The Orthodox Christian Fellowship [OCF] is accepting applications for the position of advisor to its Student Advisory Board [SAB].

The volunteer position requires a motivated person interested in serving the Church as a coach, mentor, and facilitator of the determined and passionate group of college students who serve on OCF’s Student Advisory Board. The advisor has the vital responsibility of enabling OCF to continue its ever growing and critical ministry to college students.

“Being given the opportunity to work with college students has been one of the greatest blessings of my ministry to the Church, as they more often than not have advised me more than I have advised them,” said Natalie Kapeluck-Nixon, current advisor, who has worked with college students for years.

Candidates may download the job description posted at www.ocf.net. Applications may be sent to Jennifer Nahas, OCF Executive Director, at Jennifer@ocf.net. A cover letter should accompany the application, highlighting the applicant’s educational, ministerial, and other work history; any relevant general and campus ministry experiences; and vision of Orthodox campus ministry and what motivates him or her to seek the position. Applications must be postmarked or e-mailed by June 15, 2012.

For further information, please contact the OCF office at 800-919-1623 or info@ocf.net.

In related news, OCF also announced that Katerina Rallis has been named 2012-2013 SAB chairperson. A student at Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, IL and veteran of OCF’s college conferences, Katerine has served as the SAB’s Great Lakes Regional representative. She succeeds Zena Debs, who recently graduated from the University of Connecticut.

Orthodox Christian Fellowship is the official campus ministry of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America. For additional information visit its web site at www.ocf.net.

Fifteen seminary students at Saint Tikhon’s Seminary here completed their Field Education requirements by visiting and ministering to the men who live in a Maximum Secure Mental Health facility.  This is a place where mentally ill criminals will spend the rest of their lives.

Archpriest John Kowalczyk oversees the Field Education program at the seminary.  A vital part of this program is the prison ministry in which Father John ministers 15 hours per week.  Each semester, he takes a group of seminary students to visit these men on a weekly basis.  It is an incredible ministry of presence and of love.

On May 8, 2012, these students received their certificates of completion.  Priest Stephen Powley, Assistant Director of Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry, flew in from Colorado to assist with this ceremony.  The Dean of the seminary, Archpriest Alexander Atty, warmly welcomed Father Stephen and expressed his total support of OCPM and the prison field education program.  Father Stephen thanked these students for their willingness to step out of their comfort zone to work in this prison.  He presented each student with a book used in prison ministry and two Icons.

Father Stephen reflected on that day:  “On Tuesday morning, Father John took me into that prison.  I had the chance to visit with many of the men that he and the students minister to each week.  As we met with those men, the impact of Father John’s ministry there became so very obvious.  Man after man broke into a big smile as they saw Father John approaching them.  They expressed their joy and called him by name.  His love for each of them was so incredible to witness.  Most people think of prison ministry as someone bringing Christ to those in prison.  Father John comes to visit Jesus in prison; he sees Christ in every one of them.  I believe he looks at them and sees what they could become in Christ, not judging them for their sins.  I know the lives and ministries of these future Orthodox priests have been impacted greatly; their lives will never be the same.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Father Stephen gave a power-point presentation to students and their families and members of the seminary faculty.  The theme was two-fold:  “Stepping out of your comfort zone” and “Orthodoxy in a hostile world”.  The presentation was very well received.  He challenged those present to be willing “to step out of their comfort zones and reach out to the unlovable of our society in the very midst of this hostile world we live in.”

Afterward, Father Stephen said: “Many of the students talked with me after this presentation.  Each one seemed like a Divine Appointment as we talked privately together.  I could sense the wonderful impact on both them and me.  I have no doubts that these future priests will truly make a difference in this world for the Glory of God.  As our Lord did, they also will be bringing the Gospel to the sick and needy of our society.”

