St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary

St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary Engaging the world with Orthodox Christianity since 1938.
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With God’s help and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Seminary aspires to be the premier center of Orthodox Christian scholarship and pastoral education and to operate as an exemplary Orthodox Christian institution.

The Orthodox Church in North America is growing, but there aren't enough priests to serve it. This May, 18 seminarians g...
06/05/2026

The Orthodox Church in North America is growing, but there aren't enough priests to serve it. This May, 18 seminarians graduated from St. Vladimir's Seminary. Over 70 more are still in formation. Give by June 30 and your gift will be matched dollar for dollar by the Seminary's generous Board of Trustees up to $60,000. Please help strengthen the Church—one priest at a time.

🤲 Give Today at www.svots.edu/give

Scenes from 2026 Commencement➡️ Full Recap & Replay of Graduation: https://buff.ly/MIfLn9K--Giving thanks to God, St. Vl...
06/02/2026

Scenes from 2026 Commencement

➡️ Full Recap & Replay of Graduation: https://buff.ly/MIfLn9K
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Giving thanks to God, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) hosted its 87th Commencement Exercises on Saturday, May 16, 2026.

Eighteen graduates comprised the class of 2026: fourteen graduated with a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree, one with a Master of Arts (M.A.), and three with a Master of Theology (Th.M.). The graduates hailed from various dioceses of the Orthodox Church in America, the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Eastern America, the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, and dioceses of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church both in North America as well as India.

“If [we have learned] anything,” said class salutatorian the Rev. John Reavis during his thoughtful address, “it's that to have the mind of Christ, which is hopefully what we're trying to do here, is to undergo kenosis, self-emptying, descent, if there is ever to be any ascent. … So although at this precipice we may feel tired and empty, it is in our emptiness that Christ has met us and emptied Himself. And here at St. Vladimir's, we have not only been taught about Christ's kenosis, it has been modeled for us.”

Class valedictorian the Rev. Nathan Jekel offered a beautiful reflection drawing from the psalms and the gospels.

“Ready is my heart, O God. Ready is my heart, for magnified even unto the heavens is Thy mercy,” read Fr. Nathan. “We know that to meet a ready and merciful heart is to see the truth, that no search light we shine into the cave can outshine the light that radiates from it. And so we proclaim, ‘Christ is risen!’”

May the Lord God grant many blessed and fruitful years of service in His vineyard to the St. Vladimir’s Seminary Class of 2026!

AXIOS!Alumnus and faculty member the Rev. Dn. Dr. Gregory Abdalah was ordained to the Holy Priesthood on the Feast of Pe...
06/01/2026

AXIOS!

Alumnus and faculty member the Rev. Dn. Dr. Gregory Abdalah was ordained to the Holy Priesthood on the Feast of Pentecost by the hand of his father, His Grace Bishop John (Abdalah), himself a fellow alumnus and Seminary faculty member. The ordination took place at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Phoenix, Arizona.

May God grant the newly ordained Fr. Gregory, Khouria Diana, and their children Eleanor, Jonathan, and Alexander many years!

📸: St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church

Blessed Feast of Holy Pentecost! Through the Holy Spirit comes the restoration to paradise, the ascent to the kingdom of...
05/31/2026

Blessed Feast of Holy Pentecost!

Through the Holy Spirit comes the restoration to paradise, the ascent to the kingdom of heaven, the return to adopted sonship, the freedom to call God our Father and to become a companion of the grace of Christ, to be called a child of light, to participate in eternal glory, and generally, to have all fullness of blessing in this age and the age to come.

—St. Basil the Great, in On the Holy Spirit https://buff.ly/d0A9KK0

We are pleased to be partnering with St. Nersess Armenian Seminary for “Sitting as a Stranger”: Evagrius in the Desert a...
05/29/2026

We are pleased to be partnering with St. Nersess Armenian Seminary for “Sitting as a Stranger”: Evagrius in the Desert and Beyond, June 4–6, 2026.

💻 Attend the event online: https://buff.ly/1iryn0I

This international conference at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, in collaboration with St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, seeks to explore Evagrius’ enduring significance — his thought in its late antique context, his influence on subsequent spiritual traditions, and his resonance with modern approaches to theology, philosophy, and the life of the mind. A particularly rich manuscript tradition, translations, and commentarial literature have preserved and reinterpreted his legacy in Armenia, among many other places. The conference will bring together the Armenian, Greek, Syriac, Coptic, Latin, Arabic and Chinese receptions of Evagrius, fostering a comparative and cross-cultural conversation on his theological, philosophical, and ascetical vision.

