The St Vladimir’s Online School of Theology is pleased to announce its latest learning opportunity: asynchronous courses! Beginning in June 2023, the Online School has offered six public courses with our distinguished faculty. These world-class courses had only been accessible during the period when they were offered live, but now, anyone can register to access the recorded lectures, the reading list, and the faculty powerpoint slides.
St Vladimir's Online School of Theology asynchronous online courses offer a comprehensive learning experience designed for flexibility and depth. Each course offering is available for 60 days upon registration, providing ample time for thorough exploration. With a modest course fee of $125, students gain access to four engaging video lectures led by esteemed professors, supplemented by four informative PowerPoint presentations. The in-depth reading recommendations further enrich the learning journey, ensuring a well-rounded educational experience tailored to individual interests and schedules. Join us in discovering the richness of theological education from the comfort of your own home, at your own pace.
This past Sunday, September 29, 2024, marked the 24th anniversary of the repose of Sophie Koulomzin, former faculty member at St Vladimir's Seminary and prolific author, speaker, and Orthodox Christian education expert. In honor of her memory and in gratitude for her legacy, we are republishing her biography here. May the memory of Sophie Koulomzin be eternal! Vechnaya pamyat!
Sophie Koulomzin (December 3, 1903–September 29, 2000), renowned Orthodox Christian religious educator, was born Sophie Schidlovsky in St Petersburg, Russia, in 1903. She was the daughter of Sergei Schidlovsky, the last vice president of the Czar's Duma, or Parliament. A life of privilege was replaced by one of poverty as the family endured the first years of Soviet rule, then fled, first to Estonia, where her father died, then Berlin, then Paris.
In Germany, she studied philosophy at the University of Berlin and took part in philosophical discussions led by Nikolai Berdyaev, The Rev. Sergius Bulgakov, and Semyon Frank, leading Russian religious thinkers and former Marxists who became liberal Christians and were expelled from the Soviet Union by Lenin in 1922. They were formative in her development as a broad-minded Orthodox Christian activist.
In 1926, a scholarship from the John D. Rockefeller Fund took her to the U.S., where she graduated from Columbia University with a master's degree in Religious Education. Returning to Paris, she became a leader of the Russian Christian Student Movement, taught émigré children in church schools and summer camps, and edited two volumes of church school lessons. This experience strengthened her conviction that “what émigré children needed most of all was to experience being Orthodox in a non-Orthodox culture,” laying the foundation for her work in Orthodox religious education in the United States.
Mrs Koulomzin was married in 1932 to Nikita Koulomzin, an engineer who was also of aristocratic descent. They had three daughters, Elizabeth, Olga, and Xenia, and a son, George. During their family’s time in Paris, Mrs Koulomzin did social work among poor Russian émigrés, working with Elizabeth Skobtsova, who became the Orthodox nun known as “Mother Maria” and died in the Ravensbrück concentration camp as punishment for rescuing Jews during the German occupation. Mother Maria has since been canonized by the Orthodox Church. Surviving the occupation, the Koulomzin family lived in Paris and then in the French provinces, where they also helped Soviet prisoners of war taken by the Germans.
In 1948 the Koulomzins moved to Nyack, NY, and Mrs Koulomzin resumed work as a religious educator, creating an English-language education program and lecturing across the country. She founded the Orthodox Christian Education Commission (OCEC) to coordinate the work of the various Orthodox Christian church jurisdictions in America.
Faculty in 1958 At Union Seminary: back row (left to right): Boris Ledkovsky, Fr Paul Schneirla, Veselin Kesich, Archimandrite Dr Firmilian, Nicholas Ozerov; front row: Sophie Koulomzin, Alexander Bogolepov, Fr Alexander Schmemann, Nicholas Arseniev, Serge Verhovskoy
Beginning in 1954, she taught for nearly 20 years at St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary. Her tenure at the seminary began with an invitation from Seminary Dean Fr Georges Florovsky to present a lecture on Christian education to a clergy meeting. Her expertise was immediately recognized and she was hired to teach a regular course on religious education. Mrs Koulomzin worked alongside theologians and scholars whom she had known from her life in France, including Fr Alexander Schmemann, whom she had taught as a young boy in her religious education classes in Paris.
