St. Vladimir’s Seminary welcomes the members of the Class of 2015! Over the course of eleven hectic days, new and returning students and their families: participated in a full schedule of services, registered for classes, auditioned for choir, picked up ID cards, congregated for cookouts, attended the first gathering for the St. Juliana Society serving the spouses of seminarians, and attended multiple seminars and orientation sessions.
“It was the best orientation I can recall during my time here,” noted The Very Rev. Dr. John Behr, dean and professor of Patristics. “We are continuing to work out ways to make sure that the students begin on the right foot, and are set up for success. It’s a great crowd of students, and I am looking forward very much to working with them over the coming years.”
“We have welcomed 31 new full-time students in three different degree programs,” said The Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield, Chancellor/CEO. The men and women of the Class of 2015 come from all over the United States and beyond, and represent over ten Orthodox jurisdictions and Christian affiliations.
“These new arrivals and returning seminarians—the first to participate in our Fully Paid Tuition Plan—total 65 for the 2012–2013 Academic Year,” explained Fr. Chad.
“We are most thankful for this robust new class. During our Orientation sessions, Frs. John Behr, Alexander Rentel, David Mezynski, and I addressed the topic: ‘Orthodox Spirituality and Vocation.’ Responses from the students were overwhelmingly positive, and they wanted to continue the discussion. It was interesting to me to see how we four priests spoke with one voice, with presentations in complete harmony."
At the first Student Council meeting President Dn. James Parnell greeted the new and returning students, reminding them that the Council offers a place where students may address issues. “The SVS faculty really does listen to student input and recommendations,” he said.
Secretary Nicholas Roth introduced the various student special interest groups and themes, and encouraged participation. These run the gamut, from interseminary dialogue, prolife outreach, health and wellness, and environmental responsibility.
Reflected new student Ashli Moore of Oregon, “Orientation week left me in no doubt that this is a very demanding program! Yet I’ve experienced such warm hospitality here since I arrived, and I’m confident that this is a safe environment in which to meet the challenges of the program.” Ashli expressed appreciation for the personal touches, such as the welcome gifts from Board members and their wives.
Added Joshua McCoy of Arizona, “To see Christ from a decidedly Orthodox view is to truly see Him, and towards this end the professors and chapel services have encouraged me.”
Whenever someone speaks of “American Orthodoxy,” there is usually an unspoken understanding that the term refers to North American Orthodoxy: the United States, Canada, and sometimes Mexico. This way of speaking is indeed convenient, considering that the majority of Orthodox parishes in the Western Hemisphere are still located in North America. However, in the past few years a great change has occurred in Latin America that makes it increasingly inaccurate to focus on North America as the western outpost of Orthodoxy. Just two years ago, in 2010, the Orthodox Church received a large group of Guatemalan converts numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Now Guatemala, and possibly all of Latin America, holds tremendous promise of becoming fertile ground for the Orthodox Christian Church.
The seed of Orthodoxy in Guatemala was planted by the nuns of the Hogar Rafael Ayau, an Orthodox orphanage in Guatemala City. Many people are familiar with the incredible work of Mother Inés, Mother Ivonne, and Mother María. In fact, just this year a group of seminarians from St. Vladimir's Seminary traveled with the seminary Chancellor/CEO Archpriest Chad Hatfield to see the work of the nuns and to assist at the orphanage. It is through these nuns that the Guatemalan soil was first prepared for the Orthodox Church.
Now, with the recent chrismation of a new group of Guatemalan converts that numbers between 100,000 and 200,000, the Orthodox Church is ready to blossom in Guatemala. The magnitude of the event cannot be overstated. Almost overnight, Guatemala has become the most Orthodox country in the Western Hemisphere (by percentage of national population). Furthermore, the Orthodox communities in Guatemala continue to grow rapidly and attract attention throughout Guatemala. There is still, however, little information available to the broader Orthodox world on the history and character of these new communities. For this reason, I traveled to Guatemala this summer, spending two months visiting many of the Orthodox parishes, meeting the leaders of the communities, and accompanying the bishop of the Guatemalan Church—His Eminence, Metropolitan Athenagoras—as he made his historic first visit to the new parishes in Guatemala. I returned to the United States with the desire to share what I saw and the conviction that the Holy Spirit is at work with power in Latin America.
