Speakers for the 2011 St. Herman Conference

This year we have an impressive list of speakers. Through these lectures each listener receives interesting thoughts and messages to contemplate for the coming year. We are grateful that these speakers have agreed to help us learn more about the Orthodox Faith.

Father Sergei Sveshnikov

Father Sergei Sveshnikov is the Rector of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia Parish in Mulino, OR. He has studied at the Ulyanovsk Branch of the Moscow State University in Russia, Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville, NY, and Portland State University in Oregon. He holds Master's degrees in applied theology and divinity from Marylhurst University in Oregon.  

We all know of the Sacraments of the Church and recognize them as certain events or milestones in our lives: we get baptized, we prepare for confession and Communion, get married, some may get ordained to the holy priesthood... These important markers provide us with the time and place to be face-to-face with God, to unite with Him withing His Holy Church, His Body. But what about the rest of our life? Well, we pray for a few minutes in the morning and also in the evening. But what about the rest? All too often, our lives are fractured--there is the Christian part: Church Sacraments and services, prayers and readings; and there is the secular part: school, work, a party at a friend's house, a movie on Friday night--and the two parts seem to be as far apart as the east is from the west. Indeed, what is so spiritual about cooking breakfast? Or, how can one be (or not be) a Christian while brushing one's teeth? The very mechanistic separation between Church and the rest of life seems to be commonplace in modern Christianity. But does there exist another model? Is there a way to reconcile the broken pieces of the modern fractured life and to live one whole and simple Christian life? In this talk, we will discuss the meaning of the word "sacrament," the role that Sacraments play in our life, and also some ways in which we can guide and shape our everyday life toward a greater connection with God and his Church.  

Priest Viatchislav Davidenko

• Born on October 1, 1974, in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia.
• In 1992 immigrated to United States, Atlanta, Georgia.
• Married since 1993, have two children:  Seth and Antonina.
• Bachelor of Biblical Studies from Beulah Heights University in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Ordained deacon in 1999 by His Eminence, Gabriel, Archbishop of Montreal and Canada, then Bishop of Manhattan.
• Ordained priest in 2001 by His Eminence, Gabriel, Archbishop of Montreal and Canada, and appointed second priest at the parish of St. Mary of Egypt in Atlanta, Georgia.
• In 2004, appointed rector of Blessed St. Xenia’s parish in Kanata, Ontario.
• In 2007, appointed second priest at the Holy Trinity parish in Toronto, Ontario.
• In church life, I like to study the ustav - I very much value its inner harmony.  Enjoy church singing, especially the ancient chants and melodies.
• During my free time I like to read, enjoy photography.

Role models for Orthodox Christians: reading the lives of the saints

It is a known fact that people around us influence us, at times even without our own notice of that.  Different people bring different things into our life.  According to the Holy Fathers, Saints bring Christ into our life, they bring peace, hope, courage, strength, joy.  St. Paul once said:  "Imitate me, as I imitate Christ."  To learn about a particular country, its culture, we study its people, their lives, their legacy.  To learn about God, about the Holy Trinity, About Christ and His Body, the Church, we should - first and foremost - take a good look at His Saints.

...Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are...

To know about Christ's friends, about His Saints, we should read their lives.

 Nicholas Chapman

 Nicholas Chapman is the Managing Director of Holy Trinity Publications, the publishing work of Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, New York.  

 He is a citizen of the United Kingdom, born in the crown colony of Gibraltar, of Welsh/Scots parentage. An Orthodox Christian for twenty seven years, he has worked in various Church-related roles for over two decades and has had first hand experience of the life of the Church in some twenty-three countries.  

 After gaining a degree in Business Administration he went on to work for the British government in the Tax Inspectorate and subsequently as a private sector taxation consultant. An avid reader and lover of history and travel, he has worked for the past twelve years exclusively in the book industry. He is a member of the Society for Orthodox History in the Americas and one of the main authors on its website orthodoxhistory.org 

 Colonel Philip Ludwell III – A Forerunner of Orthodoxy in North America

 Recent research has brought to light the existence of an Orthodox presence in colonial Virginia more than half a century before the arrival of the Russian Orthodox missionaries in Alaska. The Virginian believers were centred on Colonel Philip Ludwell III who was the largest landowner in British Virginia. How did he come to the Faith and what did he do to bring others to the Church? Why is his story important for us today what can we learn from it to inspire our own love for God and desire to serve Him? In this short, interactive presentation Nicholas Chapman will address these questions and others.