Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement Revived
Over thirty seminarians met for the first Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement (OISM) meeting of the 2003-2004 academic year at St Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary here on September 26-28, 2003.
The goal of the weekend gathering was to revive OISM, which had been inactive for several years. Students from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline, MA; Saint Vladimir Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood, NY; and Saint Tikhon Seminary attended the event.
On Saturday, the seminarians participated in the Divine Liturgy, after which the V. Rev. Daniel Kovalak, Adjunct Lecturer in pastoral theology at Saint Tikhon Seminary, gave a lecture about missions. After lunch, the seminarians were given a tour of the monastery grounds and its icon repository.
After the Sunday morning Divine Liturgy, an OISM interim board was elected to draft bylaws, which will be presented at the next meeting. Paul Gabriel Erickson of Saint Tikhon’s was elected president, while Joseph Matusiak of Saint Vladimir’s was elected vice president. Elected secretary and treasurer respectively were Haralambos Fox of Holy Cross and Alexander Vallens of Saint Tikhon’s.
Each seminary also elected a representative to serve as a liaison between the interim board and their respective schools.
Initially organized in the 1960s to foster closer relationships between students of canonical Orthodox seminaries in the US and Canada, the new OISM board pledged to begin a new era in cooperation and communications between theological schools and their students.
Saint Vladimir Seminary is slated to host the next OISM meeting, tentatively slated to be held in spring 2004.