From March 5-9 visiting speakers from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology addressed St. Herman seminarians, impacting them greatly.
Fr. Luke Veronis, veteran OCMC missionary to Kenya and Albania and director of the Mission Institute of Orthodox Christianity, presented "The Missiology of Archbishop Anastasios of Albania" as we focused on the priority of missions in the Orthodox Christian life. Through his presentation, several students commented they were made aware of the global Orthodox community and the need of people throughout the world to experience the salvific work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Dr. Philip Mamalakis, assistant professor of Pastoral Care and director of field education at Holy Cross, led a seminar on Orthodox Christian marriage and parenting. His presentation meets a great challenge here in Alaska and resulted in the staff and students being excited about the possibility of this presentation to be shared with the clergy of our Diocese in the future.
Accompanying them were two seminarians from Holy Cross, who experienced hospitality from the Seminary, Holy Resurrection Cathedral, and St. Innocent Academy communities. Our guests were able to experience our banya, good Kodiak food, and the graciousness of our students as well as a pilgrimage to Spruce Island.
Our hope is that this event will be the first of many opportunities St. Herman Seminary has in working with our sister seminaries to bear witness to the Orthodox Christian faith here in North America.