St. Vladimir’s Seminary Trustees elect Dean, Provost

The Rev. John Behr [right] and the Very Rev. Chad Hatfield [left] were elected to the positions of dean and provost for St. Vladimir’s Seminary, Crestwood, NY, during their meeting of November 2006.

CRESTWOOD, NY [OCA Communications] — The Board of Trustees of Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, Crestwood, NY, elected the Rev. John Behr and the Very Rev. Chad Hatfield to the positions of dean and provost, or chief executive officer, respectively.

The election took place at the trustee’s meeting during the third week of November 2006.

As dean, Father John will preside over the ecclesial and educational life of the seminary, while Father Chad will oversee the school’s organizational operations.

Both Fathers John and Chad will report to the Board of Trustees, presided over by the seminary’s president, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman.

Father John, the current professor of Patristics at Saint Vladimir’s and a prolific author, is widely regarded as one of the eminent theologians of our time. Having studied under His Grace, Bishop Kallistos [Ware], he received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Theology from Oxford University and his Master of Theology degree from Saint Vladimir’s. His most recently published books include The Mystery of Christ: Life in Death [SVS Press, 2006] and The Nicene Faith, volume 2 of The Formation of Christian Theology [SVS Press, 2004]. He also has published numerous articles and papers and has lectured throughout the world on Orthodox theology.

Father John is a member of the OCA Department of Pastoral Life and Ministry and a consultant for the OCA Office of External Affairs and Inter-Church Relations.

Ordained to the priesthood in 2001, Father John is the editor of Saint Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly and the Popular Patristics Series and serves as faculty supervisor for the Inter- Seminary Dialogue. He and his wife Kate and their two sons and daughter live on the seminary campus.

Father Chad has served as dean of Saint Herman’s Seminary, Kodiak, AK, since 2002. He holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He received his Master of Divinity and Master of Sacred Theology degrees from Nashotah House Seminary in Wisconsin in 1978 and 1988 respectively.

Ordained to the priesthood by His Grace, Bishop Basil of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America in 1994, Father Chad also serves as vice-president Orthodox Christian Mission Center board, co-chairman of the Orthodox Church in America’s Department of Evangelization, and member of the OCA Board of Theological Education. He is also a member of the editorial advisory board for Christian Bioethics Journal and a member of the Kodiak College Advisory Council.

Father Chad and his wife, Thekla, will relocate to Saint Vladimir’s campus at the end of the current academic year.

A key objective for Fathers John and Chad will be the implementation of the new faculty-developed, board-approved “Good Pastor” curriculum, which integrates academic seminars and course work with practical training, especially in homiletics and teaching.

The priests will assume their duties upon the completion of the term of the current dean, the Rev. John Erickson, in June 2007.

In announcing the appointments, Metropolitan Herman said, “To address the challenges of theological education today and to fulfill its mission in the fullest possible sense, we could not be more pleased to have two such shining stars of the Orthodox world, and brothers in Christ, leading Saint Vladimir’s.”