St. Nersess Seminary hosts Met. Jonah talk

(St. Nersess Seminary) - His Beatitude Metropolitan Jonah, leader of the Orthodox Church in America, will deliver a lecture at St. Nersess Seminary on the relations between the Eastern Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. The lecture is scheduled for Monday, March 8, 2010 at 7:30PM.

His Beatitude will also offer his own thoughts about the role of the Armenian Church in the reconciliation of the two ancient church families. The Metropolitan's talk is part of the Seminary's 2010 Public Lecture Series, entitled The Armenian Church: A Distinctive Christian Voice.

The Orthodox Church in America was established in 1794, when a small group of Russian Orthodox missionaries landed on Kodiak Island, Alaska. Today the self-governing church comprises over two million faithful, many of whom have come to the Orthodox faith from other Christian denominations.

Metropolitan Jonah was born James Paffhausen in Chicago, Illinois, where he was baptized into the Episcopal Church. He was received into the Orthodox Church in 1978 at Our Lady of Kazan Moscow Patriarchal Church, San Diego, while a student at the University of California, San Diego. After completing studies at UCSC, he attended St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, graduating with a Master of Divinity degree in 1985 and a Master of Theology in Dogmatics in 1988. Having begun doctoral studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, he travelled to Russia, where he joined a Russian Orthodox monastery and was ordained a priest-monk, receiving the new name, Jonah.

Returning to the United States, Fr. Jonah served a number of missions and established several Orthodox monasteries in California and Hawaii.In the spring of 2008, the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America elevated Fr. Jonah to the rank of Archimandrite. Later that year he was consecrated bishop. On Wednesday, November 12, 2008, Bishop Jonah was elected Archbishop of Washington and New York and Metropolitan of All America and Canada at the 15th All-American Council of the Orthodox Church in America, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

"In the short time since his election as head of the Orthodox Church in America, His Beatitude has shown himself to be an outspoken advocate for the full reconciliation of the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches," said Fr. Daniel Findikyan, Seminary Dean, who was a classmate of the Metropolitan's at St. Vladimir's Seminary. "We are honored indeed to have His Beatitude visit St. Nersess."

The lecture is free of charge and open to the public. A reception will follow.

For further information, contact the Seminary by email or by calling (914) 636-2003. Click here to download a brochure containing the complete schedule of lectures.