SEMINARY AT A GLANCE

Founded in 1938 as a Pastoral School by resolution of the 6th All-American Sobor of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in North America (North American Metropolia), the Seminary has historically grown on the fertile soil of the Orthodox faith, supported by the deep faith and love of several generations of Orthodox people, nourished by its Russian Orthodox roots, and reaching into the deep-flowing waters of a 2000-year spiritual and cultural tradition. Officially transformed from a Pastoral School into a Seminary by the Holy Synod of the Metropolia in 1942, the Seminary has visibly progressed along the educational path determined by its founders.

In 1967, the Seminary was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. A formal credit transfer agreement with Marywood College (now Marywood University), in nearby Scranton, was articulated and signed in 1975. In 1988, the Seminary was authorized by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) to award the Master of Divinity (M. Div.) degree to its graduates. The first M. Div. degrees were conferred on the graduating class of 1989.

In June 2004, the Seminary accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS).

Identity and Mission of the Seminary

St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary is an institution of professional Orthodox Christian theo­logical education, chartered by the Department of Education of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and affiliated with the Orthodox Church in America. In a rural environment conducive to spiritual growth and academic study, the Seminary nurtures the theological vocations of its students and faculty, who share the unique opportunity of learning and teaching Orthodox theology in the framework of their daily experience of a rich heritage of Russian Orthodox spiritual and liturgical tradition.

The primary mission of the Seminary lies in providing the necessary theological, liturgical, spiritual, and moral foundations for Orthodox men to become, as God so wills, good shepherds of His Holy Orthodox Church. At the same time, however, the Seminary also recognizes that many individuals choose to enroll in a professional theological training program for the fulfillment of needs other than those of ordained ministry. Among these are: preparation for general religious leadership responsibilities in parishes and other settings; advanced theological study; specialized ministry as religious educators or choir directors; and personal spiritual enrichment. There­fore, St. Tikhon’s Seminary con­tinues to support all honorable reasons for matriculation at the Seminary and participation in class.

Statement of Purpose.

In the 200-year history of Orthodoxy in America, Orthodox theological education has continually had to face and meet special missionary challenges. The living tradition of Orthodox spiritual life, however, firmly and deeply rooted in the Church’s experience in the Old World, remains for us a source of inspiration and energy, courage and wisdom, patience and tolerance, and moves us to do the work of God here in the twenty-first century.

As a community we are committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as proclaimed by the Apostles, articulated by the Holy Fathers, and manifested fully in the Orthodox Church. Holding fast to these commitments, we believe that it is essential to provide an educational experience that fosters the personal, spiritual, and pastoral formation of our students in preparation for service to Christ in ordained and lay ministry. At St. Tikhon’s we embody the Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church in a lived community as the authentic means of acquiring the Orthodox spiritual, theological, and pastoral ethos. Thorough participation in this community, our students acquire that which is necessary to carry out the divine ordained task of the Church in contemporary society.

Because of its well-known faculty dedicated to the Patristic Tradition, and through its close relationship with the St. Tikhon’s Monastery, our Seminary has gradually emerged as a significant center of Orthodox theological education and spiritual formation that serves the pressing needs of the Church in North America. Through our relationship with the Monastery, we provide our students with an ideal environment for pastoral formation that integrates worship, theological study, field education, and personal transformation in the context of authentic Christian community. With God’s blessings we can expect the continued growth and spiritual enrichment of the institutional life of the Seminary, and the increase of its sustaining contribution to the life of the broader Church community.

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