Father Stephen continued:  “On Thursday morning I had a breakfast discussion with several students and then left for the airport with Father John.  We took time to process some of what had taken place during my visit there.  This turned out to be perhaps one of the most important trips I have taken for OCPM.  It was an opportunity to touch the lives and ministries of many future Orthodox priests and to have my own life touched by them.  This wonderful Field Education program is exactly what OCPM is all about.  I am so very thankful for Father John and these seminary students.  I am certain that as these men of God begin to serve parishes across the United States, they will also be reaching out to those who are in prison and those who are in desperate need of help.  I hope that OCPM will be a part of Saint Tikhon’s Seminary each and every year.”

A gallery of photos may be viewed here.

Information on the work of Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry may be found on their website.

Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary is pleased to announce it has received a $40,000 special planning grant from the Henry Luce Foundation that will assist the seminary in laying the groundwork for a collaborative project with the famed Orthodox Christian Estonian composer, Arvo Pärt.  The seminary envisions the “Arvo Pärt Project” as including a unique concert and lecture venture as well as publications about the composer’s life and works. The Program Director for Theology at Luce Foundation, Lynn Szwaja, recommended the funding of the project and informed the seminary of the Foundation’s support in a letter dated May 1, 2012.

Chancellor/CEO of the seminary, Archpriest Chad Hatfield, acknowledged the Luce grant with gratitude, saying, “Our seminary has been shifting and rebuilding our musical program, including special events, over the last few years. We have achieved amazing things and learned much in the process. Now, with this generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation we are well on our way to fulfilling our dream of special ventures centered around the life and work of Arvo Pärt.”

Pärt is one of the world’s most celebrated and performed living composers, and his uniquely developed musical genre, known as tintinnabulation, has proved itself universally compelling; it has extended beyond the circles of classical music and has included admirers in the pop and rock music worlds. Moreover, there exists an inextricable connection between Pärt’s musical methodology and his inner creative impulse—with Orthodox Christian spirituality at its core—and it is this connection that Saint Vladimir’s Seminary will explore and promulgate as it develops the project.

The project was initiated by two faculty members of Saint Vladimir’s: Dr. Peter C. Bouteneff, associate professor of Systematic Theology, and Dr. Nicholas Reeves, assistant professor of Liturgical Music. Both have been meeting personally with Pärt and his wife and manager, Nora, to develop the project.

Remarking on the inspiration for the project, Dr. Bouteneff said, “On the one hand, this collaboration makes such perfect sense. Yet the fact that it is actually happening, that Arvo Pärt has welcomed us with enthusiasm, feels like a miracle, and it is a profound honor to the seminary.”

Dr. Reeves spoke further about the development of the project, noting, “Many concert goers know Arvo Pärt‘s music, and some realize a connection between his works and the spiritual life while others sense instinctively an otherworldly character inherent in his compositions.

“This project with Arvo Pärt seeks to make clearer for all admirers of these pieces their religious and, many times, Orthodox underpinnings, which remain virtually unknown to the general public,” he concluded.

Both professors expressed their gratitude to the Luce Foundation, with Dr. Bouteneff saying, “The Luce Foundation’s support of theological education is some of the most creative and finely-tuned in the landscape of philanthropy. With this grant they have helped put us squarely on the road to a project of far-reaching significance and of great beauty.”

Further details about the Arvo Pärt project will be posted regularly on the seminary’s web site.

Holy Dormition of the Mother of God here provided the setting for the Spring Session of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America May 7-10, 2012.

In addition to reviewing a variety of matters affecting the life of the Church, the hierarchs participated in the daily cycle of services at the monastery, including the Divine Liturgy, which provided an essential spiritual dimension to their undertakings. They also visited the Ascension of the Lord Monastery, Clinton, MI, and the Vatra, the headquarters of the OCA’s Romanian Episcopate, Grass Lake, MI.

His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, presided at the opening Divine Liturgy and the sessions. In his address to his fellow hierarchs, he offered a comprehensive overview of his activities and ministries. The members of the Holy Synod also approved his travel schedule, as presented.

Highlights of the session include the following.

Each diocesan hierarch offered a report on the life of his respective diocese. In closed sessions, the hierarchs addressed a number of legal and related matters.

