Seminary of Religion in Wilmington, DE Metropolis of New Jersey

Religious Seminary in Wilmington, DE

Wilmington, DE – With the blessing of Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, the Metropolis of New Jersey Delaware Valley Youth Commission established the annual Holy Trinity Religious Seminary at the Greek Orthodox Church in Wilmington, Delaware, on Saturday, October 29, 2022. This year, by the grace of God, Bishop Athenagoras Nazianzen, General Secretary of the Holy Eparchial Synod and Director of the Department of Religious Education, was asked to give the main spiritual discourse and to provide a renewal in this area. His Grace addressed many catechists and youth workers from New Jersey, Delaware Valley, and Maryland parishes and was received with great joy.

Bishop Athenagoras’ spiritual speech full of how to teach how to pray. It was a step-by-step interactive session on the importance of Jesus’ prayer and the different stages of prayer. Participants were given a prayer rope (komboskini) and a prayer card from the official archive of the Archdiocese of the Orthodox Forum, to use during the session. Catechists and youth workers have learned to practice this prayer effectively in daily life and to teach the steps of prayer as part of the curriculum for Sunday school and youth meetings. In the afternoon session, Bishop Athenagoras gave an update on the comprehensive work of the DRE this past year, followed by a lively question & answer session with the participants. The opinion from the participants was very positive both in the personal and religious perspective of the educator.

Bishop Athenagoras brought all the archbishops to Elpidophoros. Bishop of the Apostles of Medea, Chancellor of Nova Caesarea, V. Rev. Christopher Oikonomidis, Rev. Philemon Patitsas, of the Parish of the Holy Trinity to organize and host the Church, the Seminary and the luncheon, and to all who were present.

Photo Credit: Stelios Lambrou