St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College is an Eastern Orthodox Christian seminary located in Redfern, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is a full-member institution of the Sydney College of Divinity, a federation of theological educational institutions each operated by different Christian denominations. It is the only accredited Orthodox tertiary institution of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.
St Andrew's is an institution of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia. The current dean is Archbishop Stylianos Harkianakis.
Archbishop Stylianos proposed the establishment of a theological college during the fourth clergy-laity congress in 1981. The delegates adopted his resolution for this urgent proposal and building, administrative and academic committees were formed. There was need for a theological school that would be primarily dedicated to theological study in co-operation with other theological colleges. It was hoped that a centre of theological reflection and ecumenical dialogue would be created, offering the Orthodox world-view and perspective with great scriptural commentaries, the writings of the Greek Fathers, the Orthodox liturgy, iconography and spirituality. The college opened in 1986 with Archbishop Stylianos as the inaugural dean. He continues in that role at present, as well as being a lecturer in systematic theology.
The four-year program of study (encompassing the three-year Bachelor of Theology degree as well as a fourth year of Honours or studies in Pastoral Theology and Practice) is the principal means of training bilingual clergy for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. As such, admission is limited to those who aspire to the clergy or male students who are seeking to actively serve within the Archdiocese.
St Andrew's currently offers the following accredited programs: Bachelor of Theology (with an honours program available), Master of Arts, Master of Theology, and a Basic Unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) in Aged Care. Honours programs for the Master of Arts, Master of Theology, and doctoral programs can be undertaken through the Sydney College of Divinity.
1930s: Metropolitan Timotheos of Australia and New Zealand contemplates possibility of establishing theological institution.
1950s: Ordinations of clergy take place in Australasia. Metropolitan Theophylactos of Australia and New Zealand considers possibility of establishing an ecclesiastical seminary.
1959: Archbishop Ezekiel of Australia gives thought to establishing an ecclesiastical seminary. Appoints a committee for the St Andrew's War Memorial Theological College Fund, which receives a donation from Sir Arthur George and Michael Papsalis; however, nothing comes of this, as it is out of the reach of the Greek Orthodox in Australia at that time, and the donation is used to cover ongoing operating costs.
1975: Archbishop Stylianos of Australia, on arrival in Australia, focuses on establishing a tertiary theological college.
1981 Jan: At the Fourth Clergy-Laity Congress, Sydney, Archbishop Stylianos requests and gains support for the beginning of a theological college.
1982: During the official visit to Australia of Constantine Karamanlis, president of Greece, Archbishop Stylianos asked help to establish a church seminary. Karamanlis asks for a feasibility study to be done by the end of his visit. However, the Speaker of the House, A Kaklamanis, ignored, then rejected the letter on the grounds that the Church should care for ecclesiastical education, not the government. In response, Archbishop Stylianos decided to reenergise the St Andrew's Brotherhood, so that all clergy, making annual donations, would set an example for the laity.
1984 May: Archbishop Stylianos appoints an interim committee to consider and suggest ways of beginning the college, and to prepare the curriculum.
1984 Dec: On receipt of the report of the interim committee, three committees are established (building, administrative and academic).
1985: Archbishop Stylianos sends letter to 1000 friends and acquaintances asking for a $1000 donation. From this correspondnece $350,000 was raised and this allowed the Archdiocese to make a deposit on a property in Caringbah for the financial benefit of the Theological College.
With enough academically qualified and already-lecturing Orthodox, Sir Arthur George signed an agreement at the 5th Clergy-Laity conference (Brisbane) to provide the funds for the first stage of development. The donation of $250,000 was used to renovate and modify buildings at the Archdiocese by creating lecture rooms, dormitories for interstate students, an office, a library, and a common room.
1986 Feb: College opens. Metropolitan Maximos of Stavropoulis (Dean of Halki) and Premier Neville Wran (NSW) are present. Tuition is conducted for residential male students only. No fee is charged, and (by agreement) no wage is paid to the lecturers. The Bachelor of Theology is a four-year degree, in line with equivalent degrees in Greece.
1987 (early): The first edition of Phronema, the annual theological review of the College, is published under the editorship of Dr Guy Freeland.
1995: Bp Seraphim becomes new Sub-Dean of St Andrew's replacing the Reverend Deacon Dr John Chryssavgis who later served as Dean of Holy Cross.
1996 Nov: His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople visits the College as part of the Sydney itinerary of his inaugural visit to Australia.
1990s (late): College changes structure of Bachelor of Theology degree to a three-year degree (in line with equivalent degrees in Australia) with a compulsory fourth year of honours or alternative postgraduate work in pastoral theology and practice.
2001 Jun: St Andrew's Orthodox Press established to produce The Greek-Australian Vema, the newspaper of the Archdiocese, with the long-term view of publishing works of the faculty.
2004 Jan: St Andrew's begins to offer two intensive course units every semester for all members of the public, towards the fulfillment of any one of three postgraduate awards accredited through the Sydney College of Divinity: Graduate Certificate (after four units, the equivalent of one semester's full-time study); Graduate Diploma (after 8 units); and Masters of Arts (after 12 units).
2005 Feb: School of Byzantine Music established under the auspices of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia and St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College.
2006 Feb: College celebrates its 20th anniversary with an alumni reunion, official dinner, and the celebration of the Divine Liturgy by Archbishop Stylianos along with assistant bishops and ordained alumni.
2008 Apr: Book launch of "The Infallibility of the Church in Orthodox Theology" (ATF Press / St Andrew's Orthodox Press) written originally in Greek as a doctoral dissertation by Archimandrite Stylianos Harkianakis (1965) for the University of Athens and now translated into English by Philip Kariatlis.
