The Seminary: A Documentary - Part II

[Music] the fact that this exists for me that this is an option in my future it gives me such hope that someone can experience this who has been dreaming about this their whole life as an orthodox christian [Music] i came and i found exactly what i was looking for there's a solidarity and a oneness of mind and spirit that you find here at the seminary that strengthens you [Music] so [Music] this spiritual pursuit ends up being i think a lot more of a spiritual journey than anybody [Music] expects okay so what would you all right okay um well just leading up to um this analogy these analogies um like to talk about why socrates is using these analogies i've been on my own for a long time and i've had to wade through many different philosophies many different worldviews orthodoxy fulfills all the needs of man's soul fulfills our need to have understanding not just on just not just knowledge not just an ideology not just a set of beliefs but we get to behold the truth i just i just think that it could be something that looking from the outside you think oh that's nice you know you can learn learn more about your faith as if it's just putting information in your head but that's not the way to really learn orthodoxy anyway because orthodoxy is a way of life a way of being it's who you are not just an ideology that you agree with and that's part of the whole point of what people have to learn here at spots is how to be how to be an orthodox christian so there has to be one heck of a comeback here [Applause] and i'm a faculty member at the seminary i teach art history predominantly this year i'll be teaching also bioethics and so i've been already affiliated with the monastery for for at least a year and i often consult with students on matters of phi chronology and iconography and things like that so that's kind of my area of expertise what's happening here in aetna is enormous it is it is worldwide in in the best way of understanding that in terms of souls of people in the world right to be part of something like that is an honor and a privilege and i you know how can you deny such an opportunity and really for me it comes down to that [Music] [Music] choosing something like a place to to study really is a soul-searching endeavor for any student three years that you spend three or four years however long that you spend getting your bachelor's right will guide the rest of your life and what to do and how to [Music] answer problems that you've never thought you had you will have to answer before a problem within the orthodox community how to advise other people if you yourself become a manager in a job a husband or a wife a father to a child and i know this from experience i was not thinking about those things when i was looking into a bachelor's program but but you know what uh those are the things that are the most important things in life sainsbury's seminary does something completely different it builds your life in ways that i have not seen [Music] live stream lectures are great it gets the seminary's name out to the public and they can watch and see what we actually do learn here instead of oh i heard that you had a lecture by somebody but now they can actually see what the lecture is about [Music] i think we ended up having a hundred and a hundred and eight hundred and something people show up online and they were able to experience the same thing us as seminarians have had the opportunity to be exposed to there was one deacon sending saint james who was left the holy trinity which is one essence with three hypotheses we have a number of people abroad who are interested in studying at the seminary not only latin america but also in africa and perhaps even in greece because our church in greece does not have its own seminary because all schools in greece must be run by the government according to greek law so as a result all of the theological schools in greece are run by the new calendar church the state church the saint photos seminary is the first seminary of our church that is the church of the genuine orthodox christians of greece so we're hoping that people from greece and from europe will be able to come to the seminary as well the main obstacle in this case is language because the classes are taught in english so the students who come will need to have a sufficient master of english in order to do the coursework in order to study orthodox theology one needs to study greek the greek language is indispensable for an understanding of the fathers for an understanding of key patristic ideas so cent fortio seminary very properly places a heavy emphasis on the acquisition of the greek language and in the classes which i've taught i've frequently used greek expressions or introduced greek words in greek concepts and the students were all able to follow what i was saying because they studied greek but i believe that the the sense photius seminary can serve a great role not only within the united states and canada but also preparing clergy for latin america for africa for europe and for any part of the world so i'm very thankful that god has allowed me this opportunity to spend in in the monastery and teaching in the seminary getting to know the students getting to know the faculty being able to see how the how the seminary functions and understanding that this is a key institution for the future of our church [Music] playing ping pong is always a blast but we do also have a waterfall here which has been renamed saint peter's falls after saint peter the olyute [Music] there's also just beautiful scenery we like to go there and just read [Music] just enjoy some of the weather it's it's really just a [Music] fun time that's why it's in the fun category [Music] picking candles that cat and all the helped candle makers from bearsville sent for us i got this one with a butter and a bear on it it's pretty wonderful what an opportunity what an opportunity and what an opportunity to be surrounded by other people your age that have the basic fundamental values share the basic fundamental values um you know again your your late teens your early 20s your early 30s even they're the most formative time of your life you can you can ask a question and have it answered you can follow up with your professor after class um because guess what he's here because he's invested in your education he's invested in your formation not just an academic sense but in a spiritual sense first and foremost and on a personal level too i learned before i got across the the history of of these uniforms it it was originally the uniform of a philosopher in ancient times a philosopher practices for death that's that's the point of a philosopher and so the early church took up that that practice of of being mournful for our sins being dead to the world of course an actual novice would be wearing um would be wearing more you have there's a special hat and perhaps a vest as well in the greek tradition this is this is the uniform for the seminary in in very