Preparing those whom the Lord Has called…

May 2023

Dear Supporters of Holy Trinity Seminary, Christ is Risen!

For the past 75 years, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville, NY has been an educational cornerstone of the Russian Church Abroad, preparing future clergy and Church leaders. Our seminary is committed to this important task of providing the knowledge and skills needed to serve our parish communities with excellence and dedication.

Today, I am writing to ask you to partner with us in this holy work by giving a generous gift to our 2023 Spring Appeal for the Seminary Annual Fund.

Our mission to form and prepare the future leaders of the Church is more important now than ever. Our existing parish clerics are aging, and we do not have an adequate number of trained and ordained priests to replace them.

Additionally, as our society becomes more complex, the ability of the well-intentioned but uneducated to provide adequate answers to all who seek to know God and understand the truth is increasingly unsatisfactory. Passing our faith and traditions to this next generation requires a higher level of preparation for the next generation of church leadership.

Preparing those whom the Lord has called…

This is our mission at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary. — We prepare the called! Only God can call someone to ministry in His Holy Church, and when He does call someone, we are here to form them for that service. This is a very high calling, and it takes serious commitment to be properly formed for service. This is what the seminary in Jordanville, together with the guidance of the fathers in the monastery, has been doing for 75 years!

Would you give a gift today to help us continue preparing those who are called?

Today, I’d like to share the stories of some of our most recent examples with you of how we’re preparing the called.

Fr. Deacon Ivan Golovin (ordained February 12, 2023) is set to graduate from our undergraduate (Bachelor of Theology) program now in May, 2023. Subdeacon Ivan was ordained to the Diaconate by His Grace, Bishop Luke here at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville. Originally from Crimea, Subdeacon Ivan was married in 2021 to his wife, who studied Iconography at St Sergius Lavra in Moscow.

“I would like to continue my studies at the seminary because I really enjoy serving in the altar more than anything else, and it is something I want to pursue more than any worldly job or career,” as Fr. Deacon Ivan wrote in his application for our bachelor of theology program. He continued, “There is a such thing [called] God-seeking. And in this seeking you understand that the truth is in Orthodoxy, and you want to serve God and His people.”

There is nothing Fr. Deacon Ivan wants to do more than to serve God and his people.

Your support of Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville prepares the called. You are preparing Fr. Deacon Ivan.

Fr. Peter James (ordained November 20, 2022), is a graduate of the Master of Divinity program at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary, an alumnus of the Class of 2022. Fr Peter was ordained to both the Diaconate and the Holy Priesthood – one day apart! –  this past November. Fr Peter is a 30-year-old young man, called by God, trained and prepared in Jordanville, for a lifetime of service to Christ and His Holy Church.

Subdeacon Patrick Hinds (set apart February 12, 2023) is set to graduate from our M.Div. (Master of Divinity) program now in May, 2023 as well. Reader Patrick was 'set apart' as a Subdeacon by Metropolitan Nicholas here at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville. Patrick is 25-years-old and was married last summer. He and his wife are now expecting their first child. When he entered the seminary in 2020, he wrote, 

“I want to develop the Orthodox mindset, or as Fr Seraphim Rose says, to walk down the royal path.”

Raised in a Protestant-Muslim family, Patrick was baptized into the Church at the age of 18. He is eager to learn more about the Church, and has said that he especially wants to learn about liturgics and Orthodox patristic theology. “These things I feel are best learned in the setting that Jordanville has,” Patrick wrote.

Your support allows Subdeacon Patrick to devote his life to developing a deeper understanding of Orthodox Tradition.

That understanding further prepares him to serve Christ and His Church.

These are just three recent examples. I would also encourage you to read about Fr. Peter Markevich and Fr. Deacon Seth Davidenko, who are two other excellent examples of our recent seminary graduates, who chose to spend the formative years of their lives in Jordanville.

Fr Peter Markevich (ordained February 12, 2023), having graduated from our B.Th. program in 2013, then spent the next 10 years here in Jordanville serving as a deacon (later senior Protodeacon) in the monastery, as well as teaching liturgics in the seminary and now working as the Director of Marketing for Holy Trinity Publications. After ordination, Fr Peter was appointed the rector of Holy Trinity Parish in Mebane, NC.

Fr. Deacon Seth Davidenko (ordained April 9, 2023) was among the first to graduate from both the B.Th. (2018) and the M.Div. (2021) programs, and is now serving in his home parish, Holy Trinity Cathedral in Toronto, Canada. 