The new Orthodox communities are in touch with the nuns of the Hogar, but they are an independent movement with a unique history. These communities are mostly made up of native Mayans and have roots in the Roman Catholic Church. They first began in the 1970s and 1980s as a Roman Catholic renewal movement called the “Charismatic Renewal in the Holy Spirit.” For various reasons, including the movement's charismatic prayer practices and emphasis on music in church services, the parishes of the Charismatic Renewal became estranged from the Roman Catholic Church. Many communities went decades without sacraments until, in the 1990s, a former Roman Catholic priest named Fr. Andrés Girón took the movement under his wing. A very prominent figure in Guatemala, Fr. Andrés had served in the Guatemalan senate, acted as an ambassador to the United Nations, and led a large movement for land reform among the rural poor of Guatemala. These activities were part of what caused Fr. Andrés to come into tension with the Roman Catholic Church, eventually leaving the Church before taking leadership of the parishes of the Charismatic Renewal.
It was through Fr. Andrés that the communities of the Charismatic Renewal began to move towards the Orthodox Church. Fr. Andrés first joined a non-canonical Orthodox group called the Society of Secular Clerics, and he was soon ordained a bishop in this group. However, as he became more familiar with broader Orthodox Christianity, Fr. Andrés sought out the canonical Orthodox Church. A number of priests from other countries came to evaluate the situation in Guatemala, and then in April of 2010, Fr. Andrés was received into the canonical Orthodox Church under the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
After Fr. Andrés entered the Orthodox Church, then began the process of ordaining priests, chrismating the faithful, and educating the hundreds of thousands of new Orthodox. Over the last two years, a total of eight priests who were originally ordained non-canoncially have now been ordained as priests in the Orthodox Church. One of those priests spent a year in Greece to learn about Orthodoxy and become an iconographer, and there are plans for other priests to spend time abroad growing in Orthodoxy. The priests have begun to train a large team of catechists to go into all the villages to teach the people about Orthodoxy. In addition, a missionary priest from Pennsylvania, Fr. John Chakos, has begun working in Guatemala to assist the Guatemalan leaders and teach the faithful.
While the eight priests of the Guatemalan Orthodox Church are familiar with Orthodox theology and history, the majority of the Orthodox faithful still have much to learn and need time to grow. Many parishes lack basic iconography and essential liturgical supplies, and the communities are still relatively unfamiliar with the Divine Liturgy and other Orthodox services. Nevertheless, the communities have the seed of powerful faith: parishes are always packed on Sundays, sometimes with close to a thousand people; lay leaders are well-versed in Scripture and deliver convicting sermons to the congregations; and many communities center all of their activities around the Church, with some villages faithfully tithing ten percent of their crops and money. The Guatemalan Orthodox are indeed still newborns in the Church, but they are already growing in the Orthodox Church and have reacted well to the changes that are being made to bring them closer to the fulness of the faith. These “little ones” of Guatemala, the newborn Mayan Orthodox, will not be turned away by the Lord.
As we continue to discuss the future of “American Orthodoxy,” we must not forget that the providence of God often guides the Church in unexpected ways, and His providence is now calling our attention to Latin America. When, in 1867, St. Innocent reflected on the sale of Alaska to the United States, he said, “I see in this event one of the ways of Providence whereby Orthodoxy will penetrate the United States.” These words are often recalled in discussions of American Orthodoxy, along with the stories of the rapid conversion of native Alaskans to the Orthodox Church. Now, in our lifetime, as many as 200,000 native Guatemalans have turned to the Orthodox Church—is this not the continuation of God's Providence in the Western Hemisphere? The Holy Spirit has opened a door for the faith to penetrate Latin America through Guatemala, and this event calls us to recognize and believe in the tremendous potential for the Orthodox Church to flourish in this hemisphere. We are called to stand with the Orthodox Christians of Guatemala: through prayer, through donations of liturgical supplies and monetary support, and through missionaries and teachers who will go to Guatemala to help the people learn and grow.
