A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
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| Volume 6 Number 29 - Tuesday, July 20th, 2004 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
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Lily Grant Supports Orthodox Women Theology Graduates’ InitiativeWareham, MA---The Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People of Faith has awarded a Lily Endowment Fund Grant to Women Graduates of Orthodox Theological Schools. The Lily Grant was awarded to Women Graduates of Orthodox Theological Schools to assist theologically educated women in examining historic Christian practices as part of their commitment to strengthen the ministries of women in the Orthodox Church today. The Lily Endowment, a private family foundation, supports the Valparaiso Project based at Valparaiso University. The Valparaiso Project encourages creative thinking and writing on practices foundational to a Christian way of life. The Project seeks to relate time-honored practices of the Christian tradition to contemporary experience. These practices are shared activities of the Christian faith that address fundamental human needs and form a way of life that is centered in the Gospel of Christ. “We are deeply honored to have received this Lily Grant from the Valparaiso Project,” said Dr. Kyriaki Karidoyanes FitzGerald, the Project Coordinator. “This grant was used for two small planning retreats that will lead to a gathering welcoming all Orthodox women graduates of Orthodox theological schools in 2005.” According to Dr. FitzGerald, the Valparaiso Project’s respect for Christian Tradition makes its support appropriate for this work. “I am hoping that the 2005 Retreat will be a springboard to encourage future generations of Orthodox women to pursue graduate theological studies and develop ministries necessary for the building up of the Church in America,” Dr. FitzGerald said. The Standing Conference of Canonical Bishops in America (S.C.O.B.A.) gave its blessing during its August 2002 meeting to a formal proposal for a North American retreat for all women who have graduated from Orthodox theological schools in the United States and Canada. “We estimate,” said Dr. FitzGerald, “that there are nearly two hundred women in the United States and Canada who have earned graduate degrees from Orthodox theological schools, most from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. Women through the centuries have responded to the call of Christ in countless ways. Choosing to pursue graduate studies at Orthodox theological institutions offers students the opportunity to grow spiritually within the Orthodox tradition, while faithfully engaging in theological study.” Dr. FitzGerald said “women have been pursuing graduate studies at Orthodox theological schools for over thirty years in North America. The 2005 Retreat will be an historic event that may benefit Orthodox witness immensely.” The majority of women graduates in Theology are active in various forms of church service at the parish and diocesan levels. Some are involved in religious education, pastoral counseling, retreats, chaplaincies, theological education, philanthropy or social service as well as ecumenical dialogues. Among the primary goals of the 2005 retreat and conference will be to bring together women graduates, to assess their contributions to the church, to strengthen these ministries, to encourage other women to study Orthodox theology and to support Orthodox unity.
Women graduates from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox
School of Theology and St. Vladimir’s Orthodox
Theological School as well as several consultants
recently participated in two planning retreats in
Wareham, MA in partial response to the Lily Grant
in order to address initial groundwork for the
2005 North American Retreat. |
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