Fr Schmemann wrote the forwardto Mrs Koulomzin’s book, Lectures in Orthodox Religious Education (now out of print), which summarized the course she taught each year at St Vladimir’s Seminary. He enthusiastically affirmed Mrs Koulomzin’s aptitude for her work, saying, “...in the Orthodox Church in America nothing is more needed today than a clear formulation of religious teaching…No one is better qualified to guide us in this responsible task than Mrs Sophie Koulomzine. Her academic teaching is the fruit of a life-long experience in the field of religious education and her work during the last years as Executive Secretary of the Orthodox Christian Education Commission has won the admiration of those, who are privileged to be associated with her.”
Saint Vladimir's Seminary 1962 yearbook biography
In 1970, St Vladimir’s Seminary recognized Mrs Koulomzin’s great contributions and work in building up Orthodox religious education in America and abroad by awarding her the Degree of Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa.
Mrs Koulomzin spoke of her life’s work in humble terms, writing in her 1980 memoir, Many Worlds: A Russian Life, that the Orthodox community’s “appreciation of my personal work was often exaggerated. As a matter of fact I was an elderly woman, a housewife, a mother and grandmother, with no theological education, but bearing within me the heritage of a great Christian culture and of a great Orthodox revival, shaped by catastrophic historic events. I could speak to teachers and parents in our common, family-life kind of language, making our daily life experience part of our experience of life with God. My particular capacities happened to meet at the right moment the strong need of the people. The greatness of their need and of their receptivity conferred on me a dimension I did not really have” (p. 301).
After her official retirement in 1974, she continued working. At the time of her death she was president of “Religious Books for Russia,” founded to send Bibles and religious literature to Russia.
Mrs Koulomzin's books, including God Is with Us, History of the Orthodox Church, and Our Church and Our Children, have become classic texts in Orthodox Christian Religious Education, including within Russia itself. Her memoir, Many Worlds: A Russian Life, written when she was 77, ends with an account of her first visit back to her homeland, in 1970. In July 1999 Patriarch Alexy II, primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, issued her the “Order of St Olga” for her many years of service to the Church.
All current seminarians at St Vladimir’s Seminary are invited to compete in this year’s St Matthias Essay Contest!* The deadline to submit your essay is 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, October 1, 2024.
The St Matthias Merit Scholarship Essay Contest has been offered annually since 2018, thanks to the generous contributions of a family of anonymous donors. These donors select the topic of the essay contest each year and develop thorough and thoughtful criteria to determine the winner.
This year's topic is as follows:
After carefully reviewing their child's first year of public education, the child's parents adjusted their budget and started teaching their son at home. (Refer to the2023 St Matthias Essay prompt for background.) As a decade passed, it became evident that homeschooling had definitely led to positive outcomes for their child and family.
In this decade, homeschooling is harder on the family budget. Yet, homeschool enrollment is rising rapidly as more and more parents hope for and work towards successful outcomes for their children and families. However, increasingly more couples are no longer wanting to have children.
Essay Question: What comfort is there in hoping and laboring for the best outcome of one's children when one can choose an easier lifestyle by avoiding them? In answering the question, include Proverbs 16: 2-3 and limit your essay to 750 words.
Please submit your essays to klin@svots.edu no later than Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, with the following items in the header:
1.) Printed name of author
2.) Signature of author
3.) Date of submission
This year's scholarship for the first-place essay will be $3,500.
To read past winning essays of the St Matthias Merit Scholarship Essay Contest, clickhere.
*If you have already won a St Matthias Scholarship in the past, please kindly abstain from participating.
The newest hire at St Vladimir’s Seminary, Zachariah Mandell (M.Div. ’20), has a multi-faceted job description: Director of Admissions, Financial Aid, and Alumni Relations and Assistant Director of Chapel Music. We sat down with Zach to talk about his upbringing, his own journey within the Church, and his vision for seminarian life and community.
Zach, please share a bit about your upbringing in the Church and your ties to the seminary.
I was born into a cradle Orthodox family in central Pennsylvania with a mix of Carpatho-Rusyn, Slovak, and some Russian roots. My dad has always been the choir director of the parishes we’ve been a part of, and my mom has always been a leading soprano. Both sides of my family were largely Orthodox; on my mom’s side, my grandfather, Fr Thomas Hopko, and great-grandfather, Fr Alexander Schmemann, are well-known for their contributions at St Vladimir’s. Even with these deep roots, there was never any pressure to go to seminary, for which I'm really grateful because it really ended up, thank God, being my own journey, my own decisions, my own movement.