simple terms no it's it's pretty nice i mean it's good i was happy when i got i was i put it on and didn't take it off for the whole day i mean honestly when i put this on i can i can i feel like i can do philosophy better i can read philosophy and understand it better if you are interested in wearing black choose spots for the temple one of my favorite classes is definitely iconography i really was always interested and fascinated by icons and i always wanted to learn but it's hard to learn by yourself i don't think people understand that there is a lot of theology regarding icons and you can't just start and paint an icon just pick up a paintbrush and start painting an icon there's a lot more to it something that i had really not understood before is that painting an icon is not just painting it's literally praying so while you're painting you should be praying and that the icon that you paint portrays your spiritual life so you know i do notice days where i'm not praying regularly or if i'm having a little trouble in my spiritual life it shows through my icon so i was having not a great day and i couldn't match any of the paints that i was trying to mix up so you can definitely see that you have to be in tune with your spiritual life in order to paint an icon it makes it really well they need to be really well intermixed as for my classmates you know they're constantly encouraging me i think that's one of the things that i really appreciate everybody encourages each other and i think we are all quick to help one another um and that we are there for each other i think i love doing my schoolwork with the other students because it helps me understand better and kind of getting their perspective on things in uh 2016 saint fozio's orthodox seminary opens its doors and edna officially becomes a college town 2017 the denny bar distillery opens within a year the second brewery opens so now aetna has two breweries a distillery three or four coffee shops and the seminar [Music] other than the monastery and some people at the convent i had no social group as it was as it can be referred to and am i not having a social group my fear then was loneliness what's it gonna mean if i come to a school with three students and that's it [Music] in a large school you can make a lot of superficial friends you can have 10 people you're willing to do a study group with and one study group's over you don't want to talk to him again class is over your friendship's over you're forced to develop a deeper friendship with each of the people and develop it quicker so through my being in such close proximity and then being the only people i was in proximity to that fear of loneliness was proven to be unwarranted because we were able to develop a friendship that was far more than just we see each other and we study i really would appreciate being able to with my fellow students timothy kira zenya all of them drive up into the mountain [Music] sit and look at the stars [Music] what i've gained here from spots is an orthodox mindset and friends so it's paid back dividends from what i was expecting and i think it was worth every minute of it [Music] [Music] so on thanksgiving many of the students got together to cook really nice dishes for the meal i think tim and vasilos were in charge of making both the turkey and him we had turkey and ham and it was their first time ever cooking either the dishes and it turned out fantastic for thanksgiving all of us students gathered together and because we wanted more of a homey environment we gathered at st melanie's house to have a more homey thanksgiving and we all cooked different meals and it was just very [Music] nice [Music] hey but everything was delicious all of the students ate with father george we are at st melania's preparing for first dinner for thanksgiving we will be having two thanksgiving dinners today to get rid of all of the fat [Music] non-fasting [Music] i always like to remember the military and the farmers and the health care workers remember them and thankful for them so we're going to the top of a mountain i don't know which mountain some mountain we're going up to the top of a mountain and we have hot cocoa and today's thanksgiving [Music] oh this is so pretty [Music] like it was very nice time uh bonding with the other seminarians we attempted to go on a hiking trip to the summit of the mountain but it was snowing that day [Music] you know it was just like a nice get-together we all went around and did that corny thing we're like what are you thankful for and it was nice hearing the different things everyone was thankful for [Music] so for st nicholas day all of us students gathered together with some of the nuns from the convent and we got to spend time together decorating you know the seminary we decorated the christmas tree [Music] it was very kind of them they prepared a very delicious meal for us [Music] they have to show me how to build this thing we also had a gift exchange the fathers from the monastery and the mothers gifted us some very wonderful things very useful things now you have some ornaments for your own christmas tree hey just wait more gift bags on the way mints and candy canes very nice [Music] amen [Music] uh on behalf of the convent of saint elizabeth the saint gregory palmas monastery and the saint philia's orthodox theological seminary we greet you with the feast of christ's nativity [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] my [Music] last year mothers from the convent asked some of the female students to participate in their christmas concert and they made us all outfits that represent our nationalities and so i had a romanian inspired outfit and they all hand-made them it was interesting because they were asking for my measurements and i was like okay what is this for but then they surprised us with these beautiful outfits and we got to carol with them and there were so many people it was pretty overwhelming but it was such a blessing to be able to to chant with them good evening everyone merry christmas on behalf of the orthodox community of etna i would like to thank you all for coming tonight it's been helpful to introduce our wider community to to us [Music] this past year they decided that i would be the newest and most welcome addition to play the hammer dulcimer needless to say that was an incredibly daunting task and request the most i had performed before was like by myself the most i performed for was somewhere on the order of 40 people i had performed for a wedding so i practiced and i practiced heck i even learned a new song [Music] it's been good as a sort of introduction for those members of the community who have not before been as comfortable with approaching us just you know out in public so it's i think it's been good in that way and it's also been fun if a little bit stressful [Applause] god willing we're on track to be fully accredited in the spring of 2021 so this upcoming spring that has multiple implications easier eminence if you could if you could start by