Metropolitans Ambrosios of Korea and Nathanael of Kos and Nisyros to represent Ecumenical Patriarch at the 43rd Biennial Clergy-Laity Congress

| June 2, 2016

His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America was informed yesterday by a letter from His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew that Metropolitans Ambrosios of Korea and Nathanael of Kos and Nisyros will represent His All Holiness and the Ecumenical Patriarchate at the 43rd Biennial Clergy-Laity Congress, to be held July 3-8, 2016 at the at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Επίσκεψη του Δημάρχου Θεσσαλονίκης Γιάννη Μπουτάρη στον Αρχιεπίσκοπο Δημήτριο

| May 31, 2016

Ο Σεβασμιώτατος Αρχιεπίσκοπος Αμερικής κ. Δημήτριος δέχθηκε σήμερα στο γραφείο του στην έδρα της Ιεράς Αρχιεπισκοπής Αμερικής, τον Δήμαρχο Θεσσαλονίκης κ. Γιάννη Μπουτάρη και την αντιπροσωπεία του Δήμου που τον συνοδεύει στο ταξίδι του στην Αμερική.

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary Celebrates Its 68th Commencement

| May 29, 2016

On Sunday, May 29, 2016 Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary concluded the 2015-2016 academic year with the Commencement Ceremonies celebrating the achievements of the Class of 2016. His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad, presided at the Hierarchal Vigil Saturday evening and at the Divine Liturgy on the Sunday of Samaritan Woman in concelebration with the clergy of Holy Trinity Monastery. At the Sixth Hour, His Eminence tonsured the third-year seminarian Sergey Kosov to the rank of reader and ordained him to the subdiaconate. At the Small Entrance of the Liturgy, the Rev. Priest Ephraim Willmarth, Assistant Dean of the Seminary, was awarded the right to wear the nabedrennik, and three deacons – the Rev. Dn Peter Markevich (’13), the Rev. Dn Andrei Psarev (’95), and the Rev. Dn Andrew Doubleday – were awarded double oraria. After the anaphora, Metropolitan Hilarion ordained Subdeacon Sergey Kosov to the holy diaconate. The homily after the communion verse was delivered in English and Russian by Reader Vitaly Permiakov, HTOS Instructor in Dogmatic and Liturgical Theology.

At 2 o’clock in the afternoon, despite the inclement weather, the faculty, staff, and students of the Seminary proceeded to the Holy Trinity Cathedral for the Thanksgiving Moleben, presided by Metropolitan Hilarion. After the Moleben and the group photo, all proceeded to the Seminary Hall, where the Very Rev. Archimandrite Luke, the Rector of the Seminary, opened the Commencement Exercises and offered his welcoming remarks, reflecting upon the need for the students of theology to continue asking questions, seeking the truth, following the example of the Samaritan Woman in the Gospel.

The focus of the Commencement ceremonies was the keynote address delivered by Dr Christopher Veniamin, Professor of Patristics at St Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (South Canaan, PA) and a spiritual child of late Elder Sophrony (Sakharov) of St John the Baptist Monastery in Essex. In his engaging talk, Dr Veniamin stressed the need for future pastors to persist in their discipline of prayer, calling upon the name of God, building a foundation for becoming true theologians.

Following the address, the diplomas were awarded to the members of the HTOS Class of 2016. Four seminarians – Reader Stanislav Matveev (magna cum laude), Daniil Semenov, Reader Stefan Stoyanov, and the Rev. Priest Seraphim Wing (in absentia) – received the degree of Bachelor of Theology. Two students – Reader Johannes Sanjaya and Nicholas Williams – were awarded Certificates in Pastoral Studies, and the Rev. Dn Dmitry Matveev received the Certificate in Theological Studies. In the address from the graduating class, Reader Stanislav Matveev, chosen by the Pedagogical Council as Valedictorian, reflected upon the experiences and challenges of living and studying at the Seminary as the ground for testing one’s own preparedness for the service to the Church.

Special recognition at the Commencement ceremonies was given to two faculty members who are leaving Holy Trinity Seminary at the end of this academic year: Mr Arseny G. Mikhalev (’09) who taught courses in Old and New Testament since 2012, and Mr Cyprian (Scott) Fennema, a graduate of Yale University, who taught Philosophy during the last academic year. The Rev. Ephraim Willmarth read the decision of the Pedagogical Council to recognize and to thank both departing faculty members for their good and faithful service to the Seminary and to wish them success and God’s blessing in their future endeavors. The presiding hierarch, His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion, concluded the ceremony with his closing remarks.