Finally, we are called to once again be inspired by the richness of “American Orthodoxy.” From the small wooden churches of Alaska to the large food festivals of Pittsburgh and Chicago, from the Orthodox parishes that dot South America to the Mayan communities that live under the volcanoes of Guatemala—the beauty of God's Church is alive and growing in the Western Hemisphere. Let us embrace the work of God's Providence, supporting the Guatemalan Orthodox Church and tending to the faith throughout all the Americas, so that the seed of American Orthodoxy will grow and blossom.
For more information on the Guatemalan Orthodox Church and my summer travels to the Guatemalan communities, see my blog, which has articles and pictures that give a fuller understanding of Guatemalan Orthodoxy. If you would like to know how you can support the Guatemalan Orthodox Church, please contact Fr. John Chakos, the missionary priest who is serving in Guatemala under the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC). You can also find articles by Fr. John Chakos about the Guatemalan communities on the blog of Pres. Alexandra Chakos.
The Rev. Joel McEachen (SVOTS ’68) has been elected president of the 172 member Retired Clergy Association (RCA) of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA). The election took place at the biennial general meeting of the RCA held in conjunction with the 2012 Clergy–Laity Congress in Phoenix, AZ, in July, and Fr. Joel will take office effective September 1st. Father Joel joined the RCA board in 2008, and most recently has served as its treasurer and co-editor of the monthly newsletter, The EPISTLE.
He attended St. Vladimir's Seminary from 1965–1968, having been received into the Orthodox Christian faith at St. Anthony's Church, Bergenfield, NJ. During his seminary days, he was appointed youth director at St. Demetrios Church, Astoria, NY, and subsequently held the same position at St. Nicholas Church, Flushing, NY. After marriage to Sandra Reshetar, and graduation from St. Vladimir's with an M.Div. in 1968, he left for a year of study at the University of Thessalonica. Upon his return, he was ordained deacon by Bishop Timothy of Rodostolon at St. Andrew's Church, Chicago, IL, and priest by Archbishop Iakovos at St. Nicholas Church, Flushing, NY, September 27, 1970, where he served as assistant pastor until October 1973. He then was appointed pastor of Holy Trinity Church, Ansonia, CT, until his retirement in 2009.
His colorful and active life has included service in the U.S. Naval Reserve, work as an IBM systems programmer, and extensive involvement in The Boy Scouts of America, which he dovetailed with youth work in parishes, and programs for the GOA and the Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops (SCOBA), during his priestly ministry. Read Fr. Joel's full bio here.
We congratulate our esteemed alumnus on his new ministry!
His Holiness Abune Paulos, who was Patriarch and Catholicos of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Archbishop of Axum and Ichege of the See of St. Teklehaimanot, fell asleep in the Lord in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, early this morning, according to a BBC report. Other news sources, including "The Orthodox Church" OCP Media Network, report that His Holiness had been undergoing treatment for a serious illness for a long time, and that he reposed in Dejazmach Balcha Hospital.
It has been reported that the final resting place of Patriarch Abune Paulos will be at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Addis Ababa. The funeral will be held on Thursday, August 23, 2012. The Divine Liturgy will begin by 6 a.m. and funeral rites are expected to start by 9 a.m. The Cathedral also is the site of the tombs of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Hallie Selassie I, and other members of his royal family. Patriarch Abune Tekle Haimanot is buried in the churchyard of the Cathedral.
Delegations from various Oriental, Eastern Orthodox Churches and ecumenical organizations are expected to attend the funeral ceremony. The Indian Malankara Orthodox church has confirmed that they will send a high level delegation to attend the funeral
The 76-year old Patriarch was an alumnus of St. Vladimir's Seminary; he studied here from 1962 to 1965, and completed his Master of Divinity degree in May 1966. Dr. Sergius Verhovskoy, professor of Dogmatic Theology during that period of time, perceived great potential in the student (and then priest) Abba Gabre Madhin G. Yohannes, who would eventually become the Patriarch of Ethiopia. In seminary archival correspondence, Professor Verhovskoy noted that "Father Gabre was highly intelligent, very capable, and eager to study."
