St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary Reach out Across Ethnic Lines

May 24, 2003

Source: The Plain Dealer

http://www.cleveland.com/religion/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living/1053768712187801.xml

On May 24, 2003 The Plain Dealer reported that "growing up in a Russian Orthodox Church in Lakewood [OH], where the Church Slavonic language and ethnic customs were integral to parish life, the Rev. Andrew Clements was taken aback his first few days at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary... Everything was in English... As early as the 1970s when Clements was a student, St. Vladimir's Seminary was the living laboratory for an Orthodox Church in the United States that transcended ethnic boundaries. Conducting services in English, celebrating Christmas on Dec. 25, admitting women to the seminary, St. Vladimir's was a place where the Orthodox faith reached out to all Americans whether they were born in Russia or Albania or New Mexico or North Carolina... Today, Clements is rector of St. Nicholas Church in Mentor, creating his own vision of an Orthodox Church in the United States with a congregation that crosses several ethnic lines."