They both chose to be prepared in this special and unique place, and to celebrate the Liturgical Feast Days and all the meaningful and joyous occasions that fill our Church calendar throughout the year.

Immerse yourself in these stories – and remember – we have seminary graduates currently serving not just all over the country, but all throughout the world, and at all levels of leadership within the Church.

...Why should you support the seminary? And in particular, why should you make it a priority now during our 75th Anniversary year?

The teachers and students in the video "Why Support the Jordanville Seminary"  answer those questions very clearly.

Why should I give?

When you give to the Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary at Jordanville, you share in that work. You are a co-laborer in preserving the Traditions of the Church. All of the fruit from the lives of these men and the parishes they serve is fruit that you have helped grow.

That’s why I am writing to you today. You can partner with us to advance this work by giving a generous gift to support the Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville.

The need for new priests is paramount, as well as the need for trained chanters, readers, and choir members. We need more “Peters”. We need more “Ivans”. We need more”Patricks”.
We need more “Seths”.

We need a seminary that can provide an exceptional education that builds up young men with a desire to serve the Church.

With your support, we can ensure that our future clerics are well-equipped to address the challenges facing our communities and the world.

Why should I give to Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary?

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary is uniquely suited to meet the challenges presented to the Church today. From our founding, people have highly respected Holy Trinity Seminary as being home to well-formed clerics and academicians. We are home to educators in a range of theologically oriented disciplines. We have developed a reputation as an institution that holds to exceptional standards of rigor, intellectual caliber, and high level of critical thought. We are known for outstanding classroom presentation that is rooted in a “classical” patristic dialectic.

Over the years, we have steadily achieved increasing international recognition as an officially accredited educational institution capable of granting official diplomas in the U.S. This “public pedigree” has continually attested to each student’s superlative level of liturgical, academic, intellectual, and spiritual training, and his command of all the tools needed to respond to the vast range of necessities and demands in contemporary Orthodox Church leadership and mission.

Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary is known to have already prepared at least three generations for service in the Orthodox mission of North America and throughout the world. Many of these have become outstanding advocates of the Faith, and many have become bishops within the Holy Orthodox Church.

We have three generations of “Peters”, “Ivans”, “Patricks”, and “Seths”, and by God’s grace, we will have many generations more.

While we have a rich and important heritage, and it’s our future that excites us today, which we envision as vibrant and thoroughly active both for us and for the Church worldwide.

Jordanville’s natural setting provides an atmosphere of unceasing prayer, daily church services, and a rigorous academic schedule that is ideal for religious formation. As we look to the future, we maintain an unswerving commitment to the fundamental components of our institutional success in the past, including:

• Maintaining our traditional profile that inspires students wishing to find the best possible resources for their pastoral and clerical formation
• Growing and expanding while maintaining our Orthodox Christian educational leadership
• Acquiring and retaining outstanding faculty, developing premier library facilities, and creating a cutting-edge curriculum.
• Providing highly interpersonal guidance in spiritual growth and offering resources for knowledge of Orthodox liturgical service and arts
• Serving as a unique educational center for the study of worldwide Orthodox Christian culture, including the invaluable Russian perspective.
• Continuing and increasing publication of outstanding books and resources for the Church and the faithful, as well as those who are seeking the Truth
• Remaining accessible to all by keeping our tuition low so that anyone who is called, regardless of financial situation, can attend and be prepared for service

Why should I give now?

Today, especially during our 75th anniversary year, I invite you to partner with us in our mission by making a gift of any amount. Your gift will help us to continue to provide exceptional education and formation to our students. Your generosity will help us ensure the next generation of clergy are well prepared, and ready to serve future generations of the Church.

You will be a co-laborer in preparing the next generation of Church leadership.

All of us at Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary in Jordanville are deeply grateful that you would consider partnering with us in this work by giving a gift. Of course I would encourage you to be generous in your support, and at the very least, I would truly encourage you to give a gift of any amount. When you give a gift of any amount, that gift tells us that you stand with us, and knowing that you are with us means a great deal.

We would be honored to discuss our vision in greater detail by phone or Zoom. Please reach out to me anytime.

Together, we can ensure the future of our Church, and continue our mission of educating and preparing future leaders of the Holy Orthodox Church.

Sincerely, In Christ,
Deacon Michael Pavuk
Director of Development

P.S. Many generous and faithful donors have enabled us to thrive throughout these past 75 years. We hope and pray that you will be one of the donors that will carry us into our
bright future!

This mission for the Church must continue!

Thank You for your support.