St. Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College (Sydney, Australia)

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The St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College is an Orthodox Christian college located in Redfern, Sydney, Australia. It is a full-member institution of the Sydney College of Divinity, a confederation of theological schools each operated by different Christian denominations. St Andrew's is an institution of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, and the current Dean is His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos (Harkianakis) of Australia.

Priestly vocations

The four-year program of study (encompassing the three-year Bachelor of Theology degree as well as a fourth year of Honours or studies in Pastoral Theology and Practice) is the principal means of training bilingual clergy for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. As such, admission is limited to those who aspire to the clergy or male students who are seeking to actively serve within the Archdiocese.

College Logo

Degree programs

St Andrew's currently offers the following accredited programs: Bachelor of Theology (with an honours program available), Master of Arts, Master of Theology, and a Basic Unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) in Aged Care. Honours programs for the Master of Arts, Master of Theology, and doctoral programs can be undertaken through the Sydney College of Divinity.

Preparations

In the 1930s, Metropolitan Timotheos of Australia and New Zealand first contemplated the possibility of establishing a theological institution; Metropolitan Theophylactos of Australia and New Zealand, amidst the local ordinations of clergy in the 1950s, considers possibility of establishing an ecclesiastical seminary. Further development came in 1959, when Archbishop Ezekiel of Australia appointed a committee for the St Andrew's War Memorial Theological College Fund, which receives a donation from Sir Arthur George and Michael Papsalis. However, a local seminary is still out of reach of the Archdiocese, and the donation is used to cover ongoing operating costs.

The beginnings of the College occured in earnest in 1975, on the arrival of Archbishop Stylianos of Australia, when he focused on establishing a tertiary theological college. In January 1981, at the Fourth Clergy-Laity Congress in Sydney, he requested and gained support for the beginnings of a theological college.

In 1982, Archbishop Stylianos attempted to gain the support of Constantine Karamanlis, then the Greek President, with financial contributions; however, this was blocked by Kaklamanis, then the Speaker of the House, under the belief that the Church should care for this, rather than the government. Later, around 1984, Archbishop Stylianos renergised the St Andrew's Brotherhood, with all clergy making annual donations, setting an example for the laity. In May of 1984, Archbishop Stylianos appointed an interim committee to consider and suggest ways of beginning the College and for curriculum preparation; as a result, in December of the same year, on recommendation of that committee, three committees were established for building, administration and academic development.

The next year, in 1985, Archbishop Stylianos sent letters to 1000 friends and acquiantances asking for a $1000 donation. $350,000 was raised as a result of this, allowing for the Archdiocese to make a deposit on a property in Caringbah for the benefit of the Theological College. In the same year, recognising that there were already enough academically qualified and already-lecturing Orthodox, Sir Arthur George signed an agreement at the Fifth Clergy-Laity conference, Brisbane, to provide the funds for the first stage of development for the College, donating $250,000, which was used to renovate and modify buildings at the Archdiocese, creating lecture rooms, dormitories for interstate students, an office, a library and a common room.

Timeline Since Opening

  • 1986 Feb: College opens. Metropolitan Maximos of Stavropoulis (Dean of Halki) and Premier Neville Wran (NSW) are present. Tuition is conducted for residential male students only. No fee is charged, and (by agreement) no wage is paid to the lecturers. The Bachelor of Theology is a four-year degree, in line with equivalent degrees in Greece.
  • 1987 (early): The first edition of Phronema, the annual theological review of the College, is published under the editorship of Dr Guy Freeland.
  • 1995: Bp Seraphim becomes new Sub-Dean of St Andrew's replacing the Reverend Deacon Dr John Chryssavgis who later served as Dean of Holy Cross.
  • 1996 Nov: His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople visits the College as part of the Sydney itinerary of his inaugural visit to Australia.
  • 1990s (late): College changes structure of Bachelor of Theology degree to a three-year degree (in line with equivalent degrees in Australia) with a compulsory fourth year of honours or alternative postgraduate work in pastoral theology and practice.
  • 2001 Jun: St Andrew's Orthodox Press established to produce The Greek-Australian Vema, the newspaper of the Archdiocese, with the long-term view of publishing works of the faculty.
  • 2004 Jan: St Andrew's begins to offer two intensive course units every semester for all members of the public, towards the fulfillment of any one of three postgraduate awards accredited through the Sydney College of Divinity: Graduate Certificate (after four units, the equivalent of one semester's full-time study); Graduate Diploma (after 8 units); and Masters of Arts (after 12 units).
  • 2005 Feb: School of Byzantine Music established under the auspices of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College.
May: St Andrew's Orthodox Press employs Publishing Director.
  • 2006 Feb: College celebrates its 20th anniversary with an alumni reunion, official dinner, and the celebration of the Divine Liturgy by His Eminence Archbishop Stylianos along with Assistant Bishops and ordained alumni.
  • 2008 Apr: Book launch of "The Infallibility of the Church in Orthodox Theology" (ATF Press / St Andrew's Orthodox Press) written originally in Greek as a doctoral dissertation by Archimandrite Stylianos Harkianakis (1965) for the University of Athens and now translated into English by Philip Kariatlis.

Influence

As the sole Orthodox theological college of its kind in the southern hemisphere, St. Andrew's has taught not only the clergy of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, but also a noteable number from other jurisdictions in Australia, particularly from the Serbian Orthodox Diocese.

Phronema

Phronema is the academic journal of the College. It has been published annually since the inception of the College. Phronema presents articles and book reviews from Orthodox and non-Orthodox academics on a wide variety of theologically-related topics.

  • See the home page of Phronema on the SAGOTC homepage.

Faculty

External links

Other sources

  • The Vema
    • Bilingual booklet in March 2006 of the Vema, Η Θεολογικη Σχολη του Αποστολου Ανδρεου.


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Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia

Archdiocesan Organisations
Educational Institutions
St. Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College
Philanthropic Institutions
St. Basil's Homes | Estia Foundation | ProviCare Foundation
St. Andrew's Orthodox Press
Phronema | TO VEMA | The Voice of Orthodoxy
Byzantine Music
Byzantine Music School | Australian Byzantine Choir, NSW
Saint John of Damascus, SA | David the Psalmist, Vic.