Zach directing the righthand choir at St Vladimir’s Seminary on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, 2024
I think I can point to a few experiences where I started to engage my own faith more seriously. I went to Penn State University, and one of the big reasons I went, other than wanting to march in the Blue Band, was because it had such a strong OCF associated with it and a strong parish, Holy Trinity Orthodox Church. When you're in college, it’s not always easy to wake up on Sunday morning to go to church, and having that support, those friendships, and the choir to sing with were all really important for me as a college student.
Marching in the Penn State Blue Band, Fall 2013
In my junior year of college, I studied abroad in Greece, and as a deeply naive 20-year-old, I was thinking to myself, “This is amazing–it's an Orthodox country, so it's going to be so easy to just be 'orthodoxing' all the time.” I had already traveled abroad in Mexico, Egypt, and Italy, but this turned out to be the first time in my life that I felt homesick or had ever experienced culture shock, and those feelings were particularly strong in the context of church. I wasn’t prepared for how isolating it felt to be in church where everything was so familiar but not familiar at the same time, and it pulled the rug out from under me a little bit.
Part of what made it so difficult was that as a classics major, we were required to visit archaeological digs and museums every weekend, so I wasn't really going to church much at all while I was there. After the first month or so, I'd go and sit on a rock somewhere with a view of the Acropolis and listen to a recorded liturgy (this was before live-streaming), and I thought that could be enough to have some connection to church.
I think it was the difference in the aesthetics of worship, and probably, my own immaturity, that was making me feel a bit isolated. What furthered that isolation was not just missing the music I liked, but missing something very real—the communion of church, both the Eucharist itself and the extended communion, the community. It makes sense, especially having grown up so deeply rooted in a specific church tradition. Being in that same church but feeling like it wasn’t my own challenged my sense of identity because I wasn’t comfortable in a way I always had been.
At an archaeological site in Greece, Spring 2013
That was a turning point, a critical experience for me. I had been going to church before that, but the feeling of missing something, that hunger for communion and community, made me realize that my faith wasn’t just an idea; it was something real.
I was fortunate to have the opportunity to go back to Greece this past year, and I realized, "I can do this now." This new sense of appreciation came from more experience, more curiosity about things that aren’t my way—exploring that discomfort, learning to say, "This is uncomfortable, but that’s interesting."
And after that experience in Greece, and even a little bit before that, I started engaging more. That’s when I began to really talk to my grandfather–in the last few years of his life–and have more serious conversations with him.
At the same time, I was working at youth camps—specifically, the New England Archdiocese Youth Rally, where I worked from 2012 to 2019. That’s when I really started engaging with the priests there, seeing them as mentors: Fr John Hopko, my uncle, Fr Sergius Halvorsen (who I now work with), and Father Dennis Rhodes. That’s when I began to read more. I studied Greek and Latin Language and Literature in college, and that gave me a little window into a new curiosity as I began reading the Church Fathers and even just the Gospel, thinking, “Wow, look at the Greek!” There was so much depth. I’d think, “Oh, this word is so cool.”
And, you know, as a millennial, of course, I was listening to podcasts. But don’t worry, it was Fr Tom’s podcast! That was such a gift for me—not just for my own spiritual formation and education, but also because it gave me a way to experience my grandfather as a teacher. I saw how other people experienced him and realized, “Huh, that’s just how he is.” It showed me a more complete picture of him, especially at that point in his life. I saw a person who was clearly striving toward wholeness. I’d listen to a podcast and think, “Yep, same guy who holds court at Thanksgiving, talking about Church Fathers and Scripture, telling people, ‘No, you’re wrong.’” (laughter)
A family visit to Ellwood City, PA
It was like listening to him in real life, and in these later years, experiencing him in those two ways helped me see how others saw him. I felt like I had a connection, like when someone would ask, “What’s he like?” and I’d say, “Well, kind of like what you see, but also, I’ve gone fishing with him, and he kisses the fish before throwing them back in the water.” All of us grandkids have memories like that.
On the lake with Grandpa
I applied to grad school during my last year of college because that’s just what you do when you study something as esoteric as Classics and Greek and Latin Literature—you apply for grad school. So, I went to grad school, and I got one semester in. Then I went to the OCF College Conference, and I thought, “I think I’m going to apply to seminary.”
Two months before my grandfather passed away, in January 2015, I visited him on my way back to school and told him, “I think I’d like to go to seminary.” He encouraged me to finish my degree first and then go to seminary, and that’s exactly what I did.
