John H. Erickson is an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

American

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

, with specialization in the areas of Orthodox

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

and

church history Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of t ...

. From 2002 until 2007, he served as the Dean of

Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) is an Eastern Orthodox seminary in Yonkers, New York. It is chartered under the State University of New York and accredited by the Association of Theological Schools. It is a pan-Eastern Or ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. His term as dean expired on 30 June 2007 and he was replaced by Fr.

John Behr John Behr (born 16 October 1966) is a British Eastern Orthodox priest and theologian. Since 2020, he has served as the Regius Professor of Humanity at the University of Aberdeen. He is the former dean of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Se ...

. After growing up in northern

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, Erickson joined the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

in 1964. He studied at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

( BA, 1966),

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

(

MPhil A Master of Philosophy (MPhil or PhM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated MPhil (or, at times, as PhM in other countries). MPhil are awarded to postgraduate students after completing at least ...

, 1970), and St Vladimir's Seminary ( ThM, 1984). Erickson began teaching

and

at Saint Vladimir's Seminary in 1973. Over the years, he has been a member of the OCA's Canonical Commission, Department of External Church Relations, Statute Commission, and Department of History and Archives. On 14 December 2001, he was elected Dean of Saint Vladimir Orthodox Theological Seminary by the school's trustees. He became Dean in July 2002 following the retirement of Thomas Hopko. Erickson became the first

layman In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. ...

, first convert, and first person of non-Russian background to hold the position of Dean since the seminary began. After four years at the head of the seminary, he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

on 30 January 2006 and

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

on 7 May 2006. Both ordinations were performed by the Seminary president, Metropolitan

Herman (Swaiko) Metropolitan Herman (born Joseph Swaiko, 1 February 1932 – 6 September 2022) was the primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). As the head of the OCA, he was the Archbishop of Washington and New York, and Metropolitan of All America ...

of the

Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an Eastern Orthodox Christian church based in North America. The OCA consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries and institutions in the United States, Canada and Mexico. In ...

. On 29 June 2006, Metropolitan Herman announced that, in accordance with the decision of the Seminary's Board of Trustees, Fr. Erickson would step down as the Dean of the Seminary after the completion of his current term. He continued teaching at the seminary as Peter N. Gramowich Professor of Church History until his retirement after the 2008–2009 academic year. In , Erickson presented "The Eastern Catholic Churches: An Orthodox Perspective" at the conference "The Vatican II Decree on the Eastern Catholic Churches, - Fifty Years Later" organized by the

Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies The Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies (MASI) is an autonomous unit of the Faculty of Theology at the University of St. Michael's College in the University of Toronto, Canada. It specializes in Eastern Christi ...

held at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

Selected works

* * * * * * * Co-editor, five volumes of Orthodox liturgical music ( St. Vladimir's Seminary Press).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Erickson, John H. 20th-century Eastern Orthodox Christians 21st-century American clergy 21st-century Eastern Orthodox priests American Eastern Orthodox priests Eastern Orthodox priests in the United States Harvard University alumni Living people Members of the Orthodox Church in America Yale University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)