Doctor of Ministry Class of 2017 meets on St. Vladimir’s Seminary Campus
The new Doctor of Ministry Program at Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary here was launched June 23–26, 2014 as eight members of the first class gathered on campus for orientation.
Coming from across North America and from three Orthodox Christian jurisdictions, the Class of 2017 focused on the framework for the program, which combines distance learning with on-campus intensives, and the nature of Orthodox Christian ministry as related to immense challenges presented to priests and lay leaders.
A majority of the full Doctor of Ministry faculty, which included Archpriest Dr. Joseph Purpura, Dr. Gayle Woloschak, Archpriest Dr. John Jillions, Archpriest Dr. Nicholas J. Solak, Archpriest Dr. John Behr, and Archpriest Dr. J. Sergius Halvorsen, led the session. Students comprising the first class, or “cohort,” began to form valuable communal bonds with each other and faculty members during the instructional sessions and communal meals.
Reflecting on the Orientation, Father Halvorsen, program director, remarked, “A doctoral program like this presents an amazing opportunity to focus on truly pressing questions, and the more we support each other academically and spiritually, the better the chance our work will benefit those we are called to serve.
“After all the effort to bring the program to this point,” he continued. “It was such an inspiration to meet the first cohort. They are a wonderful group, and I am so privileged to work with them.”