On Friday, March 19, 2010, a town hall meeting was called for the community of St Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary at which the Rector, His Grace, Bishop Tikhon, made some announcements about some positive developments in the life of the Seminary.

Accreditation Renewal

His Grace began by announcing that the seminary's Board of Trustees, meeting at its regularly-scheduled spring session (March 11-12, 2010) had received the final determination from the Board of Commissioners of the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) concerning the seminary’s application for accreditation renewal. He officially announced that ATS accreditation for St Tikhon’s Seminary has been renewed for a period of 5 years and offered his thanks to all in the Seminary community who had labored diligently in the self-study process.


Appointment of New Dean

In addition, His Grace summarized the process of the recent search for a new Dean for the Seminary: "Last Fall, I appointed a Search Committee composed of members of the Board of Trustees, the Faculty and the Alumni of the seminary. During the search process, ten applications were received and reviewed by the committee. Each applicant was carefully considered but not all fulfilled the requirements as established by the search committee. In the end, one candidate was presented to the Board of Trustees for their consideration. That candidate was the Archpriest Alexander Atty, a member of our Board of Trustees and the Rector of St Michael’s Antiochian Orthodox Church in Louisville KY."

On March 12, 2010, the Board of Trustees gave its approval to the recommendation of the search committee and that decision was, in turn, presented to the Holy Synod of Bishops of the OCA for its blessing. This blessing was given by the Holy Synod at its Spring Session last week (March 16-18, 2010), along with a decision to permit Fr. Alexander to remain attached to the Antiochian Archdiocese while serving as the Dean of the Seminary, an institution of the Orthodox Church in America. Bishop Tikhon stated:  "It is hoped that this arrangement will provide a visible and concrete expression of Orthodox unity on this continent and will enable a fruitful relationship between our two jurisdictions as we labor toward greater Orthodox unity and, in particular, toward closer cooperation on the level of theological education." Fr. Alexander will officially assume his responsibilities as the new dean of St. Tikhon's Seminary on July 1, 2010.


Moving Forward

In conclusion, His Grace noted some other decisions made by the Board of Trustees, including the formation of strategic planning and by-law review committees and the implementation of some administrative changes necessitated by the hiring of the new Dean. His Grace offered his thanks to all those who participated both in the search for a new Dean and in the self-study process and asked for the community to continue to beseech the Lord for guidance in the future growth of St. Tikhon’s Seminary.