Fr. Alexander Atty to become St. Tikhon's Seminary dean

Having spoken to some seminarians, I have heard unanimous joy at his selection. There is of course some worry about his health (do join the Facebook group to pray for his recovery), but I'm told he plans to fight hard and prevail over his ailment. The fact that he will remain in the Antiochian archdiocese is quite interesting and I expect more to be made of that in the coming months.

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(OCANews) - Sources close to Englewood confirmed yesterday that the Very Rev. Dr. Alexander Atty, an Antiochian priest who was offered the position of Dean of St. Tikhon’s Seminary earlier this month, has received the blessing of Metropolitan Philip to do so, effective June 30, 2010. Fr. Atty, who is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Seminary, will remain in the Antiochian jurisdiction. The Seminary Board recently changed its by-laws to open the position to non-OCA Orthodox clergy.

Fr. Alexander was born August 7, 1951 in Johnstown, PA, and holds a BS in engineering from Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science. Ordained a priest on December 9,1979 at St. Nicholas Cathedral, Brooklyn NY, he earned his MDiv from St. Vladimir’s Seminary. He has been rector of his current parish, St. Michael the Archangel in Louisville KY, since 1980, and has been appointed Proestos of the Diocese of Toledo (Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America [AOCANA]) and Dean of Ohio Valley Deanery. Fr. Atty earned his DMin at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 2008. Fr. Atty is married to the former Olga Nehrebecki, whose father is a retired OCA priest, Fr. John Nehrebecki.

According to his Facebook fan page (with over 1600 members) and his parish’s website, Fr. Atty, who was recently diagnosed with stage four colon cancer, underwent successful surgery on February 9th. He had additional, minor outpatient surgery March 16th and will start a six month chemotherapy treatment on March 22nd.