Thank you for sharing that fascinating look into your journey within your own faith and your deep family ties to the seminary. You are now the Assistant Director of Chapel Music here. Let's talk about your musical background. How did your interest in music begin? Was it mainly through your family, and how did playing instruments fit in? How did you grow into what you’re doing now?
Yeah, so in the beginning, as I mentioned earlier, my dad was always the choir director at the parishes I grew up in, and my family was very musical—my mom’s a singer, and my dad was a music teacher and choir director. Some of my earliest memories are of going to church with my dad when I was about four, going to Vespers, standing in the choir loft, and singing along to the bass part with my squeaky little voice. There’s even video evidence of me singing along with my dad in Vespers. So, I grew up with music in church, always around the choir loft.
When I was in elementary school, I started playing trombone, which was hard to avoid with a dad who was a band director. I started in fourth grade, even though the band director told me my arms were too short to play it—I chose trombone anyway. I loved it and kept playing through high school, while also singing in every ensemble.
Church music was always something I loved, but it really blossomed in college. I was asked to be the choir director at Holy Trinity in State College during my senior year, and that’s when I really started to dive into the services, the liturgical flow, and the beauty of hymnography. There was so much depth in matins and hymnography that I hadn’t experienced in my home parish.
Directing the choir at Sts Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, Buffalo, NY, Spring 2016
After graduating, I moved to Buffalo, where a parish needed a choir director. Fr Vlad Zablotskyy hired me, and as a poor grad student, I jumped at the chance. That experience shaped my love for liturgical music—not just the music itself, but also the role of the choir. I started to understand how we lead the congregation, not just sing. It became one of my core focuses when I went to seminary, where I wanted to dive deeper into liturgical texts, hymnography, history, and the pastoral aspects of church music.
While at seminary, I took advantage of every opportunity to study conducting, music theory, and composition. Deacon Harrison Russin and Robin Freeman created classes for those of us who were really interested, and I was able to conduct and sing at a high level in the chapel, in performances, and in recordings.
After graduating, I was hired as the full-time choir director at St Mary’s Orthodox Cathedral in Minneapolis. It was an incredible opportunity to apply what I had learned and explore what it meant to be in a pastoral role—working with people of different backgrounds, desires, and spiritual needs. At St Mary’s, we explored deeply what it means to be a church choir, and how to put that into practice.
Performing a choral concert at St Mary’s Orthodox Cathedral, Minneapolis, MN, December 2022
In terms of objectives, especially at a place with a high musical level, it’s easy to get preoccupied with the music itself, but the balance is important. Choirs in the Orthodox Church have a lot to balance. On one hand, services will happen no matter what, people are often volunteering, and life happens, so it's not entirely about musical perfection. It's a service and ministry, a sacrifice of praise, and we bring ourselves and offer ourselves where and when we are. On the other hand, we're also striving to offer our best to God. We offer the first-fruits, the whole-burnt offering–so it's also, I would say, not just a nice idea but necessary to be intentional, mindful, and strive to sing the music well so that our service and ministry of leading the congregation in worship can be beautiful, prayerful, AND unobtrusive. And maybe most importantly, it's necessary to have the ability to move on and be mindful of the moment, not to be distracted by the mistakes (or even the really beautiful moments), but to say, ok, thank God, whoops, wow, and continue. So I guess what I mean to say is that, as a service and ministry in the church, we're trying to balance where we are now with where we want to be in a way that keeps us engaged but not obsessed with progress or mistakes, and also that is not static. The Orthodox faith is dynamic, and I believe a choir should strive to reflect that, always becoming something more together.
So for us, it wasn’t just about concerts—our role was primarily the services. How do we engage with that? How do we become a group within the parish that is welcoming and part of the larger community, while still being a distinct group? That was the beautiful challenge we embraced.
Directing at St Vladimir’s as a seminarian
Coming back here after directing for a few years in a parish has been really cool. Standing on the same podium where my hands were once shaky, now with more experience, feels like a beautiful snapshot of my life’s trajectory—same guy, same place, but a different world. There are so many talented singers here right now, and building musical trust with them so quickly has been incredibly exciting. I’m really looking forward to what we’ll get to do together this year. So, I guess there's a bit of a "stay tuned" there!
It’s also worth mentioning that you're also a composer. You attended the 2023 Summer Music Institute Composition Workshop with Benedict Sheehan, where your music was performed and analyzed. Are you still involved in composing?
Yes, I am, though I haven't produced anything recently. But the composition process is something I’ve been really passionate about over the last few years. After the 2023 workshop, I convinced some music colleagues from Minneapolis to start composition workshops with me, where we’d bring our music and work through it together.