After his graduation from St. Vladimir's, the course of young "Abba" (Father) Gabre's life was determined by dramatic church and political affairs in Ethiopia, which included both his imprisonment and exile. Although his life had begun modestly in the village of Adwa in Tigray Province, its unfolding placed him in the center of many controversies that required from him enormous determination and spiritual strength in their resolution.
As a young boy, Gabre Madhin had entered the Abba Garima Monastery, a place near his hometown with which his family had had a long association. He began his life there as a deacon-trainee, eventually taking monastic vows and being ordained to the Holy Priesthood. He continued his education at the Theological College of the Holy Trinity in Addis Ababa, under the patronage of Patriarch Abune Tewophilos, who then sent him on to St. Vladimir's Seminary for further study.
After graduation from St. Vladimir's, Abba Gabre entered a doctoral program at Princeton University, but in 1974, his studies were interrupted by extraordinary circumstances in Ethiopia: the revolution that toppled Emperor Haile Selassie. Patriarch Abune Tewophilos summoned him back to Ethiopia, and along with four others, anointed him as a bishop. Abba Gabre took the name "Paulos" at his episcopal elevation, and was given the responsibility of ecumenical affairs by the Patriarch.
However, because the Patriarch had anointed the five bishops without the permission of the newly empowered Derg communist junta, all five men were arrested, and the Patriarch was eventually executed. Abune Paulos and his fellow bishops were imprisoned until 1983. After serving his sentence, Abune Paulos returned to Princeton in 1984 to complete his doctoral degree there, and began his life in exile. He was elevated to the rank of Archbishop by Patriarch Abune Takla Haymanot in 1986, while in exile.
Subsequently, following the fall of the Derg in 1991 (replaced by the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, or EPRDF) and the dethronement of Patriarch Abune Merkorios, the Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church authorized a new Patriarchal election. Abune Paulos was elected in 1992, and amidst ecclesial and political controversies that gripped Ethiopia, his election and enthronement were recognized by the Coptic Patriarchate in Alexandria.
As Patriarch, Abune Paulos took great pride in the history of the Ethiopian Church—noting the continuing 3,000 year-old Jewish and Christian presence in his country—and its astounding size: 45 million faithful; 50,000 church buildings; and 500,000 clergy. During his term of office, much urban property taken from the Church was returned, notably the campus and library of his alma mater, Holy Trinity Theological College. His Holiness also led restoration efforts for Holy Trinity Cathedral. As well, he rebuilt the patriarchal complex and reformed the bureacracy of the Patriarchate. Futher, he regained treasured church artifacts, for example, those that had been plundered by British troops in the 19th century: ten "tabots" containing images of the Ark of the Convenant, which had been held up to that time in a British Museum.
During his tenure, His Holiness became widely recognized as a scholar, peacemaker, and advocate for the suffering and poor. He championed the cause of victims of the Derg regime and presided over their funerals, including that of Haile Selassie in 2000. With great reluctance he acquiesced to the breaking away of the Eritrean Orthodox Church when that country declared independence, and he never ceased to try to bring peace between the Ethiopia and Eritrea and to heal the devastation wrought by their border wars; he initiated peace meetings between religious leaders of the two countries in 1998, 1999, and 2000.
Additionally, Patriarch Abune Paulos continually sought to strengthen ecclesial relations among Oriental Orthodox Churches. In 2007, he visited the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt, meeting with His Holiness Pope Shenouda III and re-establishing a relationship with that church body; in 2008, he traveled to India to meet with Baselios Thoma Didymos I, Catholicos of the East. As one of the seven presidents of the World Council of Churches (WCC), representing the Oriental Orthodox Churches, he was instrumental in encouraging interfaith dialoue in Ethiopia. In that same capacity, he participated in many international meetings, including the World Economic Forum and the World Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders at the United Nations in New York.
Most notably, he became extensively involved in the support of war-displaced and drought-hit Ethiopians, making the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church one of the major relief organizations in the country. He showed keen interest in providing solutions to problems involving youth, women's issues, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the protection and welfare of refugees, he was awarded the Nansen Medal for Africa by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 2000.