The 68th Commencement Exercises concluded with the reception in honor of the HTOS Class of 2016, as well as clergy, faculty, staff, students, and guests, on the lawn outside of the Seminary building. The Rector, the Administration, and the Faculty sincerely congratulate the Class of 2016 and wishes the new alumni of the Seminary the blessing of the Lord and every success in their future service to the holy Orthodox Church!

HTOS seeks Assistant Professor/Instructor in Holy Scripture

| April 22, 2016

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary

Jordanville, NY

 

Assistant Professor/Instructor in Holy Scripture

 

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary invites applications for the position of an Assistant Professor/Instructor in Holy Scripture for a one-year appointment, beginning September 1, 2016, with a possibility of renewal, depending on the results of annual review. Founded in 1948, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary is a college-level institution of higher education under the auspices of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), committed to continuation of the theological and spiritual legacy of the Russian Orthodox Church and to the training of future pastors and lay leaders to serve the Russian Church Abroad in North America and Europe.

 

The successful candidate will be expected to teach introductory courses to Old and New Testament in the undergraduate program, with the teaching load of four (4) courses a year.  Successful candidates should be able to teach Holy Scriptures from the perspective of the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church and therefore, are expected to have a strong background in Biblical and patristic studies. A completed Ph.D. or ABD in the field of his or her teaching is a preferred qualification.  If the candidate has not yet completed his or her doctorate, he or she will be appointed as Instructor and promoted to the Assistant Professorship upon completion of the terminal degree.   The unique character of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary as a pastoral academic institution requires deep familiarity with the Orthodox Christian tradition, and for this reason the candidates with the background in the Orthodox tradition will be given preference.

 

Please direct all applications to:  The Very Rev. Archimandrite Luke (Murianka), Rector, Chair of the Search Committee, by email addresscareers@hts.edu or by the mailing address P.O. Box 36, Jordanville, NY 13361.   Please submit your CV, statement of intent, graduate school transcripts, and three reference letters.  

 

The review of applications will begin on July 1, 2016, and will continue until the position is filled.   Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary is accredited by the Commissioner of Education and the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York with the Absolute Charter granted in 1962.

A Practical Canon Law Seminar with Metropolitan Jonah

| April 13, 2016

In the Orthodox Church bishops are not only required to defend canons, but they are the ones who decide how and when to apply them.  Therefore, it is absolutely necessary for Canon Law students to have an opportunity to meet with a proper canon law practitioner – a bishop.

During the two hour-Skype seminar on April 13 with His Eminence Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen) students were able to learn about variety of pastoral questions related to canons, and not the least among them, “why do we need to study canons if at the end of the day a bishop will decide how to implement them?”

The Seminary administration, course instructor Deacon Andrei Psarev, and the students of Canon Law thank His Eminence for making himself available to share his expertise with the future priests and lay leaders of the Russian Church Abroad.

3/26: Lecture on Scientism and mythologies of Progress in modern ‘science-religion’ debates

| March 21, 2016

On Saturday, March 26, 2016, Dr Alexander Pavuk delivered a lecture on scientism and mythologies of progress in modern ‘science-religion’ debates

Precis:

One of the most influential ongoing discussions in modern public culture centers on the putative relationship between ‘science’ and ‘religion.’ Taken up in recent decades by some influential and renowned figures including physicist Steven Hawking, British intellectual Alister McGrath, Orthodox thinkers Efthymios Nicolaidis and Dn. Andrei Kuraev, and others, the books and articles produced in this arena span crude reductionism to historically and theologically informed models of solid scholarship. Despite the latter works, however, popular narratives continue to reinvigorate worn-out old metaphors of science-religion conflict or warfare, narratives spurred on over time not only by self-styled ‘scientific atheists’ like Richard Dawkins but also by some who consider themselves Christian in the most fundamental senses. If one is to understand the nature of these debates and fruitfully engage believers and others interested in them, it is useful to consider the role of two crucial albeit unstated assumptions at work in much popular rhetoric: the historical myth of Progress and the philosophy of scientism. In this presentation I will outline some of the historical background of these ideas and consider their role in recent examples from the public science-religion conversation.