What’s a good time to have such a conversation? Well, it shouldn’t just be a one-off conversation… it should be an ongoing dialogue and discussion. Listen to the podcast and read the transcript HERE.

Jesus said “Everyone who practices sin is the slave of sin!” (Jn. 8:34). But we know so long as we live, we live only through God’s dynamic, life-sustaining power active in us. Read the transcript HERE.

A Study of the Paralytic in Mark Chapter 2 Sometimes the world appears to be so divided and its people so alienated from one another, that it seems like it would take a miracle to fix it and bring us all together again! And yet, this is exactly what Christ came to do. Likewise, the purpose of the Church, which is His body, is to re-unite in itself the world, which has been pulled apart by sin. Drawing on the healing narratives of the Gospels, the sayings of early Church Father, St. John Chrysostom, and contemporary Orthodox thinker Fr. Alexander Schmemann, Steve and Bill examine the causes of division, and discuss how we are healed, and the fragmented cosmos is put back together again in the person of Christ.

The phrase "apostolic succession" has a number of different meanings among the various Christian traditions, but is key to a proper understanding of Orthodox ecclesiology and her claim to be the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church stated in the Nicene Creed. Here we offer a modest explanation of the Orthodox Church's view, focusing on the collegiate role of bishops, in whose office and authority is found the continuation of Christ and His Apostles' sacramental unity, oversight, and teaching through history to the present day.

Central to the prayer life of the Church is the cycle of eight musical tones or structures (The Octoechos, or eight echos) that accompany the hymns and prayers in all the services. In this program, Steve provides a basic, lighthearted but informative overview of the Eight Tones of the Church as expressed in Byzantine, Russian, Bulgarian and other styles, and how the Tones reflect the Orthodox Traditional concern with the beauty of sound and its place in sacramental worship.

In the second part of a possible 144,000 part series on the End Times and the Revelation of St. John, Steve and Bill give some definitions of some of the views of the Tribulation and Rapture and where the second coming of Christ and judgment fits in the various scenarios. Then they take a romp through Church history and go through a list of prognostications about the second coming throughout the centuries.

We continue our discussion of apostolic succession by examining some common objections given by Protestants, found in a sermon outline published on Calvin College's CCEL Historical Church document site. It becomes clear that for Protestants, reaction against apostolic succession is not based on solid Biblical or historical grounds, but rather on the need to question and reject the authority of Rome (papal and magisterial) and its excesses, which are not necessarily a part of the Eastern Orthodox Tradition.

It is said that if you are familiar with the book of Revelation you will feel right at home in an Orthodox Church. The interior of the Church is modeled after the vision of St. John, who on the Lord's Day in worship, sees the heavenly worship he is participating in here on earth. The 'sacred space' of the Church building is the joining of us who are still 'in the world but not of it' to those who are before the altar of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world in the Heavenly Jerusalem in eternity. This is not mere symbolism, but the mystical reality of the communion of the saints spoken of in Hebrews 12. Steve and Bill give an 'audio tour' of an Orthodox Church building and talk about the meaning of the things that you will see beginning from entering the doors from the west parking lot to the easternmost back wall behind the altar.

How can we communicate with the departed saints if they are dead? What is the state of the departed according to the Scriptures? Are they concious, and if so, of what? Can they hear the petitions of those alive on earth? What do they do when people pray to them? These and other questions are actually answered in the Bible. Tune in and find out where.

In this program we deal with the concept of prayer and intercession. What is prayer in the scriptures? Is "prayer" worship to be given only to God? What is intercession? Why are we commanded to intercede for each other? More importantly, who can intercede for us?

In the first of a series on prayers to the saints, we begin to discuss how the Orthodox Church connects the dots of many aspects of what it means to be "in Christ" and a member of "the body of Christ." Are we worshipping the saints in prayer? Does Scripture forbid prayer to the dead? Can the living communicate with the dead? What is true prayer? These and many more issues will be discussed in light of Scripture over the next four programs.

In the final program of the series on "Prayer to the Saints" we continue the discussion of the state of the departed from the Scriptures. In many enigmatic passages we find the foundations for why the Church affirms the "Communion of the Saints" as including both those "in Christ" on earth and the "departed in Christ." Within these passages we find the rationale for believing that those who have gone before us do stand before the throne of God and intercede on our behalf because of our prayers to them.

Fr. Chad Hatfield introduces us to Alla Generalow, the new Director of Liturgical Music at St. Vladimir's.

Fr. Chad interviews Greg Hatrak, the new bookstore manager at St. Vladimir's Seminary, about some exciting new developments in the school's publishing division.

St. Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary confers an honorary doctorate on Christos Yannaras at its 2010 Fall Academic Convocation.

St. Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary confers an honorary doctorate on Metropolitan Krystof, primate of the Orthodox Church in the Czech Lands and Slovakia, at an Academic Convocation (February 28, 2011).

The Very Rev. Dr. John Behr, Dean of St. Vladimir'’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, delivers the annual Father Georges Florovsky Lecture, Friday, September 21, 2012, on the seminary campus. Father John's presentation, titled "“Reading the Fathers Today,"” addresses the meaning of “theology” and its study within an academic context.

Bishop Alexander of the Bulgarian Diocese of the OCA gave the Second Annual Meyendorff Lecture at SVOTS on September 14, 2014. The title of his lecture was "Force Your Mind to Descend into the Heart: Some Resemblances between Byzantine Hesychasm and Merkavah Mysticism."

Dr. Christopher Mitchell, director of the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College, which houses a major research collection by and about seven British authors, including J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, speaks on Tolkien at the 2012 Orthodox Education Day.

Dean The Very Rev. Dr. John Behr, author of academic, popular, and spiritual works, presented the keynote address at this year's Education Day at St. Vladimir's Seminary. Fr. John highlighted the symbiotic relationship between Christianity and books, and described how the development of the internet has changed the way people read.

This is one of three lectures that Fr. Chad Hatfield delivered at the Parish Life Conference of the Antiochian Diocese of Los Angeles and the West, held in Phoenix, Arizona, June 28-July 3, 2016.

On February 27–28, 2017, Priest David Mezynski, associate dean for Student Affairs at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, presented four lenten reflections during the two days of intensive liturgical services that annually mark the beginning of Great Lent for the seminary community. Using a story-telling format and employing a variety of sayings from the desert monastics, Father David focused on the theme of gratitude as the fruit of repentance, and especially pinpointed two main obstacles to true repentance: 1) feeling no awareness of sin, with a consequent refusal to change; and 2) possessing a despairing attitude, with a consequent inability to receive forgiveness.

On February 27–28, 2017, Priest David Mezynski, associate dean for Student Affairs at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, presented four lenten reflections during the two days of intensive liturgical services that annually mark the beginning of Great Lent for the seminary community. Using a story-telling format and employing a variety of sayings from the desert monastics, Father David focused on the theme of gratitude as the fruit of repentance, and especially pinpointed two main obstacles to true repentance: 1) feeling no awareness of sin, with a consequent refusal to change; and 2) possessing a despairing attitude, with a consequent inability to receive forgiveness.

On February 27–28, 2017, Priest David Mezynski, associate dean for Student Affairs at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, presented four lenten reflections during the two days of intensive liturgical services that annually mark the beginning of Great Lent for the seminary community. Using a story-telling format and employing a variety of sayings from the desert monastics, Father David focused on the theme of gratitude as the fruit of repentance, and especially pinpointed two main obstacles to true repentance: 1) feeling no awareness of sin, with a consequent refusal to change; and 2) possessing a despairing attitude, with a consequent inability to receive forgiveness.

On February 27–28, 2017, Priest David Mezynski, associate dean for Student Affairs at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, presented four lenten reflections during the two days of intensive liturgical services that annually mark the beginning of Great Lent for the seminary community. Using a story-telling format and employing a variety of sayings from the desert monastics, Father David focused on the theme of gratitude as the fruit of repentance, and especially pinpointed two main obstacles to true repentance: 1) feeling no awareness of sin, with a consequent refusal to change; and 2) possessing a despairing attitude, with a consequent inability to receive forgiveness.

Archpriest Michael Oleksa delivered a powerful, enlightening, and heart-felt message on the campus of St. Vladimir's Seminary Saturday, September 1, 2018, as part of the Seminary's celebration of the Ecclesiastical New Year. The distinguished alumnus and author beautifully weaved the history of the Alaskan Mission and the work of St. Herman and others into the present, as the Orthodox Church continues to defend the native peoples of Alaska and uphold the sanctity of the created world. Fr. Michael passionately implored Orthodox Christians everywhere to draw upon the past and modern-day experience of Orthodoxy in Alaska in witnessing Christ to all nations.

On its return to Orthodox Education Day at St. Vladimir's Seminary October 6, 2018, the Boston Byzantine Choir, directed by Charles R. Marge, delivered a beautiful performance at Three Hierarchs Chapel in celebration of the choir's own 25th anniversary.

Dr. Michael Colburn, the OCMC Mission Specialist in Linguistics and Translations, speaks at the second annual missions lecture at St. Vladimir's Seminary.

