Seminary Commencement

May 22 and May 31, 1999

St. Vladimir Seminary
Crestwood, NY

St. Tikhon Seminary
South Canaan, Pennsylvania

Dearly beloved,

The opportunity to address our graduating students is something I always look forward to. As you prepare to leave this seminary, as you look forward to another life beyond the borders of this campus, never forget that you take with you the priceless gift of a theological education. Wherever God sends you, however your vocation unfolds in this wonderful life, the knowledge you have received must continue to be nurtured. For what you now hold in your minds and hearts provides the foundation for calling others into the uncreated light of the triune and tripersonal God.

As graduates of an Orthodox theological institution each of you carries a great responsibility on your shoulders. All of you, regardless of your specific calling, share a common challenge as we come to the end of the 20th century. The challenge that you face—indeed the challenge we all face—is that of ecclesial unity.

The twentieth century is coming to a close and we Orthodox Christians, who have a two-hundred-year history in North America, still think and act as if we were elsewhere. Even within our own autocephalous Church there are clergy and laity who are unable to accept the fact that being a vibrant local Church in the 20th century does not depend on imitating a vibrant local Church of 6th century Byzantium or the Church of 19th century imperial Russia. We hear the voices of hierarchs who triumphantly speak about the opportunities awaiting the church in the next century. I have no doubt that God will provide His Church with opportunities. He always does! Yet, let us never forget the many opportunities that were ignored during this century because of pride, ignorance and fear.

Ecclesial unity has not been achieved in 20th century North America. And I will dare to add to this that on a global level Orthodox ecclesial unity remains to be achieved. For the mother Churches jurisdictional pluralism continues to be an acceptable norm for North America. This means that ethnic diversity has been allowed to follow a course that has divided the body of Christ into national groups. Consequently Orthodox ecclesiology has been compromised. And we know that when our vision of the Church has been compromised so too has its theology.

As the 20th century comes to an end, my hope is that you will have instilled in your hearts, a desire to strive for ecclesial unity in this land. It is my prayer that your sacred studies will grant you the humility and courage to work ceaselessly for the establishment of one, canonical, autocephalous Church in America.

With humility and courage you must try to expose the fallacy espoused by those who maintain that there is unity in our ethnically divided Church. American secularism has revealed to us how ethnic diversity has fostered ethnic rivalry.

With humility and courage you must join your voices with those who will not adhere to the idea that the Orthodox in North America are to be identified as a people in exile. There is no diaspora in the Church of Christ. You cannot allow this false teaching to veil and hinder the work of the Holy Spirit in this land or any other land.

Dear Graduates, the challenge of ecclesial unity is at the very core of the Church’s evangelical mission. Without unity theology—those true words describing the relationship between God and man—risks being rendered meaningless or reduced to archaeology. As life giving and life saving words, theology needs to emerge and develop from its proper context which is unity. Neither you, nor I, nor anyone else here can accept the status quo of jurisdictional pluralism. Together we must strive to work in harmony with the life creating Spirit so that the ministry of our Lord may grow and bear fruit a hundreded fold. Your work awaits you. Do not allow yourselves to be overwhelmed. Do not become discouraged or cynical. Allow our good God to strengthen you through your private prayer, and the corporate prayer of the Church. For in prayer, you will come to understand that the “Steps of man are ordered by the Lord.” And through your good works, others may be brought to the “knowledge of Truth”. Be ever determined to share, through the living theology of the Church, God’s inaugurated Kingdom. This is your common vocation which began with your baptism. This is your common work which will bring others to enlightenment and as we read in the letter to the Hebrew, “will enable them to taste the heavenly gift and become partakers of the Holy Spirit (cf. Hebrews 6:4).

Amen!