Brian Gerich at Seminary
for May 1998
Board of Trustee Meeting

When Father Tom Hopko called me and asked me to be a commencement speaker I was very surprised. A few days later as I was reflecting on his invitation I experienced several conflicting emotions. I felt honored, but I also felt unworthy. I felt prideful but I also felt unqualified, especially when I reflected on the men and women who have taught here and given their lives to make St Vladimir’s Seminary what it is today. I thought of the Hierarchs, the Clergy and the lay workers who have graduated from this seminary and who have served, or are now serving the Holy Orthodox Church with honor and distinction around the world. I also thought of the Patriarchs and other Orthodox Church leaders who have visited here and been honored by the seminary over its 57-year existence and I immediately felt humble; and it is with the deepest humility that I address you today.

I was asked to speak to you from a layman’s perspective. My objective today is to share with you the impact that St Vladimir’s graduates have had on my life; an influence that is responsible for my service to my Cathedral, and my service to this seminary as a trustee and donor. In doing this, I wish to share with you examples of the opportunities that await you as graduates of St Vladimir’s Seminary, and impress upon you the kind of life changing impact that you can have on souls in our society.

I am a "cradle Orthodox" and have been a member of the Church for 57 years. However, I will share with you my experiences over the past 14 years, living in Southern California and attending St. Steven’s Serbian Cathedral; a time during which I feel my life as an Orthodox Christian truly began. It was in 1982 when Father Dennis Pavichevich became an assistant priest at the Cathedral. He was a very enthusiastic priest who immediately had a positive impact on the Cathedral. He began bonding with our youth and talking with them about Jesus Christ. From the outset, there was little doubt that he was an American Orthodox Christian of Serbian heritage. He introduced more English into the service. He taught us that it was OK to go to communion more than twice a year. He made the Cathedral Eucharistic. He was proud that he was a graduate of St Vladimir’s Seminary and he let everyone know of his love for the seminary. It was his constant praise for the seminary that made me interested in learning more about it, an interest that is largely responsible for me being a trustee today.

When Fr Dennis left the Cathedral, we were devastated. For ten years he had given us a taste of Orthodoxy which many of us had not previously experienced. The impact that he had on us can best be illustrated by the fact that the Board of Trustees of the Cathedral during the search for a replacement priest made the first requirement that he be a graduate of St Vladimir’s Seminary. This was a first for a Serbian parish in America. After searching for one and one half years, the Cathedral was blessed to receive Fr Nicholas Ceko, another St Vladimir’s graduate as our new Dean. Fr Nick is an outstanding priest, a priest who truly wants to see each person in his flock grow as a Christian. Parishioners look forward to his teaching homilies, which run 15-20 minutes, are relevant to our times and always seem as though he is speaking to each one of us personally.

Fr Nick is guiding the Cathedral in the beginning stages of a Stewardship program, not easy to do in a Serbian parish which has had for 50 years a $1 per week offering mentality and depends on bingo for 40% of its budget. However, he knows that where a person’s treasure is there his heart will be also. This does not make him popular with everyone, but who said that following our Lord’s teaching would be easy? Confessions are no longer the famous three easy questions ... "have you murdered, robbed or are you having an affair with anyone? If not, bow your head." The Divine Liturgy and special services are becoming more and more understandable because of the service books that he has prepared, and he continually attempts to involve lay people in the various ministries at the Cathedral.

One task which he has spearheaded is to resurrect the Southern California Clergy Council, a task which is a greater miracle than raising the dead. He, together with Fr Michael Laffoon, a priest in the Antiochian Archdiocese, and Fr Gregory Safchuck, a priest of the OCA -- both of whom are SVS graduates -— have re-organized the structure and have embarked on new programs. If we are going to have more jurisdictional unity in America -- and if organizations such as IOCC (International Orthodox Christian Charities) are going to succeed -- we are going to have to have strong local clergy leadership to guide the Orthodox faithful. I am happy to say that these three priests have breathed new life into the clergy council and it is changing for the better.

Another experience that I would like to share with you is the impact that Fr Anthony Scott has had on me. From the first time I met Fr Anthony in Los Angeles, when he came to thank me for a $100 gift, I knew he was a special person. A person whose passionate vision for Orthodoxy and especially for St Vladimir’s Seminary brought tears to both of our eyes. Fr Anthony is a leader who is very focused and goal oriented. Whether it was as a parish priest at St George Antiochian Church in Wichita, where he transformed the church and especially the youth ministry, or directing our Capital Campaign, or identifying potential trustees for SVS, his vision, enthusiasm and energy are contagious. My fellow trustee, Eric Namee is a product of Fr Anthony’s youth ministry. Eric today is working tirelessly for the advancement of Orthodox Christianity in America.

Why did I share these three stories with you, the graduates of the class of 1996? I told you these stories because I want to show you how three of your fellow alumni are working to build up the Orthodox Church. I believe with all of my heart that you have been chosen and have been given a very precious gift ... your experiences and education at St Vladimir’s Seminary. I truly believe that if Orthodoxy in America is going to be anything more than our ethnic huddles, the responsibilities will fall largely on you, your classmates and your fellow SVS alumni who have graduated before you.

I believe there are six common traits among St Vladimir’s Seminary graduates:

1. Knowledge: You have received the highest quality theological education available in Orthodox seminaries in North America.