Ten years removed from what had been called “The Holy and Great Council”—the large, pan-Orthodox council convened by the...
05/27/2026

Ten years removed from what had been called “The Holy and Great Council”—the large, pan-Orthodox council convened by the Ecumenical Patriarch and held in 2016 on the island of Crete—the significance of the council is still being examined and debated.

The Council of Crete’s legacy is the subject of the Orthodox Theological Society of America (OTSA)’s Florovsky Lecture for 2026, which will be hosted on the campus of St. Vladimir’s Seminary on Friday, June 12. The evening will feature a panel of speakers who were present at the council in 2016: His Grace Bishop Maxim (Vasiljević), Very Rev. Protopresbyter Dr. Nicolas Kazarian, Very Rev. Dr. Alexander Rentel, and Dr. Elizabeth Prodromou.

The Florovsky Lecture is open to the public and free to attend in person or online.

➡️ Register to attend: https://buff.ly/SVAUhYD

Homiletics Masterclass Series: Preaching In and Out of SeasonHomilies for Sacraments & Other Occasions ➡️ Learn More & R...
05/22/2026

Homiletics Masterclass Series: Preaching In and Out of Season

Homilies for Sacraments & Other Occasions

➡️ Learn More & Register for the Online Course: https://buff.ly/MFCAjel

Have you noticed a difference in your approach to preaching—or do you perhaps feel more pressure—on occasions outside of the typical Sunday Liturgy, such as at baptisms, marriages, or funerals?

Over this next four-week homiletics masterclass we will consider sacramental and general contexts for preaching outside the Eucharistic Divine Liturgy. These occasions often provide opportunities to broaden and deepen engagement with Christ for the faithful, and to introduce newcomers to the Gospel. While these events are distinct from the Sunday Divine Liturgy, the goal for preaching remains the same: to facilitate an encounter with Jesus Christ. In this course we will explore the ideal means for accomplishing this goal in these other contexts

☦️ Apostles' Fast MeditationsJust as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the apostles fasted and prayed, so we fast and...
05/22/2026

☦️ Apostles' Fast Meditations

Just as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the apostles fasted and prayed, so we fast and pray. During the Apostles’ Fast, we meditate on the glory of God as we prepare to observe the feast of the Holy Glorious and All-Praised Leaders of the Apostles, Saints Peter and Paul.

As you go through the fast, which begins this year on June 8, St. Vladimir’s Seminary would like to give you this gift that we hope will uplift and encourage you.

Apostles’ Fast Meditations is an email collection of inspired writings from the Church Fathers, clergy, and scholars. Sign up to receive daily emails from June 8 through June 29, each with a beautiful meditation and the scriptural readings for each day. When you sign up, you will also receive an eBook with all the meditations and scripture readings.

➡️ Sign up to receive daily meditations and scripture readings: https://buff.ly/HPsQtkb

Master Practitioners Explore Syriac & Armenian Chant--This May St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) and ...
05/21/2026

Master Practitioners Explore Syriac & Armenian Chant
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This May St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) and St. Nersess Armenian Seminary hosted master practitioners from the Syriac and Armenian traditions as part of the two-day event, Exploring the Orient: Syriac & Armenian Liturgical Chant.

Exploring the Orient was made possible through a generous grant from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW), Grand Rapids, MI, with funds provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. The workshops and discussions were hosted at both St. Vladimir's Seminary (Yonkers, NY) and St. Nersess Armenian Seminary (Armonk, NY), on May 1 and 2. The event served as a sequel to a 2024 SVOTS initiative, also funded by CICW, which highlighted Eastern Orthodox liturgical singing. Exploring the Orient provided participants the opportunity to delve into commonalities and differences in Eastern and Oriental Orthodox approaches to sung worship.

“Scholars are used to examining common issues and themes … across Eastern and Oriental Orthodox [liturgical] traditions, but this is something that has barely been touched in the field of music,” said Dr. Alexander Lingas, Professor of Music and Associate Director of SVOTS’ Institute of Sacred Arts. Dr. Lingas helped organize the events and oversaw the workshops and discussions.

🖥️ Watch Replays of the Two-Day Event: https://buff.ly/P28ToBY

“The workshop provided a rare and enriching opportunity to experience Armenian and Syriac liturgical music at a high scholarly and artistic level, under the guidance of two internationally recognized experts whose work spans conducting, composing, musicology, and the study of early Christian traditions,” noted Dr. Ani Shahinian, Assistant Professor in Armenian Christian Art and Theology at St. Nersess Seminary, who helped organize Exploring the Orient along with Dr. Lingas. “As participants in this program, we gained a clearer comparative understanding of the two traditions and their approaches to sung worship, while a deepened appreciation for their historical complexity, theological meaning, and enduring vitality.”

Congratulations to the Class of 2026! Glory to God for all things!
05/16/2026

Congratulations to the Class of 2026! Glory to God for all things!

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