Speakers

Conference Speakers

Fr. Seraphim Aldea

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Fr. Seraphim Aldea was tonsured as a monk in 2005 at Rasca monastery in Bucovine, North Moldavia. He has a Ph.D. in Modern Theology from the University of Durham (UK) for a thesis on Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov's Ecclesiology. He hosts the Ancient Faith podcast Through a Monk’s Eyes, through which he shares stories of the places he visits and the people he meets as he travels the world to found the first Orthodox monastery in the Celtic Isles of Scotland in a thousand years. The Monastery is dedicated to All Celtic Saints, and you may support its founding at mullmonastery.com.

Dr. Peter Bouteneff

BREAKOUT SPEAKER

Breakout: "The Lightness and Joy of the Repentant Sinner" - This session will explore the paradoxes of the Church’s penitential language. While we might expect it to bring us down and make us miserable, my identity as “a sinner” before a loving God can help me become a whole and integrated person, full of compassion for others.

Peter Bouteneff teaches courses in ancient and modern theology and spirituality at St Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary, where he is Professor of Systematic Theology. After taking a degree in music in 1983 he lived and worked in Japan, and traveled widely in Asia and Greece. He has an M.Div. from St Vladimir’s Seminary and a doctorate from Oxford University, where he studied under Bishop Kallistos Ware. He has broad interests in theology ancient and modern, and is committed to exploring the connections between theology and culture. He conceived of and edits the "Foundations" series for SVS Press, to which he has contributed a volume called Sweeter than Honey: Orthodox Thinking on Dogma and Truth. In 2008 he authored a study of how early Christians read the Genesis creation accounts, called Beginnings: Ancient Christian Readings of the Biblical Creation Narratives. Most recently he wrote How to Be a Sinner: Finding Yourself in the Language of Repentance,which is a series of compassionate reflections on the “sinner identity” in the Church.

Professor Bouteneff is director of the Arvo Pärt Project at St. Vladimir's Seminary, an in-depth endeavor involving concerts, lectures, and publications. His book Arvo Pärt: Out of Silence has been hailed as "a triumph," and "a must-read for any listener or performer of Pärt's music." As of 2016 he directs the seminary’s Sacred Arts Initiative.

Dr. Patricia Bouteneff

BREAKOUT SPEAKER

Breakout: "Happy Paradoxes Within Orthodox Lay Leadership: In the Parish and Beyond" - Sometimes it seems that if you want to be a leader—or at least have a significant chance of making a difference with the Orthodox church—you have to be ordained. Nothing could be further from the truth either within your parish, your diocese, or your jurisdiction. In this workshop, we’ll look at what paths a wide variety of people have forged and how you can follow in their footsteps.

Patricia Fann Bouteneff, D.Phil.Oxon., is a former academic and corporate chief of staff, and now works on projects as a strategic communications consultant and an independent scholar specializing in folklore and Pontic Greek studies. Her current focus is directing Axia, a network for Orthodox women in the US. She was baptized as an adult in Thessaloniki at a metochi of Simonopetra Monastery and currently serves as parish council president at Holy Trinity Church in Yonkers, NY. She has been active in church communities in Greece, England, Switzerland, and the US.

Fr. Andrew Damick

BREAKOUT SPEAKER

Breakout: "Faithful Hearts, Froward Tongues: Portraits from the Tolkien Legendarium" - In the works of master story-teller J. R. R. Tolkien, a persistent theme of judging not by appearance but by the heart is frequently revisited. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick explores some examples from these works and will lead a discussion in how this dynamic may be attended to in our personal relationships and spiritual lives.

The Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick is an archpriest of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, pastor of St. Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church of Emmaus, Pennsylvania, a husband and a father of four children. He is also author of three books from Ancient Faith Publishing (Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy, An Introduction to God, and Bearing God) a blogger and the host of four Ancient Faith Radio Podcasts: Amon Sûl, The Areopagus, Roads from Emmaus, and Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy.

Fr. Andrew was raised as the son of Evangelical Protestant missionaries and became an Orthodox Christian while in college in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is a 2007 summa cum laude graduate of St. Tikhon's Seminary and has been a priest since 2006, being raised to the dignity of archpriest in 2016. Besides his love for the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, he has a keen love for evangelism and education and is an extremely amateur keeper of trees. He loves language, especially the English language, and nurtures a geek-level enthusiasm for both Star Trek and Star Wars.

Melissa Elizabeth Naasko

BREAKOUT SPEAKER

Breakout: "Taking Your Spiritual Medicine" - It is a rite of adulthood to make sure that you are prepared for the trials of life. This extends into our spiritual lives as well. It is no longer your parents’, grandparents’ or godparents’ responsibility to create a “shoebox” that you keep your medicines and tools in. It is yours now. As young adults, you need to check your spiritual medicine shoeboxes and make sure that they are stocked up before you need them. If you wait until you are already in trouble, it is a lot harder to get the help and medicine you need. So what kinds of things do you need to store in your spiritual medicine shoebox? There is the time-honored list of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving but I am going to add to that list. You also need weekly Liturgy, regular Confession, and regular Fasting. In this talk, we will explore how these things add to your spiritual health.

Melissa Elizabeth Naasko is the wife of a deacon attached to a ROCOR monastery. They have eleven children and a hobby farm and raise their own meat and dairy. Melissa Elizabeth writes and speaks on Orthodox fasting and parenting and is the author of Fasting as a Family published by Ancient Faith. She has two upcoming books including a personal memoir on moving to the farm entitled Coming to Idyll Hands Farm.

Fr. Gregory Georgiou

BREAKOUT SPEAKER

Breakout: "Fools, folly, and foolishness: The paradoxical nature of Orthodox Christian living" - St. Paul, a learned and astute Christian, stated, “…If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (1 Cor. 3:18-19). In this session, we will explore the relationships that we have with Christ, others, and ourselves in order to distinguish folly from wisdom. Specifically, we will investigate how faithfulness to our Orthodox Christianity may lead us to think and act in a paradoxical manner from the world if we want to experience the peace, joy, and meaning that are possible in this life. Be prepared with questions because we will be challenged to examine ourselves and evaluate whether our thoughts and practices are truly wisdom or folly.

Fr. Gregory Georgiou is a priest in the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Atlanta and the Co-Chairman of the Metropolis’ Family Life Ministry. He is a Ph.D. candidate in Counselor Education and Supervision at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, as well as Licensed Professional Counselor.

Breakout Session: Deeper Discussions

Based on feedback from previous years, you'll have the opportunity to unpack some of the lessons and learnings from Connect while still at the conference. During this afternoon breakout session, you can ask questions, discuss and potentially uncover some of the answers to the many mysteries we face as Orthodox Christian young adults. Fr. Paul Lundberg and Fr. Matthew Dutko will be on-hand to help us navigate where the discussion leads! If you'd like to submit questions in advance, fill out this form. We'll also be taking questions during the weekend and during the session.