In the summer of 2008, Alexander Machaskee, Executive Chair of the Board of Trustees at St. Vladimir's, witnessed first hand Patriarch Abune Paulos's care for the Ethiopian Tewahedo Church and his country. Mr. Machaskee, who at that time chaired the Board of Trustees for International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC), met with His Holiness for two hours, discussing such IOCC projects as the multimillion-dollar AIDS campaign, the children's clinic in the city of Waliso, and several agricultural projects and demonstration farms.
The entire seminary community is saddened by the loss of His Holiness Abune Paulos, and we pray for his repose. Memory Eternal!
Archpriest Alexander Rentel, assistant professor of Canon Law and Byzantine Studies at St. Vladimir's, participated in the Fourth International Congress of the Society of Oriental Liturgy. The congress took place at Notre Dame University, Louaize Zouk Mosbeh, near Beirut, Lebanon. During the congress a group of forty international scholars, teachers, and clergy met and presented papers and communications on various aspects of the study of liturgical traditions of the Eastern Christian churches. Amidst the numerous other academic papers and communication delivered at the congress, Fr. Alexander offered a paper entitled, “Liturgical Insights into the Question of Primacy.” there, the members were graciously received by His Grace Bp. Ghattas Hazim, dean of the St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology, together with faculty members and seminarians, as well as members of the Balamand Monastery, and the Center for Manuscript Preservation. Society members were able to attend daily Vespers at the monastery as well as hold sessions of the congress at the Institute.
At the conclusion of the congress, at its business meeting, Fr. Alexander was elected Dollar Treasurer of the society. The society also voted to hold its next meeting in 2014 at St. Vladimir’s seminary.
The Society of Oriental Liturgy is a international academic society dedicated to the study of all aspects of various liturgical traditions of the Oriental Churches. It was founded in 2006 by the eminent professor of Eastern Liturgies, Archimandrite Dr. Robert Taft, SJ, and held its first meeting that same year in Eichstätt, Germany. Subsequent meetings have been held Rome, Italy (2008), and in Volos, Greece (2010). Together with Fr. Alexander, Prof. Paul Meyendorff, The Father Alexander Schmemann Professor of Liturgical Theology at the seminary, is also a member.
View the new SVS Press and Bookstore Website here!
St. Vladimir’s Seminary’s academic press and bookshop are sporting a fresh face on the World Wide Web. With the launch of their new Website, SVS Press and Bookstore aim to provide retail customers with a simple, intuitive online shopping experience, with “back end” software that will allow customers to track and receive updated status reports on their online orders. The newly designed Website was funded with a $20,000 matching grant from the Virginia H. Farah Foundation.
The Very Rev. Dr. Chad Hatfield, seminary Chancellor/CEO, expressed his gratitude and pleasure at the launch, saying, "We have carefully received and responded to constructive criticisms and positive suggestions from our SVS Press devotees. Hopefully the site will meet their expectations, and special thanks goes to the Farah Foundation for their support.”
Theodore Bazil, who is Associate Chancellor for Advancement at the seminary and Senior Advisor to SVS Press and Bookstore, concurred. “This newly designed Website and software, graciously provided for by a grant from the Farah Foundation, will greatly enhance the seminary’s ability to reach our customer base and provide exceptional service and information about our publications and products," he said.
Giving extensive historical background on SVS Press and Bookstore operations, Mr. Bazil continued, “Since its inception in 1968, SVS Press has been integral to the seminary’s mission to serve Christ and His Church through theological education, research, and scholarship. Its books, music and lecture CDs, and children’s titles provide spiritual and intellectual nourishment to Orthodox Christian believers and those seeking information about the Orthodox Church around the globe.”
Indeed, many of the press’s 400 titles, such as those in its Popular Patristics Series, are used regularly in college and university classrooms. Others have reached unusual venues: The Human Kindness Foundation has distributed Father Arseny 1893–1973, the riveting biography of a prisoner in a Soviet gulag, in both English- and Spanish-language versions to 15,000 inmates of all different faiths throughout the U.S. The press’s best-selling title, The Orthodox Way, by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, has been translated into 14 languages, including Chinese.
“Most important,” noted Mr. Bazil, “is the ‘evangelical’ mission of the press. Many people have been drawn to Orthodox Christianity through reading an SVS Press book.”