The members of the Holy Synod expressed their deep gratitude to Archbishop Nathaniel for his hospitality in hosting the meeting and to Abbess Gabriella and the nuns of Holy Dormition Monastery. His Grace, Bishop Ireneu, the monks of Holy Ascension Monastery, and the Vatra staff also were thanked for hosting the hierarchs’ visits.

In addition to those hierarchs noted above, other bishops participating in the Holy Synod Spring Session included His Grace, Bishop Tikhon of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania; His Grace, Bishop Melchisedek of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania; His Grace, Bishop Michael of New York and New York and New Jersey; His Grace, Bishop Matthias of Chicago and the Midwest; His Grace, Bishop Mark, Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore; and His Grace, Bishop Irénée Auxiliary Bishop of Quebec City and Administrator of the Archdiocese of Canada.

A gallery of photos may be accessed here.

A variety of resources for teaching and celebrating the Great Feasts of the Ascension and Pentecost are available on the web site of the Department of Christian Education.

Activities related to the Ascension, as well as the post-Resurrection appearances of Christ, may be found in PDF format.  Pentecost activities, which include craft suggestions, are also available.

The activities are suitable for a variety of age groups and may be used in class and home settings, says Valerie Zahirsky, DCE Chair.

Visit the DCE web site for a wealth of educational resources, many of which can be used in upcoming Vacation Church School and camp programs.

Saint Vladimir’s Seminary Chorale delivered a stunning performance of sacred music in the heart of Manhattan on Monday evening, May 7, 2012.  With artistic execution and prayerful potency, the singers filled the warm and inviting space of Saint Malachy’s Chapel with a sound fitting for heaven—and needful on earth.

Through a multi-media presentation titled “Orient: Sacred Song and Image,” the chorale combined word and image to create an evangelical message that proved to be both spiritually powerful and aesthetically absorbing.  The performance employed a variety of iconographic projections and liturgical compositions from the Orthodox Christian tradition, seamlessly matched to create a joyous yet profound experience for concert goers, who listened in rapt attention to the 22-voice chorus and expressed their appreciation to the chorale with a long lasting and standing ovation.

Matushka Robin Freeman, a staff member in the Advancement Office at the seminary who holds a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, created the concert format and conducted in its premiere at IU’s Jacobs School of Music in 2010.  She served as one of the concert conductors for the New York City premiere, along with Hierodeacon Herman, lecturer in Liturgical Music and Chapel Choir Director at the seminary.

Seminary Chancellor and CEO, Archpriest Chad Hatfield, served as Master of Ceremonies for the evening, and in keeping with concert’s theme, he delivered a homily about the Resurrection of Christ, near the conclusion of the program.  Following Father Chad’s homily, the producer of the concert, Dr. Nicholas Reeves, assistant professor of Liturgical Music at the seminary, expressed his profound gratitude to Father Richard Baker, rector of Saint Malachy’s Chapel (The Actors’ Chapel), and to his parishioners for their generous “gift of space” for the concert venue.  The evening concluded with the entire audience joyously singing the traditional Paschal hymn to the Mother of God, “The Angel Cried.”

View a video clip of the concert here and read the full story here.

Photo credit: Vadim Arslanov

For decades, the dedicated members of the Century Association of Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, South Canaan, PA, have provided financial assistance to the seminary, its programs, and its students.

On Sunday, May 6, 2012, the Association hosted its third annual event, “Hospitality ala Russe,” at Saint John’s Center, Mayfield, PA. Through this tremendous outpouring of generosity and the combined effort of all who contributed and volunteered to make the event a success, Century Association President Sarah Jubinski presented the Association’s second installment check of $25,000.00 to Archpriest Alexander Atty, seminary dean.

The festival featured a magnificent “Russian Table” including a variety of traditional delicacies and entrees that included beef Stroganoff and Chicken ala Russe.

Additional information on and a photo gallery of the memorable evening may be viewed on the seminary web site.

Metropolitan Jonah celebrates opening Service of Thanksgiving at Dormition Monastery, Rives Junction, MI on Monday, May 7, 2012.

The Spring Session of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America opened at the Dormition of the Mother of God Monastery here on Monday morning, May 7, 2012.