Having his composition sung in the Composer’s Reading Session during the 2023 Summer Music Institute
Last October, at the Midwest Diocesan Assembly, I was proud to bring six or seven compositions from my friends and fellow singers in Minneapolis and St Paul to share with the St Andrew of Crete Music Society. It was such an incredible moment—realizing we were doing something so special.
Now, I’ve had the chance to work with talented composers on campus, talking about their music, playing with it, and helping them shape it. Even just having a small role in helping them find what they want it to be has been so cool. I’m feeling inspired to pick up the pencil again and get those creative juices flowing!
Moving on to your experience as a seminarian at St Vladimir’s Seminary. In your new role as Director of Admissions, Financial Aid, and Alumni Relations, how does your experience as a seminarian shape your vision for the student experience here? We’ve already seen you get involved in community life beyond your formal role. Can you talk about that?
Sure. Being a seminarian, and now working at the seminary, I’ve come to realize the importance of balance. Seminary life is intense, to put it mildly. Deacon Harrison Russin said it well at orientation: in grad school, you’re a student. But in seminary, you’re a student, you're serving, you're forming—it’s many roles combined. There are so many expectations, like helping out with last-minute tasks for visiting bishops, alongside community service and chapel life. It’s a humbling experience, and it requires sacrifice.
For me, as a single guy coming from grad school, the transition was easier than for some who give up a lot—stable family life, careers—to come to seminary. But I still experienced imbalance, focusing too much on my tasks and neglecting myself. It’s a blessing to be back here now, and while I don’t claim to have magical wisdom, I can offer my experience to current students. I live in the same space as them and try to model the balance I believe is important. Balance isn’t something you achieve and hold on to—it’s a constant process of falling down and getting up again.
It’s really fulfilling to see new students come in, often being the first person they meet as Admissions Director, and to share my journey with them, offering encouragement and support. I respect anyone who makes the decision to come here—it’s not one made lightly.
Reflecting on my own time here, by my last year, I was so focused on grades and perfection that I started getting migraines and vertigo—deeply stress-related. It wasn’t just the workload, but how I approached it. Expectations—both from others and myself—were high, and I realized I had to rethink how I invested my energy. Not everything is life or death, and you have to be able to keep going.
With seminary classmates and friends
After seminary, I sought therapy and started reorienting how I approached myself and others. I realized that when Christ says to love your neighbor as yourself, the “as yourself” part matters. If you don’t care for yourself, you won’t last long trying to serve others. Learning to love myself was hard, but crucial. Without grace for myself, I couldn’t truly extend it to others.
That’s something I tell every new student—you won’t make it through here or anywhere else unless you work towards balance and self-care. It’s vital, especially in the face of the pressures at seminary, where everyone is focused on important formation for future work.
It’s also about finding community. We’re all going through this journey in different ways, but we can find strength together. When I was a student, my friends and I shared the struggles of classes and life here. Married and single students alike face challenges, especially families who can feel isolated. Building a supportive community from the start makes a world of difference, and it models how life in the church should be—living in community, supporting, and praying for one another.
As an alumnus, and now, the newly minted Director of Alumni Relations, how would you like to build up the community of students who have already graduated? You're already building up the community here. How about the alumni community?
As Director of Alumni Relations, my focus is really on just that–relations. I want to build and maintain relationships with alumni and stay connected with those who are graduating now. My goal is to help alumni connect with each other, hear their stories, and share what they’re doing.
A lot of us can feel isolated in our ministries—whether you’re a priest, choir director, or Sunday school teacher, it can feel a little lonely out there. Personally, many of my closest friends are from seminary, and we stay in touch at least weekly, if not daily. I’d love to expand that sense of camaraderie.
Enjoying a local Greek Festival with seminarians and their families, September 2024
One of the key things I want to do is share stories—what people are doing, and how they’re navigating their ministries. And I want everyone to know, my phone is always on—please call, reach out, share what’s happening.
It’s so important for us here at St Vladimir’s Seminary to know what our alumni are doing, to celebrate their efforts, and to lift each other up. That’s how we can all stay connected and brought together.
Thank you for sharing so many wonderful ideas and thoughts today, Zach. To wrap up our interview, do you have a favorite seminary memory or something fun to share?
Oh man, some fun seminary memories! One fantastic memory was building the community garden on campus during the summer of 2018. A group of us worked together, thinking about what it all meant, but mostly just doing it—building something as a team. That fall, through the St Herman Society, we dried the herbs and hot peppers we grew, which was quite an adventure. We even used marigolds and nasturtiums from the garden to make table settings for Ed Day. That was such a special memory.
