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Antiochian Students Graduate from St. Tikhon's Seminary

Very Rev. Troy Mashburn, Deacon Matthew Snowden, Very Rev. David Hester, Rev. Methodios Ingalls, Nicholas Buck, Subdeacon Matthew Howell, Very Rev. Alexander Atty, Deacon Daniel Meyer, Rev. Stephen Howell, and Subdeacon Joseph Hazar.Very Rev. Troy Mashburn, Deacon Matthew Snowden, Very Rev. David Hester, Rev. Methodios Ingalls, Nicholas Buck, Subdeacon Matthew Howell, Very Rev. Alexander Atty, Deacon Daniel Meyer, Rev. Stephen Howell, and Subdeacon Joseph Hazar.At the 69th annual commencement of St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary on Saturday, May 28, 2011, six Antiochian Orthodox seminarians graduated with their Masters of Divinity degrees. The six students pictured at right are Deacon Matthew Snowden, Father Methodios Ingalls, Subdeacon Joseph Hazar, Nicholas Buck, Deacon Daniel Meyer and Subdeacon Matthew Howell.

Of these six, Father Methodios Ingalls graduated with Distinction for his Thesis in Theology and Spirituality, Subdeacon Matthew Howell with Distinction for his Thesis in Theology and Spirituality, and Deacon Daniel Meyer with Distinction for his Thesis in Scripture. The Reverend Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou of St. John the Baptist Monastery, Essex, England, gave the Commencement Address on the topic of Prophecy in the Priesthood, and he received an honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree from St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. Two Antiochian Orthodox priests were present as relatives of the Graduates: the Very Rev. Fr. John Troy Mashburn of St. John in Memphis, the father-in-law of Deacon Matthew Snowden, and the Rev. Fr. Stephen Howell of St. Athanasius in Sacramento, the father of Subdeacon Matthew Howell. The new Dean of St. Tikhon’s, the Antiochian Orthodox priest, the Very Rev. Fr. Alexander Atty, spoke during the ceremony, and the Very Rev. Fr. David Hester, pastor of St. Mary Wilkes-Barre, and adjunct Associate Professor of Patristics and Church History at St. Tikhon’s, was among faculty present. Over the past years, St. Mary Wilkes-Barre hosted two of the graduates who were assigned to the parish: Deacon Matthew Snowden and Subdeacon Joseph Hazar.

Following the graduation there was a banquet to honor the graduating students. The photograph below, taken during the banquet, shows the Very Rev. David Hester; Archimandrite Zacharias; Professor Christopher Veniamin, Professor of Patristics at St. Tikhon’s Seminary; and Igumen Sergius, the Hegoumen of St. Tikhon’s Monastery at the banquet.

At the end of the Graduation, all of the Antiochian Orthodox gathered for the group photo above.