His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, celebrated the opening Service of Thanksgiving, after which he delivered his opening address. Reports on external and legal affairs and the life of the dioceses will be heard, together with a presentation on the work of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America.

After the celebration of the Divine Liturgy in the monastery church on Tuesday, additional diocesan reports will be heard, after which the hierarchs will travel to the Vatra, headquarters of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate, where they will be hosted by His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel of Detroit. Great Vespers for the Feast of Mid-Pentecost will be celebrated in Vatra’s Chapel of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Following the celebration of the Divine Liturgy for the Feast of Mid-Pentecost at Dormition Monastery on Wednesday, May 9, sessions will resume, with a variety of issues, including parish vacancies and clergy concerns and awards slated to be considered by the hierarchs.

On Thursday, May 10, the hierarchs will hear reports by the OCA officers — Archpriests John Jillions, Chancellor, and Eric Tosi, Secretary, and Melanie Ringa, Treasurer. Reports on the work of the OCA’s departments will be offered, as will a review of the 16th All-American Council. That afternoon, the hierarchs will visit the Ascension of Our Lord Monastery, which recently relocated to Clinton, MI from Detroit.

The Spring Session will conclude on Friday, May 11.

Updates will be posted on the OCA web site as they are received.

A photo gallery of the meeting may be viewed here.

Bishop Michael presides at Sunday morning Divine Liturgy.

For the first time in its history, the Fellowship of Orthodox Christians in America [FOCA] sponsored a combined basketball and bowling tournament here May 4-6, 2012.

Approximately 400 youth, young adults and others participated with bowling at the Brunswick Lanes in East Brunswick (including laser light bowling for kids) on Friday and Saturday and 23 teams (boys, girls and adults) playing basketball on the campus of Rutgers University in nearby New Brunswick on Saturday and Sunday.  Teams represented Cleveland, Campbell, Pittsburgh, Canonsburg, Central PA and New Jersey.

The clergy foul-shooting contest again was won by Father Paul Suda.

Vespers was celebrated at the hotel, followed by an awards banquet and DJ entertainment.

His Grace, Bishop Michael of New York and New Jersey presided at the Sunday Divine Liturgy at Saints Peter and Paul Church in South River, assisted by seven priests, including the host pastor, Priest David Garretson, a protodeacon, subdeacons and 14 altar servers.  Basil Kozak directed the parish choir, which was joined by tournament participants.

Bishop Michael remarked, “It is truly a blessing for me to be with so many young people from various parishes across this nation – young people who are the future leaders of our Orthodox Church in this country. As you participate in this year’s sports events, the fun and competition afford us the opportunity to reflect on one of life’s most important lessons. Think about this for a moment: to sink a three-pointer on the court, you have to give up the basketball; to make a strike in bowling, you have to give up the ball. So too in life, to truly be a success – as a spouse or a parent or an Orthodox Christian – we have to give of ourselves, of our time and talent and treasure; we have to sacrifice our will, our wants, our ways for the other; we have to share sacrificial love for our family and our friends, for our Lord and His Church.”

A brunch followed liturgy at the parish hall.

The championship basketball games were played on Sunday afternoon. Complete results and photos of both tourneys will appear in the spring issue of the FOCA’s Orthodox Christian Journal.

The South River “R” Club was the host chapter, with Allison and Michael Steffaro as chairs. National Sports Director Anthony Schultz, Ken Baron, and the committee coordinated the athletic events.

For more information on the FOCA, visit orthodoxfellowship.org.

Archimandrite Alexander [Golitzin] was consecrated Bishop of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese during a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy here at Saint George Orthodox Cathedral on Saturday, May 5, 2012.

His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, presided at the consecration Divine Liturgy. Concelebrating were His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel; His Grace, Bishop Nikon; His Grace, Bishop Tikhon; His Grace, Bishop Benjamin; His Grace, Bishop Melchisedek, who served as Locum Tenens of the diocese; His Grace, Bishop Michael; His Grace, Bishop Matthias; His Grace, Bishop Irineu; His Grace, Bishop Mark; and His Grace, Bishop Irenee.