Enjoying the fruits of his labors in the seminary garden
Besides that, it was the joy of singing. We had some fantastic concert series while I was here, and those are some wonderful memories. Then there were the late-night chats in the hallway with friends, getting so excited about whatever we were discussing, telling ourselves, "We should go to bed," but then starting up again.
It sounds like you're making new memories now with the community and some fun new initiatives like the fermentation club.
Yes, the fermentation club has been great! There are some really inspiring students here who have a gift for bringing people together. Just last night, the north side of campus had a little bonfire block party. Anyone was welcome, and we stayed up late, reminding ourselves about liturgy the next day but just enjoying being together. I think the pizza ovens are coming out for the next one!
On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Precious and Lifegiving Cross, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon (OCA) raised Seminary faculty member, Assistant Professor of Liturgical Theology, the Rev. Dn Dr Vitaly Permiakov, to the Holy Priesthood. His Beatitude arrived on Friday, September 13, and presided over the Festal Vigil that evening and the Divine Liturgy on the following day. The Vigil was sung by antiphonal choirs; a male ensemble led by the Rev. Dn Dr Harrison Russin, and the mixed choir led by Zachariah Mandell. Several smaller student ensembles sang select pieces prepared for the feast. At the conclusion of the Great Vigil, His Beatitude performed the solemn rite of the Exaltation of the Cross, as the choir sang 500 repetitions of the petition “Lord have mercy.”
Concelebrating at the Divine Liturgy with His Beatitude were the Very Rev. Dr Chad Hatfield, Skvir Professor of Pastoral Theology, the Very Rev. Dr Alexander Rentel, OCA Chancellor, the Very Rev. Alessandro Margheritino, OCA Secretary, the Very Rev. Dr Kirill Sokolov, Chancellor of the Diocese of the West, the Rev. Alexis Torrance (University of Notre Dame, Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Throne), the Rev. Demetrios Harper (St Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary), and chancery, seminary, and visiting clergy.
In his homily during the Divine Liturgy, His Beatitude spoke of the Cross as central to our Christian worship and path to salvation; through the Cross, “Christ has made death a passage way into life, life everlasting, life abundant and overflowing, life incomparable to this fleeting life, life not as the world knows or gives.”
At the conclusion of the Liturgy, Interim President and Academic Dean, Dr Ionuț-Alexandru Tudorie, welcomed His Beatitude and the visiting clergy warmly, and expressed his joy and gratitude for the ordination of his fellow faculty member. Seminary students, staff, and faculty congratulated Fr Vitaly heartily, at the service and via the Seminary Whatsapp group, with one student saying, “Axios to the man who taught me the Liturgy!”
Fr Vitaly celebrated his first Divine Liturgy as a priest the following day, Sunday, September 15, in Three Hierarchs Chapel.
About the Rev. Dr Vitaly Permiakov
Born to a Russian family in Riga, Latvia, Fr Vitaly Permiakov, Ph.D. relocated to the United States in 1999 after completing his undergraduate studies. He entered St Vladimir’s Seminary with the blessing of the late Archbishop Dmitri (Royster) of Dallas (OCA) (d. 2011). After finishing seminary, Fr Vitaly enrolled in a doctoral program in Liturgical Studies at the University of Notre Dame, where in 2012 he defended his dissertation on the history and origins of the Byzantine rite for the consecration of churches. Fr Vitaly taught at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary (Jordanville, NY) from 2011 to 2020, and joined the full-time faculty at St Vladimir's Seminary in August 2020.
Fr Vitaly's ordination to the priesthood marked the next milestone in his 22-year journey through the ecclesiastical ranks of the Church, all of which took place at Three Hierarchs Chapel at St Vladimir’s Seminary. He was tonsured to the rank of reader as a seminarian in 2002. In 2021, on the Feast of the Annunciation, he was ordained subdeacon. On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, September 14, 2021, he was ordained to the Holy Diaconate through the hand of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon. Three years later, His Beatitude ordained Fr Vitaly to the priesthood on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, September 14, 2024.
May God grant the newly ordained Fr Vitaly Permiakov many blessed years!