As the sole Orthodox theological college of its kind in the southern hemisphere, St. Andrew's has taught not only the clergy of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, but also a notable number from other jurisdictions in Australia, particularly from the Serbian Orthodox Church in Australia and New Zealand.
Phronema is the academic journal of the College. It has been published annually since the inception of the College. Phronema presents articles and book reviews from Orthodox and non-Orthodox academics on a wide variety of theologically-related topics.
See the home page of Phronema on the SAGOTC homepage.
Archbishop Stylianos (Harkianakis) of Australia
Dean of St Andrew's, 1986–present
Full-time professor of Systematic Theology, 1986–present
Bishop Seraphim (Ginis) of Apollonias
Sub-Dean of St Andrew's, 1995–present
Full-time lecturer in Liturgical Studies and Canon Law, 1991–present
James Athanasou, editor of Phronema, 1995–present
Honorary lecturer in Christian Education, 1999–present
The Revd Doru Costache
Full-time lecturer in Patristic Studies, 2005–present
The Revd John El Karaan
Full-time lecturer in Old Testament Studies, 2008–present
Guy Freeland
Honorary lecturer in Liturgical Studies (Church Symbolism and Iconography) and Hermeneutics, 1986–present
Editor of Phronema, 1986-1994
The Revd Alan Galt
Part-time lecturer in Pastoral Theology and Practice, 1990–2001; 2003–present
Anastasios Kalogerakis
Undergraduate student of St Andrew's, 1996-1999
Registrar, 2000–present
Philip Kariatlis
Undergraduate student of St Andrew's, 1991-1994
Registrar, 1995-1999
Academic secretary, 2000–present
Full-time lecturer in Systematic Theology, 2000–present
The Very Revd Archimandrite Sophronios (Konidaris)
Undergraduate student of St Andrew's, 1998-2001
Chaplain, 2005–present
Dimitri Kepreotes
Undergraduate student of St Andrew's, 1988-1991
Registrar, 1992-1994.
Part-time lecturer in Christian Education, 2001–present
Part-time lecturer in Modern Greek and Canon Law, 2005–present
Publishing Director of St Andrew's Orthodox Press, 2005–present
The Revd Gerasimos Koutsouras
Part-time lecturer in Byzantine Music, 2003–present
Part-time lecturer in Church History, 2005–present.
Part-time lecturer in Modern Greek, 2005-2007.
John Lee
Appointed Lecturer in Department of Greek, University of Sydney, in 1973 and retired as Senior Lecturer in 2001 during which time students of St Andrew's studied New Testament Greek under his lectureship (1986–1999)
Honorary lecturer of Advanced New Testament Greek, St Andrew's, 1999–present
Chairman, Committee on the Translation of Liturgical Texts, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, 1990–present
The Revd John McSweeney
Sessional lecturer in New Testament Studies, 1999–present
Ken Parry
Sessional lecturer in Church History, 2002–present
The Very Revd Steven Scoutas
Honorary lecturer in Church History, 1995-2001
Honorary lecturer in Pastoral Theology and Practice, 2002–present
The Revd Constantine Varipatis
Honorary Lecturer in Pastoral Theology and Practice, 2004–present
Chris Harvey
Librarian, 1997–present
Fr Themistocles (Adamopoulo) (monk), Lecturer in Biblical Studies, Early Church History and Biblical Hebrew, 1986-1999
Vasilios Adrahtas, Lecturer in Patristics and Missiology, 2002-2004
Stavros Agoroudis, Librarian, 1995-1996
Julie Anthony, Lecturer in Modern Greek, 1986-1992
Antonios Aristodemou, Instructor in Byzantine Music, 1986-2000
Francis Charleton, Librarian, 1987-1989.
The Revd Anastasios Bozikis, Lecturer in Patristics, 1997-2001
The Revd John Chryssavgis, Sub-Dean, Lecturer in Church History and Patristics, 1986-1995
The Very Revd Miltiades Chryssavgis, Lecturer in Liturgics, Byzantine Music and Pastoral Theology, 1986-1995
Crystal Condous, Honorary Librarian, 1986
The Revd Paul Connors, Registrar and Lecturer in Church History, 1988-1990
Dimitri Conomos, Visiting Professor of Byzantine Music, 1986-1987
Chris Forbes, Lecturer in Early Church History, 1999
Archimandrite Joseph (Harkiolakis), Lecturer in Modern Greek and Liturgics, 1987-1990
The Revd Clement Hill, Lecturer in Homiletics, 1996-2000
Anne Hocking, Librarian, 1989-1995
Vasilios Istavridis, Visiting Professor of Church History, 1992
Alexandros Kariotoglou, Lecturer in Patristics, Missiology and Hermeneutics, 2002-2004
Vivenne Keely, Lecturer in Early Church History, 2000-2001
Markos Orphanos, Visiting Professor of Patristics, 1995-2002
Vrasidas Karalis, Lecturer in Church History, 1995-2003
Archimandrite Leonidas, Lecturer in Canon Law, 1986-1992
Francis Livesey, Registrar and Lecturer in Church History, 1987
Niki Papadopoulos, Lecturer in Modern Greek, 1993-1994
The Revd Geoffrey Peterson, Lecturer in Pastoral Theology, 1987-1989
The Revd Gabriel Popescu, Lecturer in Pastoral Theology, 1986-2001
Basilios Psilacos, Instructor in Byzantine Music, 2001-2002
Harry Simmons, Lecturer in Church History and Orthodox Spirituality, 1986-1987
The Very Revd George Vassiliadis, Lecturer in Canon Law, Patristics and Modern Greek, 1993-2005
Jacob Yiacoumi, Lecturer in Systematic Theology and Patristics, 1996
Asterios Zouriakas, Instructor in Byzantine Music, 2004