Joining members of the Bulgarian Diocese were clergy and faithful from sister OCA dioceses, other Toledo-area Orthodox parishes, monastics from Saint John of Shanghai Monastery in Manton, CA, Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Elwood City, PA, and Holy Dormition Monastery in Rives Junction, MI, together with representatives from St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, including seminary Dean, Archpriest John Behr, and a number of Bishop Alexander’s former students from the USA and Canada.

A special guest taking part in the consecration was Bishop Alexander’s brother, Protodeacon George Golitzin, who was representing Bishop Alexander’s family. Also in attendance were representatives from the Theology Department of Marquette University. Another special guest at Friday evening’s service was Bishop Leonard Blair, Roman Catholic Bishop of Toledo.

A choir including singers from parishes throughout the Bulgarian Diocese and guests from other OCA parishes sang the liturgical responses.

During the Liturgy, Bishop Alexander ordained Subdeacon Basil Frenchek to the diaconate.

On the evening of Friday, May 4, prior to celebrating Great Vespers, Bishop-elect Alexander made his public acceptance of his election. In his address he stated that, “when standing before the holy altar at the anaphora, the bishop images forth the one and unique High Priest, Christ, Who acts through His celebrant.” He then added that, “while it is true that our Lord Jesus is true God and true King, it is also true that He did not come to us, His creatures, with the pomp and splendor of the King, attended by the legions of heaven, but rather in humility He emptied Himself and was found in the likeness of a servant.”

Bishop-elect Alexander continued by saying, “They are very different images, the first set revelatory of the splendor of heaven, and the second of the humility, long-suffering, and charity of our Lord’s life and ministry. My first conclusion is that I must keep this difference firmly in mind throughout my life as bishop, by which I mean the glory of the liturgical iconography should have no place in my office and day-to-day demeanor. My actions, my patterns of speech, my service in short, is to be determined by the example given us by God the Word Himself.”

In June 2010, the Bulgarian Diocese initiated a search for a candidate to succeed His Eminence, Archbishop Kirill who reposed in the Lord in 2007. “Of the 22 possible candidates reviewed in the first phase of the search, after an intensive review process, two candidates were presented to the diocese’s Fifth Congress-Sobor in June 2011,” noted the diocesan Consecration Committee Chair, Archpriest Andrew Jarmus.  “Bishop Alexander was the candidate elected by the Congress-Sobor’s clergy and lay delegates.”

In October 2011, the members of the OCA’s Holy Synod of Bishops elected Archimandrite Alexander Bishop of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese.

Raised at Saint Innocent Church, Tarzana, CA, Bishop Alexander received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master of Divinity degree from Saint Vladimir’s Seminary. He spent seven years pursuing doctoral studies at Oxford University in England under His Eminence, Metropolitan Kallistos [Ware]. During this time, he also spent two years in Greece, including one year at Simonos Petras Monastery on Mount Athos.

After receiving his D.Phil. in 1980, Bishop Alexander returned to the US. He was ordained to the diaconate in January 1982 and to the priesthood two years later. In 1986, he was tonsured to monastic orders. He served OCA missions in northern California and headed the Diocese of the West’s mission committee.

In 1989, Bishop Alexander took a teaching position with the Theology Department at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI, a position which he left at the end of April this year. While teaching at Marquette University, he had been attached to Saints Cyril and Methodius Church, Milwaukee, WI. For 22 years he preached, taught and served at Saints Cyril and Methodius Church, and witnessed to the Gospel and to Orthodox Christian theology at Marquette University. He helped attract a dozen Orthodox Christian students to doctoral work in theology at Marquette.

Bishop Alexander becomes the second Bishop of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese. He succeeds His Eminence, the late Archbishop Kirill [Yonchev]. Archbishop Kirill had overseen the diocese from 1964 to 2007; in 1976, Archbishop Kirill brought the diocese under the omophorion of the Orthodox Church in America.

The Bulgarian Diocese includes 19 parishes and missions and one monastery.

A photo gallery of the consecration Liturgy may be viewed here.