We are pleased to announce that third-year seminarian Yako Pavila has won the November 2010 “Sermon of the Month” contest in the seminarian category hosted by the Preacher’s Institute. Visit http://preachersinstitute.com/2010/11/14/homily-on-forgiveness/ to read Yako’s homily on the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matt. 18:21-35). Yako will receive a medallion from the Preacher’s Institute, which will be awarded to him in a ceremony at the seminary chapel.

The Preacher’s Institute is dedicated to improving Orthodox Christian preaching, providing homiletic resources and examples of patristic and contemporary preaching. All homiletics students at St. Herman Seminary will be submitting entries for this competition each month. Incidentally, Fr. John Peck of the Institute is a graduate of St. Herman Seminary as well as a former instructor. In addition to producing this valuable preaching resource for Orthodox homilists, Fr. John serves as priest of St. George Orthodox Church in Prescott, Arizona.

Wishing to contribute to the preaching tradition of our Church by such luminaries as St. John Chrysostom, St. Herman Seminary offers three years of homiletics classes in our conviction that Orthodox preaching is vital to our Church today. We encourage priests, deacons, and seminarians (and other laymen) to enter this competition, primarily to encourage others to improve their preaching for our ministry to the Orthodox faithful in our Church.

Again, congratulations to Yako for this accomplishment!