The Rev. Dr Jacob Joseph's book delves into the intersection of Orthodox Christian mission and caste dynamics among the St Thomas/Syrian/Orthodox Christians in India. It necessitates Orthodox theology's engagement with society and contemporary challenges. The book introduces the profound concept of a liturgical embrace in the context of 'untouchability,' where individuals recognize each other as equals, without discrimination. This reflects the inseparable unity of divine (transcendental) and human (immanent) in Christ. Fr Jacob proposes a 'patristic symbiosis' in which the voices of the patristic and contemporary Fathers engage in a discourse, which is the correct methodological vision for Orthodox theology to engage in the modern context. It favors polyphonic responses over monophonic ones, taking into account the missionary signs and symptoms of the time.
His Eminence Mor Titus Yeldho, Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of the Malankara Archdiocese in North America and an alumnus of St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (M.Div. ‘03), presided at the event.
SVOTS Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology, the Very Rev. Dr Eric Tosi introduced Fr Jacob and his new book, inviting all those in attendance to consider how Christ lived on the margins of his contemporary society.
This presentation was a unique opportunity for SVOTS seminarians across various jurisdictions to come together and deepen their understanding of Christianity in India and how Gospel teachings inform the missionary efforts there. Seminarians who attended the event gave enthusiastic feedback on the presentation. One student from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Pavlo Kurganov (Th.M. ‘25), remarked,
“Fr Jacob Joseph started by saying that the mission to the people begins from within the Church. First, we should seek peace and theological agreement within the Orthodox communities in India, and theology and liturgical practice are very helpful in this. Father Jacob spoke about the "kiss of peace" in the Liturgy as the symbol of unity that we shall all strive for.
He also suggested the idea of patristic symbiosis: hearing the Church Fathers and trying to understand the same truth they proclaimed, which they delivered to us through different languages, symbols, and traditions. Father Jacob emphasized acquiring the Church Fathers' mind or mindset which is a foundation of effective missionary work.”
Another student, Mother Melania Mikhaiel (M.A. ‘26), from the Monastery of St Macarius the Great (OCA), expressed her appreciation for Fr Jacob’s talk, saying, “I didn’t have any exposure to the Orthodox Church of India before coming to the seminary. It was a great experience to get to hear directly from Fr Jacob about how they too cherish the patristic teachings of the early Church and see it as the fundamental foundation of the Church through which Christ will embrace all.”
Luke Anderson (M.Div. ‘27), hailing from the OCA Diocese of the Midwest, commented that he “appreciated that His Eminence Mor Titus Yeldho led students and faculty in prayer after the event. Not only is such prayer valuable in of itself, but it gives an insight into the theological heart of Syriac Orthodoxy that Fr Jacob is writing from in his book.”
About the Rev. Dr Jacob Joseph
Fr Jacob Joseph is a Syrian Orthodox priest from India. Fr Jacob holds a Ph.D. (2020) with a Chancellor's Award from the University of Divinity, Melbourne, Australia, and teaches patristics and the contemporary theology of mission at St Athanasius Coptic Theological College, Melbourne, Australia; at Agora University in Virginia, USA; and the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Seminary in Kerala, India. He has presented numerous papers on Orthodoxy, liturgy, mission, and theology at various national and international academic conferences.
St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) marked the beginning of the 2024 Fall Semester on Thursday, August 22, 2024. His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of All America and Canada (OCA) led the Moleben (prayer service) for the Beginning of a New Academic Year, attended by SVOTS faculty and the incoming class. At the conclusion of the service, His Beatitude exhorted the new students, saying, “…the task at hand for you, as incoming seminarians, is to take up your studies, under the oversight of the interim President and Academic Dean, Dr Alex Tudorie, learning from the distinguished faculty with their many years of collective wisdom and experience, and supported by the hard-working staff. And to take up this task within the often challenging context of the seminary community.”
Interim President and Academic Dean, Dr Ionuț-Alexandru Tudorie, addresses the new students and faculty
Immediately following the Moleben, each member of the faculty welcomed the new students and shared encouragement for the rigorous training ahead of them. Interim President and Academic Dean, Dr Ionuț-Alexandru Tudorie, urged the students to engage deeply with the faculty throughout their studies and to always speak up in case of need, academic or otherwise. Applauding the students for leaving behind comfortable careers and homes to come to seminary, Associate Professor of New Testament, Dr John Barnet, offered his words of thanks to the students, saying, “I am in awe of each and every one of you.”