Editor-in-Chief at the press, Rev. Dr. Benedict Churchill, commenting on new look of the Website, said, "We've been waiting for the new Website for a while now, and the new look and new functionality should make shopping with us more pleasing for our customers; and our staff should now have an easier time in satisfying our customers. Many thanks to those who have brought the project to this stage!"
The press and its accompanying bookshop also provide vital revenue for the general operations of the seminary: in FY2011, the press and bookstore netted $369,349 in sales, which represented 12% of the seminary’s total operating revenue. This revenue stream becomes increasingly important in a “down” economy, and the new Website is geared to boost sales by both wholesale and retail customers through the offering of several user-friendly features.
Some of these features include:
an improved, aesthetically pleasing design;
a streamlined, easy-to-use shopping experience;
a choice of shipping options with quotes;
online order tracking; and
the ability for special status customers (wholesale customers, church bookstores, Press Club members, and libraries) to view and order based on their respective price and discount.
Deacon Gregory Hatrak, who serves as Marketing and Operations Manager of SVS Press and Bookstore, said he had high hopes for “the new enhancements that the site provides." He enthused, "Customers are better able to search our products, view what is available in digital formats, and choose their own rate of shipping."
View the new SVS Press and Bookstore Website here!
For the second year in a row, the St. Vladimir's Seminary Alumni Association will sponsor a cookout, on the eve of the Feast of the Holy and Great Prince Vladimir, Saturday evening, July 14, 2012.
Please join us for prayer and fellowship, beginning with Great Vespers at 6:30 p.m. and continuing with a cookout and picnic on the seminary's front lawn. Fellow alumni, faculty, staff, seminarians, and chapel friends (and families) are welcome.
RSVP to Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak, Director of Admissions, Financial Aid, and Alumni Relations, at x328 or e-mail: jmatusiak@svots.edu. For further questions, also please contact Pdn. Joseph.
St. Vladimir's Seminary is pleased to announce Dr. Peter Brown, Princeton University's Philip and Beulah Rollins Professor of History, Emeritus, as the presenter for the 30th Annual Father Alexander Schmemann Lecture. Titled "Constantine, Eusebius, and the Future of Christianity," the lecture will focus on how Christians approach the study of history. Just prior to the lecture, Dr. Brown will be awarded an Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa, by the Seminary's Board of Trustees and faculty.
Dr. Brown is credited with having created the field of study referred to as "late antiquity" (A.D. 250–800), the period during which Rome fell, the three major monotheistic religions took shape, and Christianity spread across Europe. A native of Ireland, Professor Brown earned his B.A. in history from Oxford University (1956), where he taught until 1975 as a Fellow of All Souls College. He joined the Princeton faculty in 1986 after teaching at the University of London and the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Brown’s primary interests are the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages and the rise of Christianity, and he has pursued them through investigations into such diverse topics as Roman rhetoric, the cult of the saints, the body and sexuality, and wealth and poverty.
Dr. Brown's presentation will launch the 75th anniversary year of the Seminary (founded 1938), and will be followed by other Jubilee events, culminating in a gala banquet November 7, 2013, at the Glen Island Harbour Club, New Rochelle, NY.
The free and public lecture will be delivered on Friday, January 18, 2013, at 7 p.m. in the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium of the John G. Rangos Family Building. SVS Bookstore will extend its daily hours past 5 p.m. and will be open prior to and following the lecture.
St. Vladimir’s Seminary is pleased to announce Tim Nieuwsma as its new Major Gifts Officer in the Office for Institutional Advancement. Tim joins the team at SVOTS after 30 years of experience in the business and non-profit world. Tim grew up as an “MK” (missionary kid) in the Philippines and graduated from Wheaton College, before moving into a position as a fundraiser for schools in DuPage County, Illinois.
In the late 1980s Tim and his wife, Ginny, moved to California, settling their family in San Jose. Tim joined Saratoga Investment Company, where he served as a commercial real estate broker for ten years, working with landowners, investors, and developers. It was during this time that Tim discovered the Orthodox Christian faith and was chrismated, along with his family, after a year of soul searching and study. Key people in his spiritual journey have been SVOTS graduates, including priests from the Greek Orthodox and Antiochian Orthodox Archdioceses, and the Orthodox Church in America.