St. Vladimir’s Seminary celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA)’s autocephaly Thursday, January 30, 2020. A full-day of events included three workshops on the topic of autocephaly. In the first, “Autocephaly: The OCA, the Greek Archdiocese, and Antioch," Priest Anthony Roeber, the Seminary's professor of church history, delivered an eye-opening and candid lecture. He sheds light on motivations and circumstances leading up to the granting of the Tomos of Autocephaly in 1970 by the Russian Orthodox Church to the OCA (then known as the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America) and addressed the reaction of other Orthodox jurisdictions to the Tomos.

St. Vladimir’s Seminary celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA)’s autocephaly Thursday, January 30, 2020. A full-day of events included three workshops on the topic of autocephaly. In the second, “Autocephaly & Evangelism," Archpriest John Parker, dean of Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, delivered a passionate call to action and reminder that "autocephaly is an inner evangelism in reminding all Orthodox Christians that in Christ Jews and Greeks, Turks and Cretans, Romanians, Latinos, Africans, Asians all find true motherland in the nave and at the chalice."

St. Vladimir’s Seminary celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA)’s autocephaly Thursday, January 30, 2020. A full-day of events included three workshops on the topic of autocephaly. In the third, “Autocephaly & New Saints,” His Grace, Bishop Daniel (Brum) of Santa Rosa explored the importance and canonization of North American saints including St. Herman of Alaska, who was canonized the same year the Tomos of Autocephaly was granted (but decided upon a year earlier). Excitingly, Bishop Daniel’s talk also touched upon the possibility of new North American saints, notably Metropolitan Leonty (Turkevich, d. 1965) and Matushka Olga Michael of Alaska (d. 1979).

Saint Vladimir’s Seminary President Fr. Chad Hatfield discusses Orthodox evangelism, drawing from his experience as a missionary in South Africa and Orthodox mission planter in the United States, to an audience at NLA University College in Bergen, Norway. The talk, delivered on December 5, 2019, was organized in part by St. Vladimir's Alumnus Fr. Theodor Svane (’15) and the parish Fr. Theodore serves, Annunciation of the Holy Virgin Mary Orthodox Mission Parish, in Bergen.

Addressing members of the Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement (OISM), St. Vladimir's Seminary President Fr. Chad Hatfield offer some thoughts for future ordained and lay leaders who will be serving in an "aggresively anti-Christian" world. His insights and suggestions for further reading will be of interest to the seminarian and non-seminarian alike.

Saint Vladimir's Seminary entered into its annual, two-day Lenten Retreat on Clean Monday and Tuesday, March 15 and 16, 2021. Four talks delivered over the two days followed the theme of "Ora et Labora: The Foundations of Spirituality According to the Rule of St Benedict of Nursia." In this reflection, Dr Vitaly Permiakov, the Seminary's assistant professor of liturgical theology, leads a meditation on "Praying Together."

Saint Vladimir's Seminary entered into its annual, two-day Lenten Retreat on Clean Monday and Tuesday, March 15 and 16, 2021. Four talks delivered over the two days followed the theme of "Ora et Labora: The Foundations of Spirituality According to the Rule of St Benedict of Nursia." In this final meditation, Fr Nicholas Roth, the Seminary’s Spiritual Formation Director and Ecclesiarch, speaks of “Working Together.”

Dn. Michael begins a new series discussing the book Beginning to Pray by Anthony Bloom.

Dn. Michael continues his discussion of Anthony Bloom's book, Beginning to Pray. He emphasizes the importance of humility when approaching our Lord in prayer.

Dn. Michael discusses chapter 3 of Anthony Bloom's book, Beginning to Pray . He borrows Nike's slogan and urges all of us, when it comes to prayer, to "Just Do It."

Dn. Michael continues his discussion of Anthony Bloom's book, Beginning to Pray . This week he looks at chapter 4.

Dn. Michael concludes his study of Anthony Bloom's book, Beginning to Pray.

Dn. Michael shares his conversion story in this two-part lecture given at the Missions and Evangelism Conference in Grand Rapids, MI. His series, "In But Not Of," will continue in two weeks.

Dn. Michael shares his conversion story in this two-part lecture given at the Missions and Evangelism Conference in Grand Rapids, MI. His series, "In But Not Of," will continue next week.

Dn. Michael interviews his wife Gail about her recent trip to St. Paisius Serbian Orthodox Monastery in Safford, Arizona.

Dn. Michael Hyatt begins his look at Chapter 7 of Time and Despondency written by Dr. Nicole Roccas. What are the steps available to us to combat despondency?

Dn. Michael Hyatt begins continues his look at Chapter 7 of Time and Despondency written by Dr. Nicole Roccas. What are the steps available to us to combat despondency? He shares two more in this episode: gratitude and confession/community.