Speakers

2024 Conference Speakers

Fr. John Oliver
Topic: Sleeper, Awake: Reclaiming the Craft of Human Connection

Fr John Oliver is the priest of St. Elizabeth Orthodox Christian Church, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He is the author of numerous articles and essays, and of Touching Heaven: Discovering Orthodox Christianity on the Island of Valaam, published by Ancient Faith Publishing, and Giver of Life: The Holy Spirit in the Orthodox Christian Tradition, published by Paraclete Press, and of the forthcoming Gender Euphoria: Reflections on Sex, Society, and Sacred Design. A graduate of St Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary, he joined the faculty as instructor in Old and New Testament and American Religious History. He and his wife Lara have three daughters and two sons. His podcast Hearts and Minds can be heard on Ancient Faith Radio.

Corina Gheorghiu, LMFT, DDS
Topic: HOLDING ONTO LOVE: Integrating the Mysteries of the Church to discern, define and support healthy boundaries, so that you receive, contain and multiply the Holy Spirt “everywhere present and filling all things.”

Corina Gheorghiu is a Marriage Family Therapist and Life Coach in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, serving Orthodox Christians (and other seekers of the deep-heart living) who are tired of the struggle to create and maintain fulfilling relationships within their own selves, God and others. She offers a holistic approach for the mind and body, heart and soul, based on neuroscience, the science of the heart and modern psychology methods aligned with biblical, patristic, and liturgical resources, so that her clients heal their wounds, become clear about their Christian life path in a secular society, and learn to restore love in all their relationships, knowing that they have adequate resources that allow them to celebrate the joyful life God created for all of us.
Corina owes her passion for healing to her spiritual parents Arhim. Sofian Boghiu, recently canonized by the Romanian Orthodox Church and of Mother Siluana Vlad of blessed memory.

George Papageorge, LMFT
Topic: The Less Anxious Path Toward Authentic Relationships: Authentic, healthy, and long last relationships are built on a premise of an authentic connection with Christ. Our personal struggles with worthiness, anxious attachment, overthinking as well as addictive tendencies play a significant role in increasing our anxiety and disconnecting us from ourselves and in turn from our relationships. How the ‘authentic you’ will find authentic relationships will be discussed.

As a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, George has worked with young people, families, and couples for over 35 years. As director of the Family Wellness Ministry of the Metropolis of San Francisco within the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, he and his team empower parishes to have vibrant wellness ministries, integrating evidenced based psychology with the riches of the Orthodox faith. George is also is a faculty member for the Crossroad Summer Institute and Professor of Family Therapy in the Graduate School of Counseling Psychology at Santa Clara University.

2024 Conference Speakers

Fr. John OliverTopic: Sleeper, Awake: Reclaiming the Craft of Human Connection

Corina Gheorghiu, LMFT, DDSTopic: HOLDING ONTO LOVE: Integrating the Mysteries of the Church to discern, define and support healthy boundaries, so that you receive, contain and multiply the Holy Spirt “everywhere present and filling all things.”

Fr. John Oliver
Topic: Sleeper, Awake: Reclaiming the Craft of Human Connection

Corina Gheorghiu, LMFT, DDS
Topic: HOLDING ONTO LOVE: Integrating the Mysteries of the Church to discern, define and support healthy boundaries, so that you receive, contain and multiply the Holy Spirt “everywhere present and filling all things.”