just um sharing with everybody a little bit about the the history of the seminary and sort of the five-year path towards uh you know the event taking place next week absolutely the seminary is the fruit of a vision uh by metropolitan of metropolitan chrysostomos my predecessor why is it important for for a graduate to come from an accredited institution well the simplest definition of accreditation is is this one provided by our accreditation agency the association for biblical higher education abhg for short and it says accreditation is a means of assuring the public that an institution meets accepted standards of quality and integrity our accreditation affects our ability to serve our students and potential students both in widening the audience for enrollment the type of people who can enroll in the school and also in what a degree from our program produces for our students [Applause] the saint photos orthodox theological seminary in aetna california asks for your prayers since its founding in 2015 the seminar has been working towards accreditation for its current bachelor of theology and master of theological studies degrees [Music] accreditation will also enable the seminary to inaugurate new degree programs and to enroll international students from february 17 to february 19 2021 members of the seminary administration will be in orlando florida the very reverend arkham and father dr patapios who's the and miss gabrielle escarion the registrar at the annual meeting of its accrediting agency the association for biblical higher education we ask for your prayers that the saint foreigners orthodox theological seminary will move forward and always be a beacon of orthodoxy and that the seminary will be able to preach the orthodox faith and adulterate it god bless you all the most beautiful jewel of a church in a very very busy um bustling uh tourist area but not something you'd expect to see but it's a remarkable testament to the the greeks in the united states this particular historical setting it's very humbling to be here [Music] foreign [Music] it's been a great pleasure and joy for us to be to be ascending the services in my case to be uh certainly the investments and imagines the divine liturgy this uh beautiful small community and it's this wonderful little church it's uh it's amazing what they've done with all their resources they've made great sacrifices of their own um financial sacrifices too to construct this church and buy the land in the first place build this uh it's a beautiful church it's very very clean and uh a pleasant experience to serve here it was uh they chanted very very nicely and everybody was so very impressed with that great piety and especially with that with the love we wish they welcomed us here and uh and the wonderful fellowship we had but during the services and after the services throughout the day it's been a very memorable experience and showing great support also with enthusiasm for our seminary which we're very grateful [Music] [Music] oh [Music] well if we were to go we could it is actually sort of on the way okay so right now we're sitting in the library of the abhe headquarters and we're waiting for our first well we're waiting for our final interview with the commission on accreditation okay everyone's well i'm glad to speak to you again bye-bye thanks again yes that's a nice phone is it an iphone alexa sent us some words of encouragement good he said a beautiful morning here in aetna we see us intercede on your father's on yours and father's behalf go get him and he said and i know the metropolitan is also praying for all of us to be nervous absolutely you will have because we also have commissioners on zoo and so there will be a camera on you at your table you won't likely see the camera in front of you will be a table with the laptop that you'll see the commissioners it was very exciting and intimidating at the same time i'm feeling confident but a little on edge because they have to actually hear the the words themselves they can't uh you know we did did our part but it's up to god at this point symphonies oh they're coming for us [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] was chosen as our patron by metropolitan chrysostomos because of his love for the saint he saw him as a patron not only of the orthodox faith but but also for some people argue that he's the father of the modern day book review he had a great library he was a great thinker and even before his enter into active service in the church he was well known as a as a very accomplished intellectual he was also needless to say a a man of great faith tonight we recognize two institutions and celebrate with them the achievement of initial accreditation this year we will recognize each institution individually and the first institution is indian bible college flagstaff arizona all right our graveyard evidence of squirrels eating acorns so that is the grave of metropolitan crusosmos a blessed memory whose first year anniversary we just celebrated this past sunday what would his eminence think if he were here and able to see what we have done since his repose we have we have invested quite a bit of labor in the cemetery and ossuary focused around his eminences sepulcher because we believe he is still with us we have perhaps to the [Music] perhaps with to the limits of our strength and capabilities we have continued his vision everything that we undertake here we can we we ask ourselves what would his eminence think about that did he did he have such a notion did he leave us with such an idea and the second institution that we celebrate their achievement tonight saint photos [Music] uh what kind of man was metropolitan chrysostomos well that's that is not an easy question he was relatively speaking sleepless in terms of his concerns for the needs of the church and especially his duty in the face of those needs didn't want anything wasted on himself wanted everything to serve the church he had great love for all of his spiritual children [Music] thank god all of the all of this family that his eminence left gathered together here in aetna those who knew him knew that they had met a giant in our own generation [Music] so [Music] something deep inside the man convinced you of greatness of a great soul full of the love of god full of a sense of duty and service rich in virtue especially humility and and animated by love metropolitan chrysostomos when you would drive by that building would say boy i wish we had that building i used to look at his eminence and say what would you do with it he must have said it a hundred times what we really want to do is help you to deepen your inner and spiritual life

Channel: California Pilgrim

Views: 1,102

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: seminary, seminarian, orthodoxchristian, orthodoxchristianity, etna, christianfilm, christiandocumentary, orthodox, orthodoxschool, orthodoxseminary

Id: EGcNm8Y2xuM

Length: 44min 8sec (2648 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 04 2021