enoch to a whole range of apocryphal texts that were massively influential on the Church Fathers but aren’t often talked about. That includes Old Testament apocrypha, and it opened my eyes to how important that background is for Orthodox theology. It’s a major development—bringing more context to how the Fathers were thinking and writing, and showing just how much continuity there really is.
I tend to think more in terms of systematic or dogmatic theology, and I remember Fr Bogdan saying once that in Florovsky’s massive works, there’s only a tiny bit on the Old Testament. Not to take anything away from Florovsky—who’s untouchable—but it shows there’s been a blind spot. Thankfully, people like His Eminence and Fr Bogdan have been doing work to bridge that gap, and that’s been really meaningful to me.
We also had Fr Demetrios Harper one semester, and that was a great experience. Fr Demetrios taught us Systematic theology, but it was really more about modern theology—20th-century figures, post-communist thinkers, diaspora voices. That class had a big impact, too. We had a lot of good discussions, which oriented us where we are now as a church in terms of theology.
Dr Schroeder’s class was another standout. I got to really dive into a topic I was fascinated with, and it just so happened that her dissertation intersected with my research—it felt almost providential. I also had great experiences in liturgical theology and liturgics with Fr Vasily. He is so thorough, and we learned not only the how but the why and when of liturgics.
Honestly, I never had a bad class at St Vlad’s. There wasn’t a single one where I thought, “Oh boy, here we go.” It’s been amazing. I’d like to say I just have good taste and chose the right ones—but really, every class and professor brought something meaningful. Fr Alexander Rentel and Dr Legaspi have so much love, so much knowledge in their fields, which comes out in the way they teach. Really excellent pedagogues.
Now that you're about to graduate and become a priest, how do you feel?
Thankfully, in the third year of the M.Div. program, we have pastoral theology classes both semesters, which are 100% necessary. Fr Eric has incredible experience and brings lots of guest teachers who are specialists in their field. By the time you’re a senior, you're ready to start applying what you've learned and figuring out how it all works in real life. Every Sunday, we’re at parish assignments—teaching classes, doing hospital visits, seeing baptisms, etc. You’re experiencing what ministry looks like on the ground.
And then there’s this other side of seminary life that’s almost monastic—especially at St Vlad’s. It’s idealistic in the best way. We have 10 or more services every week to attend, all done with incredibly capable choirs. I mean, there are only a handful of choirs in the country that can sound like the St Vladimir’s choir—it’s not something most of us will replicate in our parishes. But it’s important to be exposed to that ideal. In the third year, you start bouncing back and forth between that ideal and the practical. You go to a weekday liturgy at your assignment parish, and it’s maybe just a handful of people—how do you adapt? How does it sound? What do you do?
It’s also incredibly practical in other ways. I’m literally taking home tons of PDFs and resources we’ve been given that I’ll be able to refer to when things come up. And the relationships with professors—that’s a big deal. Many of them will say, “Call me if something comes up.” I’ve heard stories from priests who graduated and who often still call for advice—liturgics, pastoral issues, whatever. That support doesn’t end when you leave.
The network—that might be one of the most lasting things. The relationships you build with fellow students and professors become a support system. When something’s going on in your parish, you’ll know exactly who to call. I’ve already experienced that sense of camaraderie —“Oh, we went to seminary together,” or “He was a third-year when I was in my first year.” Even with the former alums, you have a bond.
And it’s not like this place is a bubble. Life happens here, too—real things, hard things. People here have serious struggles and pastoral needs, and you start realizing that this is “on the ground” ministry, too. The beauty of St Vlad’s is that it gives you a vision of the ideal, but it’s rooted in real life.
Is there anything else about your experience that you'd like to share?
You know, I’ve always loved to sing, but before seminary, I was always serving in the altar, so I never had any experience in the choir. I had no formal training at all. But coming here, Dn Harrison really brought that out of me. He’s an incredible teacher. Now I just love singing in the choir. It’s something I’ve especially tried to appreciate this last year, because let’s be honest, it may never sound this good again. So I’m soaking it in while I can. Watching people pray with their voices, with melody—that’s been a profound experience for me here.
Community life has also been powerful, and in some ways complicated. I’m from New York, so my family’s close. I see them every week. And I’ve had a lot of guilt about that—seeing other guys who sold everything, drove across the country in a Camry, and are really here with nothing. Meanwhile, I’ve got help—my mom can come watch the kids. And even with that support, it’s still hard. There are only so many hours in the day, and you’re trying to be a good dad, a good husband, and a serious student. You might never have access to a library like this again, or the chance to study like this again, so you want to make the most of it. For me, that just means—I don’t sleep a lot.
For the married guys, especially those with multiple kids, the biggest challenge is balancing everything and supporting your spouse. Thank God there’s a network here. Mondays are set aside so the women, community members, and students can meet and spend time with each other—it’s not “seminary stuff,” it’s community. Honestly, this place would not function without the wives. They’re the backbone of the married student life here. St Vlad’s tries to make sure they’re heard and included—they can audit classes, sing in choir, organize events, even lead student groups, and really be part of the community. But it’s still an ongoing challenge, no question. There are incredible female students here, perhaps our best students, married, single, and monastic, who we need to hear, much of the future of our church depends on them. At the same time, all these struggles can bring out the best in people. Everyone’s suffering a little together, and that creates real bonds. It’s a beautiful kind of suffering—it’s what makes the community what it is.
Fr Alexander with his family
Also, I would mention, it can be overwhelming. I thought maybe I’d pursue a doctorate after this, but over time, I realized—I just can’t put my family through that. This is already a lot. It’s real. And you start to feel things like jealousy. You look around and think, “Wow, those single guys have free afternoons. They’re going to the gym. That would be nice.” And that’s where the devil creeps in—not in some big dramatic way, but in those small comparisons, the envy. But then you invite people over, you share a meal, and you realize—it’s not easy for them either. Everyone’s going through something. That shared struggle actually pulls the community closer. And then we celebrate Pascha together, and you remember why you’re doing this in the first place—the joy of the Resurrection, of Christ’s love, and our calling to reflect that however we can. It’s wild. But it’s beautiful.
What would you like to say to those in the wider St Vladimir’s Seminary community who offer their prayers and support?
I want to say something about the people who make this possible. The donors, the churches, the dioceses—my own parish helps out with a monthly collection. The diocese supports me. The scholarships and grants from St Vlad’s—this experience wouldn’t be possible without them. That adds weight to what we’re doing. You realize people have invested their time, money, and love into this place, and that makes you want to do it justice.
But that’s how the Church works. It’s synergy. It’s all of us working together, like the royal priesthood Scripture talks about. Just because I wear a cross doesn’t mean I’m the only one with a calling. We’re all part of this. Agape isn’t just love—it’s charity. It’s action. That’s what makes this work. It’s a powerful witness to Christ.
Everyone at St Vladimir’s—faculty, staff, development people, admin—they’re all sacrificing in some way. No one’s getting rich here, but everyone is giving their heart. And that’s what’s so beautiful about this place: it’s a community built on love, sacrifice, and the shared desire to glorify God. It’s a sight to behold. Truly.
