The gift, intended to aid suffering Orthodox Christians in Syria, will be presented to His Beatitude in December and will represent a tithe (one-tenth) of the seminary’s https://www.svots.edu/givingtuesday.
“Life has a deeper meaning than fighting crowds on Black Friday or scouring the web for the best deals on Cyber Monday,” said seminary Chancellor/CEO, Archpriest Dr. Chad Hatfield. “That’s why St. Vladimir’s is participating in #GivingTuesday, a national day of charitable giving.
“Four generous donors are heavily supporting this effort in matching five-to-one any charitable donation given that day, so a $10 gift will transform into a $50 gift, and a $100 gift will transform into $500 gift,” explained Father Chad. “These donations will provide not only for our seminarians, but also for our suffering brothers and sisters in the Middle East.
“Our seminary community felt impelled to share whatever is given to us with the Orthodox Christians in Syria, in light of their horrific plight,” he continued. “So, on December 2, whatever monies come in, we’re going give a full tithe to Patriarch John X, who realistically will know how to distribute these funds at ‘ground zero,’ so to speak. With each of our four generous supporters matching up to $5,000, it would be within reason to expect that we could potentially take in $25,000 on that day, with $2,500 going to our brothers and sisters in Syria.
“Right now, we’re asking Orthodox Christians in the US to help us get the word out on their social media networks, through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram,” Father Chad concluded, “and to stay in the loop about this venture by signing up for #GivingTuesday emails.”
Patriarch John X will visit the US to preside at the enthronement of His Eminence, Metropolitan Joseph, who was elected as Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of All North America of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America on July 3, 2014, by the Holy Synod of Antioch. Events related to the enthronement will take place during the weekend of December 5 through 7, 2014, Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Brooklyn, NY. The actual enthronement will take place in conjunction with Vespers on Saturday, December 6.
Read Patriarch John X’s recent interview on the state of the Church in Syria.
Donate directly to SVOTS #GivingTuesday here (all monies will be totaled December 2, 2014).
