Program of Study

The general program of study at Saint Herman Seminary offers 2-year and 4-year diploma programs, consisting of the required curriculum outlined in the program synopses. Additionally, upon graduation, the seminarian may be assigned an internship, usually one year in duration, within the Diocese of Alaska. This set program is designed for persons who are candidates for tonsure, ordination, or other positions of leadership in Church ministry. The seminary offers some electives, including Church Slavonic. In addition, adjunct faculty and guest lecturers occasionally offer short seminar courses.

First Year
In the first year of study, the seminarian is enrolled in a course of study that gives a foundation in doctrine, Scripture, music, Christian Education, and the liturgical languages and services of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Second Year
In the second year, seminarians build upon the foundation of study, gaining greater command of doctrine, Scripture, liturgical languages, liturgics, Church history, and homiletics. Reader’s Certification Completion of a 2-year course of study equips the seminarian to serve the Diocese as a Reader, if the Bishop of Alaska chooses, and enables the student to teach the religious education curriculum of the Russian Orthodox Church of Sitka and Alaska in a parish community. Church readers have served a crucial role in the history of the Church in Alaska, where numbers of clergymen were scarce. In the past, readers led lay services, preached, taught, and baptized.

Third Year
Third-year offerings focus on the pastoral application of their foundational studies. Courses include patristics, liturgics, homiletics, canonical tradition, and spirituality. Students participate in substantial hospital volunteer hours supervised by the hospital chaplain, as well as practical experience in ministerial fieldwork.

Fourth Year
The fourth year develops pastoral and applied knowledge. Courses in CPE, holy orders, pastoral administration, homiletics, and liturgics cap the students’ formal instruction. Graduation In order to graduate, each student must have a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 (“C”) as a minimum and have completed the program credit requirements. Students are responsible for meeting the full requirements for graduation outlined in the seminary catalog upon the date of entry. The Registrar will assist the degree-seeking student in academic advisement. Graduation from the 4-year diploma program does not automatically constitute qualification for ordination. Any ecclesiastical jurisdiction may set additional requirements. The seminary administration and faculty may be consulted to recommend an ordination. However, the decision of ordination for Alaskan graduates rests exclusively with the Bishop of Alaska.

If the purpose of a Seminary education is to prepare clergy and readers to serve in a parish, then some of the training must be other than academic. Clergy spend a great deal of time serving their parish by visiting people in their homes, in hospitals, and even in jail. So St. Herman’s Seminary prepares seminarians by providing practical experience in these settings.

Pastoral Fieldwork 301 and 302
Students perform fieldwork at Providence Chiniak Bay Elder House, where they learn by doing; giving pastoral care to elders. Students spend 100 hours over the course of a year visiting elders of all faiths though focusing on Orthodox Christian Elders.

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). In CPE students visit patients in the hospital, inmates at the jail, and parishioners in their homes for 300 hours over the academic year. They also spend 100 hours in structured education with a supervisor from Providence CPE School in Anchorage. Not only does CPE prepare clergy to do the work of a pastor but it gives a credential that could help that clergyman get a paid hospital chaplain position.

Substance Abuse Counseling Training The backbone of the Substance Abuse Counseling Training program at St. Herman Seminary consists of over 120 hours of training received over the course of the students’ four years of study from Regional Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counseling Training (RADACT). Founded in 1992, RADACT is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing training opportunities to individuals beginning their journey toward chemical dependency/behavioral health counselor certification, clinical supervision, and administration. Courses offered on campus from RADACT include courses in Addiction, Psycho-Physiology, Counseling, Motivational Interviewing, Trauma Informed Care, Ethics and Confidentiality, Co-occurring Disorders, Crisis Intervention, and Traditional Health Based Practices.

Additional seminars are held at the seminary on pastoral counseling and, in particular, substance abuse counseling, including the issue of the role of spirituality in recovery, giving an Orthodox Christian perspective on this important issue that impacts the life of our people in the Diocese of Alaska.