St. Vladimir’s Seminary announces 75th anniversary autumn events
“This fall, as we conclude our 75th anniversary year, we will bring some innovative events to our campus,” remarked Archpriest Dr. John Behr, Dean of Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Yonkers, NY, recently. “Our fall schedule is quite full, and it will hold some surprises in honor of our Jubilee.
“Most notably,” he continued, “Father John Erickson, former Dean of our school and Professor Emeritus of History, will present our inaugural Father John Meyendorff Annual Memorial Lecture in September, and in October, we will host a college conference with the theme ‘For the Life of the World,’ titled after the phenomenal book by Father Alexander Schmemann.
“With these two events,” he said, “we plan to give special honor to two former deans who had immeasurable impact upon our seminary during their tenures.”
The Father John Meyendorff First Annual Memorial Lecture will take place on Sunday evening, September 15, 2013, and is free and open to the public. The Meyendorff Lecture will be held in conjunction with special “Alumni Days” scheduled for September 15–16, 2013. Alumni interested in further details about the entire event may contact Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak, Director of Admissions and Alumni Relations, by e-mail at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or phone at 914-961-8313 x328.
The college conference, which will take place Saturday, October 5, 2013, will feature presentations by Priest Christopher Foley (alumnus, ’06), currently Rector of Exaltation of Holy Cross Church, High Point, NC, and Priest Joel Weir, a graduate of Saint Tikhon’s Seminary and Rector of Saint Stephen the First Martyr Church, Crawfordsville, IN. Both priests were chosen as speakers due to their transformative spiritual encounters with Father Alexander’s writings, among them his book For the Life of the World. The book celebrates its 50th year of publication, the first edition having been printed in 1963 by the National Student Christian Federation.
The college conference is being arranged by Protodeacon Joseph, who will be issuing special invitations to several Orthodox Christian Fellowships on campuses across the US. “In this unique year,” said Protodeacon Joseph, “our Events Committee decided to dedicate what normally would be Orthodox Education Day to the spiritual growth of college and university students. While due to the growing interest in the college conference we will not be able to accommodate the general public to our campus for this event, we will be podcasting the two talks by Fathers Christopher and Joel.”
Archpriest Dr. Chad Hatfield, Chancellor/CEO of the Seminary, added, “We are trying, during the next six months on our campus, to plan events that will accommodate a cross-section of Orthodox Christians, in keeping with our pledge to provide opportunities for educational and spiritual growth to all Church members.”
In addition to the Meyendorff Lecture and the college conference, the seminary’s musical Octet will be visiting two distinguished parishes this fall: Kimisis Tis Theotokou Church, Southampton, NY on November 10, served by the Very Rev. Alexander Karloutsos
and the Rev. Constantine Lazarakis, and Holy Trinity Church, Stroudsburg, PA, served by SVS alumnus Archpriest Dr. Nicholas Solak, on December 5. The Chorale and Octet also will join with a choir from Saint Joseph Seminary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York to present a joint a cappella concert, “Hymns to the Mother of God,” at St. Jean the Baptiste Church, New York, NY, on Monday, November 25, 2013.
The zenith of the Seminary’s efforts and events will be its 75th Anniversary Gala Benefit Banquet, which will be held Thursday, November 7, 2013, at 6:00 p.m. at the Glen Island Harbour Club, New Rochelle, NY. Special guest speakers will include alumnus, His Grace, Bishop Basil [Essey] of Wichita and Mid-America of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, and Archpriest Dr. John McGuckin, an Orthodox Christian professor at Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University and one of distinguished authors at SVS Press.
“Both the Dean and I hope that our friends and benefactors will pray for the success of these events during the next six months, and will celebrate our seminary’s glorious legacy of service to the Church, a legacy, which by God’s grace, we are endeavoring to continue,” Father Chad concluded.
Details on all events will be updated regularly on the Seminary’s Website, as planning continues.