Later in the evening, the St Juliana Society also hosted its first gathering for the Fall 2024 semester. The St Juliana Society, named after St Juliana Lazarevo, was formed in 2010 by Mka Thekla Hatfield to support future clergy wives by hosting speakers on topics related to parish life and service. A separate women’s group was also established to facilitate events encouraging fun and fellowship for all the women on campus. In response to recent suggestions by women on campus, the SJS will now be open to seminarian and faculty wives, single women students, and female SVOTS staff and faculty. Dr Patricia Bouteneff and returning trustee Tatiana Hoff have stepped in to guide the Society for the coming semester.
His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon addresses the St Juliana Society
After enjoying refreshments near the John G. Rangos Building koi pond, Dr Tudorie opened the meeting, before His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon gave the opening remarks. His Beatitude encouraged the attendees to remember the words of the Lord to St Peter, "...when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish (John 21.18)." He assured the women that life at seminary and in future ministry would often involve challenging situations and circumstances. Using his own experience as an example, he suggested that, even when you find yourself going "where you do not wish," humility and trust in the Lord's will can lead to deeper love for God and spiritual maturity.
The group adjourned to the seminary board room to meet incoming Director of Admissions Zach Mandell, after which Patricia Bouteneff then gave a brief overview of upcoming events, invited the group of 25 women to introduce themselves and consider discussion topics and questions they would like to ask potential future speakers. As Dr Bouteneff said, “It is always a joy to bring Orthodox women together across jurisdictional lines, and we can’t wait to get things underway this year!”
Members of the St Juliana Society at this year’s inaugural meeting
Student Orientation sessions continued over the following three days, concluding with the General Student Meeting in the afternoon of Sunday, August 25. During this annual meeting including the entire student body, faculty and staff reviewed updates to policies related to community service and residential life.
Thirty-two students are beginning their first year of studies in their respective degree programs: fifteen in the Master of Divinity (M.Div.) program, three in the Master of Arts (M.A.) program, six in the Master of Theology (Th.M.) program, one in a special one-year program, and seven in the Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) program.
Faculty, staff, and seminarians and their families enjoy a welcome reception at the Germack building
The incoming class of twenty-nine men and three women hail from four countries: the United States, Canada, Ukraine, and Serbia. The seminarians represent eight Eastern and Oriental Orthodox jurisdictions:
Orthodox Church in America (OCA)
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCANA)
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese (GOA)
Serbian Orthodox Church
Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Macedonian Orthodox Church
Armenian Apostolic Church
Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church
One first-year seminarian, Scott Strickland, is coming to seminary from the Antiochian Orthodox Diocese of Miami and the Southeast (DOMSE) to enter the Master of Divinity program and offered his thoughts on beginning his theological studies.
"I am looking forward to exploring the depths of the Orthodox understanding of the deification of man. The future of the church rests on unlocking the potentiality of every human person in relation to God. It is time for us to believe and reclaim who we were always meant to be in Christ."
Counting the incoming class, the total student body at SVOTS this year is ninety-five seminarians.
Assistant Director of Chapel Music and Director of Admissions, Financial Aid, and Alumni Relations, Zach Mandell
Welcoming the students this year is the latest addition to the SVOTS faculty and staff, Zachariah Mandell, Assistant Director of Chapel Music and Director of Admissions, Financial Aid, and Alumni Relations. Zach is an alumnus himself (M.Div. ‘20), and is “excited to engage with students from their earliest explorations of seminary education, during their time at St Vladimir’s Seminary in class, in choir, and in life, and as alumni in their work and ministries.”
Assistant Professor of Liturgical Music and Associate Dean for Residential Life, the Rev. Dn Dr Harrison Basil Russin
In another notable update to the Seminary administrative team this year, the Rev. Dn Dr Harrison Basil Russin will serve as Associate Dean for Residential Life, in addition to his faculty position as Assistant Professor of Liturgical Music. Dn Harrison brings a hands-on approach to residential life at the seminary, drawing upon his own experience living on campus with his family for close to a decade. Regarding his new position, Dn Harrison remarked, “I look forward to serving the residential community of the Seminary, helping to keep it a safe location with an edifying community centered around the liturgical worship of the chapel. This position is certainly brand new to me, but I am willing to serve however I am called.”
The new academic year also brings two new additions to the part-time faculty: Dr Ani Shahinian, Assistant Professor of Armenian Christian Art and Culture, and Dr Sarah Byrne-Martelli, Assistant Professor of Spiritual Care.
May the intercessions of the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, our patron Great and Holy Prince Vladimir, and all the saints be with our seminarians, faculty, and staff as a new academic year commences in service to Christ!