2. Camaraderie and Fellowship in a Pan-Orthodox Environment: The friendships which you have developed here will last a lifetime. The successes and the disappointments, the hardships and the joys that you experienced while here, you will treasure them for years to come. While traveling throughout the country for our Capital Campaign, I have observed a universal bond of Christian love among SVS graduates.

3. Experience: Although perhaps not as much as you would have liked, you did receive very valuable hands-on experience, whether it was dealing with limited personal financial resources, the community work assignments, the liturgical life in the chapel, singing in the choirs, the parish and social agency experiences. All of these will prove valuable to you, especially when you begin working in a parish environment.

4. Prestige: As a graduate of SVS you are the recipient of a high level of respect and recognition in the Orthodox community. Many faculty and staff members have sacrificed their lives and opportunities for personal financial gain over the past 57 years so that St Vladimir’s can be what it is today. St Vladimir’s Seminary, in the theological community, stands comparably with Stanford and Harvard in the business and political world.

5. Opportunity: In a society which is downsizing job opportunities both in the business world and in government, the employment opportunities for St Vladimir’s Seminary graduates has never been better, and it will continue to be that way for many years to come. I pray that our jurisdictions will someday focus on lost souls and opportunities to build up Orthodox Christianity in America, rather than denying clergy transfer opportunities or temporary assignments between jurisdictions for political reasons. I do not believe that our Lord wants us to get tangled up in jurisdictional politics at a time when the vineyard is ripe and ready for harvest.

6. Impact: Many of our parishes are starving for "real" Orthodox Christianity, one that is alive and talks to them on their level and in these times. It is rare when new college graduates can make an immediate impact...but you can! Recently, one of your fellow classmates, Fr Christopher Wojcik, had the opportunity to serve Christmas Liturgy in a Serbian parish in Butte, Montana. The Butte parish, one of the oldest in America, had grown in recent years through the efforts of Fr Dusan Koprovica, a SVS graduate, who brought in many converts to Orthodoxy and to the Butte parish. When Fr Dusan transferred to the Mid-West a couple of years ago, the parish went into a nose-dive: attendance fell to 10-20 Parishioners per week. When word spread through the Butte community that an English speaking, St Vladimir’s Seminary graduate would be visiting and serving the Christmas Liturgy, 175 people came to the Liturgy and most took communion with tears in their eyes. They were receiving the taste of Orthodoxy which they had lost with the transfer of Fr Dusan. They made Fr Christopher a job offer immediately after his visit.

I urge each of you, wherever the Lord leads you, to fight hard to make our Holy Orthodox faith understandable for everyone. Mixed marriages are now the norm in our parishes and if one of the partners has to attend a liturgy for one and one half hours and listen to homilies in a foreign language, our Holy Church will be weakened in America. I am proud of my Serbian heritage and the sacrifices that my parents and grandparents made so that I can enjoy what I have today. But I am discouraged and angered when I come out of a service entirely in Serbian and ask a "died in the wool" Serb what the homily was about and am told they did not understand any of it. What hypocrisy!

In conclusion, you will be entering an environment which will challenge you to the maximum of your God-given ability. An environment which Satan, I am sure, finds fruitful because of the hardness of so many of our parishioners’ attitudes. Be prepared for statements like: "We have never done it before." or, "There is no money for this idea." or, "So and so will quit coming." I pray that you will never give up and never abandon what you know is the right way. In your darkest moments of battle, remember the Fr Dennis’s and the Fr Nicks and the Fr Anthonys; they do not give up and they do succeed!

If I could suggest one thing to each of you, it would be for you to make time each week to sit quietly for 15-20 minutes and dream. Dream about the kind of ministry you would like and dream about what the Orthodox Church could be. I have followed this practice for many years and can say that it has played an important part in my life, my work, my charitable giving and work in the Church. Psychologists tell us that if we can lock onto a vision and can imagine that vision as if it is a reality today, our mind will continually lead us in that direction until it is achieved.

The president of the Butte parish said to me recently, "Do you know the difference between an ethnic priest and a St Vladimir’s graduate? An ethnic priest asks how many ethnic families are in the community? While Fr Christopher asked how many people lived in Butte. When told 36,000, he said, ‘Just think, 36,000 potential Orthodox Christians!" That is a vision, a dream.

With your graduation today, you have become "full time, non-paid" members of the SVS Recruitment Staff. As you know the number of men and women entering seminaries is down, as experienced by our seminary. I do not have to tell you that this could pose serious problems for the future of Orthodoxy in America. You and your fellow alumni are the best resource for identifying men and women who would be good candidates for St Vladimir’s. There is no way that a catalogue can replace your testimony of your experiences at St Vladimir’s. In addition, the seminary will look to each of you to help identify and recruit potential supporters, who share it’s vision for Orthodoxy in America.

I encourage you to return to St Vladimir’s as often as you can. Every time I talk to someone who has visited here for two or three days, like my own experience, they comment on how inspired they feel when they return to their parishes or to their homes. That is one of the benefits of being on the Board of Trustees, like Congress, we have not adopted term limits, so we get to return for Board meetings every six months.

I pray that God will bless you and that he will use each of you to further His Kingdom on this earth.