St. Vladimir’s Seminary appoints Fr. Adrian Budica to faculty
Priest Adrian Budica has been appointed to the faculty of Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary here as Supervisor of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) and Director of Field Education. The appointment of Father Adrian, a seminary alumnus (M.Th., ’10) was effective July 1, 2015.
“We welcome Father Adrian, with his extensive pastoral experience and extraordinary educational credentials,” said Archpriest Dr. John Behr, seminary Dean. “His chaplaincy roles at four major urban hospitals, his priestly service at a large cathedral, and his missionary mind, charitable heart, and sharp intellect will be gifts to our seminarians as they train in pastoral care.”
Father Adrian has been certified as an Associate Supervisor by the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE). He presently is pursuing two other certifications: as a Board Certified Chaplain with the Association of Professional Chaplains (APC) and as a CPE Supervisor (“Full”) with ACPE. He anticipates certification by both bodies in the fall of 2015. Since completing his initial ACPE supervisory training in record time, successfully meeting with two regional committees and two national committees for certification, Father Adrian has been serving on the Administrative Board of the ACPE Eastern Region. For his work with ACPE, he was recognized as an “Emerging Leader 2015” at the recent ACPE National Meeting in Atlanta, GA.
In a soon-to-be-aired PBS documentary produced by Journey Films, Father Adrian will be featured in the two–hour production “Chaplains,” which records his experience as a training supervisor at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, along with other men and woman who serve as chaplains in various settings.
Currently, Father Adrian is employed as the CPE Supervisor and Coordinator of Clinical Pastoral Education at Bridgeport Hospital in Connecticut, a position he will retain while serving as a member of the seminary’s faculty. In addition, since 2011, he has served as priest at Saint Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral, Brooklyn, NY, where Archpriest Thomas Zain is Rector.
Upon his appointment as a new faculty member, Father Adrian said, “I am truly blessed with the opportunity to give back to my seminary and to the Orthodox Church through teaching at Saint Vladimir’s, using an educational model that has been transformational for me personally and pastorally.
“I am indebted to my seminary professors—especially Dr. Albert Rossi—and to my CPE supervisors for their guidance,” he continued, “and I am looking forward to being both part of the faculty and of the students’ spiritual journeys in personal and pastoral formation, competence, and reflection.”
Added Father Behr, “Father Adrian’s new position represents the fruit of our ‘Good Pastor’ program begun as part of our seminary’s ‘Strategic Plan 2010,’ and it also signifies the next stage in the program’s evolution, which will ensure that our seminarians fulfill hundreds of pastoral care hours in a supervised setting under a certified—and Orthodox Christian—instructor.”
Currently, all Master of Divinity students at Saint Vladimir’s Seminary are required to fulfill one unit of CPE, which represents 400 hours of hospital visitation and related self-reflection under the watchful eye of a certified CPE supervisor on-site at local hospitals. With the addition of Father Adrian to the faculty, the seminary is taking the first steps in offering students CPE with supervision on the seminary campus in a wider variety of institutional settings.
Archpriest Dr. Chad Hatfield, seminary Chancellor/CEO, noting the importance of expanding the CPE program at Saint Vladimir’s, said, “Some critics of CPE say that it is dominated by Mainline Protestants. As a minority, we Orthodox Christians must witness to and also navigate this world of pastoral care, to make us better prepared for ministry.”