St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary

The Alumni Portal is now live! Alumni of St. Vladimir’s Seminary have a new way to stay connected with the Seminary and their fellow alumni around the world, and they now have access to a host of resources exclusively for graduates. https://buff.ly/2HvQvIV

Ah, the annual Chili Cook-Off at St. Vladimir's! #Thankful #SVOTSLife #CutenessOverload (*Non-public event)

"The entire world has found you to be a great champion in times of peril; for you put the heathen to flight, O victorious one. As you brought to naught the boasts of Lyaeus, and gave courage to Nestor in the stadium, in the same way, O Holy Great Martyr Demetrios, entreat Christ God, that He grant us great mercy" (Troparion, Tone 3). https://buff.ly/2HBGDwQ #BlessedFeast

A good pastor and a good Christian is one who knows his or her audience and has 'heard' the audience, and therefore is speaking to questions the audience actually has, rather than simply spouting forth information only the writer is interested in. On Wednesday, seminarians at St. Vladimir’s tapped into the writing expertise of Professor Peter C. Bouteneff as the The Lyceum hosted a writing workshop. https://buff.ly/35r2krJ #SVOTSLife

Congrats to Seminarian Alexander Earl, this year's St. Matthias Merit Scholarship Essay Contest winner! https://buff.ly/2TgGMYZ The contest was opened to current SVOTS students at the beginning of the fall semester. For his winning entry, titled, Thou Hast Prepared a Table Before Me, Earl will have $3,000 in award money added to his scholarship fund. The topic of this year’s contest asked seminarians to reference Matthew 7:13-14 and the life of St. John Chrysostom to help ...young Christians approach speaking the truth in love when those around us may not be open toor may even be hostile towardwhat the Church teaches. Earl writes: "Etiquette used to advise not taking about politics or religion at the dinner table. In truth, it is politics and religion that are worth talking about. In classical philosophy, the former was all about how to structure the polis (the city) so as to promote the common good, which was seen as a god-like activity, for it is God who oversees and orders the universe. The latter was an even greater activity; religion was about how we ought to live in this life such that we not only live like God, but dwell with him! There could hardly be topics more important for us to think about and discuss." Read the winning entry in its entirety at SVOTS.edu Alexander Earl is a 28-year-old Master of Divinity (M.Div.) student in his first year at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS). A graduate of Yale Divinity School, he had been on his way to becoming an Anglican priest when he discovered Orthodoxy reading St. Vladimir’s Seminary (SVS) Press books for his patristics classes. He and his wife, Danielle, who is now the librarian at SVOTS, were teaching at a private high school in the Los Angeles area when they attended their first Divine Liturgy in 2017. Feeling like they had come home spiritually, they were received into the Orthodox Church the following year. The St. Matthias Merit Scholarship Essay Contest is offered annually, thanks to the generous contributions of a family of anonymous donors. These donors also selected the topic of the 2020 essay contest and developed thorough and thoughtful criteria to determine the winner. The contest is one of many offerings by the Seminary to help its seminarians graduate tuition-debt free as they go forth to serve the Church. SVOTS also administers need-based tuition grants, need-based scholarships, merit scholarships, continuing education grants, and matching grant opportunities for seminarians. These are made possible thanks to many benefactors who have graciously given funds to St. Vladimir’s.

Services for His Beatitude will be livestreamed starting Wednesday evening. Memory Eternal!

His Beatitude Theodosius, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America from 1977 until his retirement in 2002, fell asleep in the Lord this morning after an extended illness. We will serve a Panikhida for him at St. Vladimir's, where His Beatitude graduated in 1960, later this evening. May his memory be eternal!

"At that same moment, I felt a very loud voice inside my heart that said, 'I have been waiting for you. I have been waiting for you for so many years, and I am here...'" Meet 1st-year seminarian Dn. Andrew Eskandar, and hear about his remarkable journey from denying the existence of God and getting kicked out of school to a life-changing encounter with Christ. https://buff.ly/3iVyP5W #SeminariansOfSVOTS

With faith in Christ and hope in the resurrection, we share news of the repose of St. Vladimir’s Seminary Trustee Emeritus Anthony Kasmer. Kasmer, a great friend and supporter of the Seminary, passed away Sunday at the age of 90. Memory Eternal! https://buff.ly/3nO9puL

Calling all alumni of St. Vladimir’s Seminary! Join your fellow St. Vladimir’s graduates online for an evening of prayer, fellowship, discussion, and learn about exciting new developments in the works at the Seminary! Register here: https://buff.ly/3d3yuwy

Our Institute is posed to make a unique contributionwe’ve got several exciting activities and programs in store, and many more that are still at the idea stage, said Professor Peter C. Bouteneff, the director of the ISA. Now we need to hear from people who might draw on what we offer. Let us know your interests and needs so that we can serve you better. The Institute of Sacred Arts (ISA) at St. Vladimir’s Seminary is asking for input as it shapes its programs and events. https://buff.ly/30XGNp0