In 1996 Tim moved into the non-profit world, accepting a position to head a company that develops studio, family, and seniors apartments for low-income people in Silicon Valley. Under Tim’s leadership First Community Housing (FCH) rose from near collapse to stability and prominence, garnering regional and national awards, including California’s first and current top producer of LEED certified (Green) affordable apartments. Tim found numerous strategically located sites for FCH, negotiated purchase agreements that enabled affordable development, worked with a complex mix of lenders and government agencies to fund new projects, secured over $40 million from tax credit investment partners, and re-negotiated problematic old FCH debt. He also attracted new board members, hired new staff, assisted in the creation of a new corporate image, and helped generate and form a $10M dollar privately-donated fund to provide ongoing seed money for non-profit developments.
Tim’s non-profit work led to his becoming a founding member of a consulting firm that advised individuals, public agencies, private and non-profit corporations (such as Catholic Charities), hospitals, the county, utility companies, school districts, colleges, investors, and developers. Since 2000 Tim has served in a number of ways: as a member of the Mayor of San Jose’s blue-ribbon Housing Trust Board, as Chairman of the Housing Action Coalition, as a member of the Silicon Valley Housing Leadership Council, as a Rotarian, and as an active member of his parish in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese.
In June Tim completed initial coursework at the Indiana University Fund Raising School. He says he is “delighted to be working for SVOTS.” He has been married to Ginny for 31 years, and is the father of six children and grandfather of five.
St. Vladimir’s Seminary’s summer workshops concluded with an extraordinary Master Class in church choral conducting and singing, taught by Vladimir Aleksandrovich Gorbik, one of the leading practitioners of sacred choral music in Russia today. During the last week in June, 43 participants, mostly from the United States, trained under the master musician, laboring long hours to become proficient in singing and conducting nearly 250 pages of music.
Their efforts—which might be described as including a mixture of blood, sweat, tears, and tremendous grace—were notable. By the end of the week, workshop participants composed a heavenly chorus; they presented a public recital in the Metropolitan Philip Auditorium (which brought listeners to tears) and sang the responses at the Vigil and Primatial Divine Liturgy on the Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul in the seminary’s Three Hierarchs Chapel. Metropolitan Jonah, primate of the Orthodox Church in America, who presided at the liturgy, thanked Mr. Gorbik at its conclusion for sharing his profound musical gifts with Western musicians, and the choir and student conductors for their hard labor that bore exquisite fruit. His Beatitude further invited Mr. Gorbik to continue to visit and teach in America, in order to “elevate” church singing and conducting in U.S. parishes.
Mr. Gorbik himself, at the end of the Master Class and recital, humbly stated, “The Holy Spirit was with us, the expertise that my students have demonstrated witness to the quality of my work here.” (Read a full and fascinating interview that St. Vladimir’s Seminary held with Mr. Gorbik, on Day 2 of the Master Class, including his ideas on creating "American sounding" music, here!)
Vladimir Gorbik (b. 1970) began his musical studies in Yekaterinburg, Russia, and continued them at the Moscow State Conservatory, completing a specialization in choral conducting in 1998 and in orchestral conducting in 2000. Since 1996 he has served as the choral director at the Moscow Representation Church (Metochion or Podvorye) of the Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery, and since 1998 has been Artistic Director and Conductor of the professional men’s chorus formed at the Metochion. With this choir he has made over a dozen outstanding recordings of both liturgical services and concert programs.
Mr. Gorbik’s recordings came to the attention of Dr. Vladimir Morosan, president and founder of Musica Russica, the largest publisher of Russian choral music outside of Russia. Noting their exceptional quality, Dr. Morosan sought a way to invite Mr. Gorbik to the United States, to give Americans the opportunity to study the technique, performance practice, and interpretation of Orthodox sacred music on a masterful level. Dr. Morosan, together with SVOTS faculty member, Dr. Nicholas Reeves, Assistant Professor of Liturgical Music, began to coordinate the Master Class, auditioning potential participants and interfacing constantly with Mr. Gorbik via Skype. As a result, a 5-day Master Class, consisting of choral conducting and singing sessions, was set for June 2012 on the seminary campus.
