St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary - Press Releases Press Release Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement Re-established

Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement Re-established

On September 26-28, 2003 over thirty seminarians met for the first Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement (OISM) meeting of the 2003-2004 academic year at St Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary in South Canaan, PA.

The goal of the weekend retreat was to reorganize OISM, which has been inactive for several years. Students from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, St Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary, and St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary attended the event.

Saturday began with the Divine Liturgy at the St Tikhon's monastery chapel. Later that morning, the Very Reverend Daniel Kovalak, adjunct lecturer in pastoral theology at St Tikhon's, gave a lecture about missions. After lunch, the seminarians were given a tour of the monastery grounds and its icon repository.

After the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, an interim board was elected to draft bylaws, which will be presented at the next meeting. Paul Gabriel Erickson of St Tikhon's was elected president; Joseph Matusiak of St Vladimir's was elected vice president; Haralambos Fox of Holy Cross was elected secretary; and Alexander Valens of St Tikhon's was elected treasurer. Each school also elected a representative to act as a liaison between the interim board and their respective schools.

OISM is open to all canonical Orthodox seminarians in the US and Canada. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for the spring of 2004 at St Vladimir's.