At the end of the choral and conducting workshops, Dr. Reeves reiterated the value of the Master Class, titled, “Interpreting Orthodox Sacred Music,” calling it “an opportunity for participants from the entire world to learn more thoroughly some of the different approaches to singing ecclesial music.”
Dr. Morosan also reflected much upon the ambitious endeavor, saying, “I believe this Master Class was an unqualified success that exceeded all our best expectations. Although I was confident from my acquaintance with Vladimir Gorbik's CDs and later from my personal contact with him over Skype and email that he was genuinely the most gifted Orthodox church choir director in Russia right now and would be capable of offering incredibly valuable insights to anyone who came to hear him, both Orthodox and non-Orthodox, it was not necessarily a given that, one: enough qualified people would turn out; and two: they would be receptive to what he had to offer.
“He was unknown, and the Seminary was taking a chance in inviting him,” he continued thoughtfully. “Missteps could have occurred at a number of different levels, and this could have significantly undermined the success of the undertaking. I tried to prepare Mr. Gorbik for that eventuality, and at every step along the way, his response was ‘Whatever God's will is, that is what will be’.”
Indeed, it seemed that by the end of the Master Class, “God’s will” had waived away a web of potential pitfalls and fears. Dr. Morosan enthusiastically enumerated how:
"By God's grace, the Metropolitan came, liked what he saw and heard, and validated it by his remarks and his personal interaction with Mr. Gorbik and the Master Class participants. He expressed the desire that Mr. Gorbik's visits would be repeated and frequent, in order to help raise the level of Orthodox musical culture in the Church in America.
"By God's grace, those in the seminary faculty and community who were there responded to the beauty and majesty of the services, as well as to the sensitivity and attention with which Mr. Gorbik approached the “local” liturgical practice and pacing of the chapel services.
"By God's grace, we had representation not only from SVOTS, but also from St. Tikhon's Seminary; New Skete and Calistoga (monastic communities); the OCA dioceses of the South, New York and New Jersey, Eastern and Western Pennsylvania, Canada, and the Midwest and West; the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia; and the Antiochian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox Archdioceses. We even had Byzantine Catholics and non-Orthodox participants from choral circles from the U.S., and as far away as Japan.
"By God's grace, there was great rapport and positive interaction with all the conducting students who were chosen by audition. All of them, without exception, personally gained insights and exhibited growth as a result of their experience; they were also impressed and moved by the degree of preparation and personal attention with which the Master Class teacher approached them. Likewise, they were all struck by the incredible generosity of spirit with which Mr. Gorbik offered his “ongoing” involvement with them after the class. Basically, he offered both the conductors and the singers his continued feedback, something that is practically unheard of in secular Master Classes.
"By God's grace, the singers who had been selected by audition, all exhibited a willingness to "put out" extreme effort towards the goal of achieving the summit of musical and liturgical beauty in the services. Though challenged beyond what is common even in professional musical circles, they were all great sports about it, and humbly accepted the gentle but firm urging and prodding of the conductor, as well as pointed personal critique and feedback, which he himself offered in love and humility. The results, both in the recital and in the services, was evident for all to see and hear.
"By God's grace, we were blessed with the presence at the recital of Father Sergei Glagolev, our American "musical elder," who repeatedly expressed his amazement and gratitude at seeing an initial fulfillment of the high musical standards that he himself always espoused. In turn, the church musicians who came from Moscow were incredibly struck by and blessed by his radiant presence.
"In short, there were no apparent negatives in this event. Everyone I spoke with came away enlightened, edified, and inspired. Every purely musical and technical aspect was balanced in a most wonderful way by a spiritual dimension and perspective. Many participants spoke of this as a "mountaintop experience," a most significant event on the American Orthodox musical landscape—one that, they hoped, would be repeated again and again.
St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary would like to thank the following donors to the Vladimir Gorbik Master Class,“Interpreting Orthodox Sacred Music”:
FOCA, Fellowship of Orthodox Christians in America ($1000)
Read a full and fascinating interview that St. Vladimir’s Seminary held with Mr. Gorbik, on Day 2 of the Master Class, including his ideas on creating "American sounding" music, here!
