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<\/a>Fr. John Peck<\/p><\/div>HT: OrthodoxNet Blog<\/a> and Byzantine, TX<\/a><\/p>\n Fr. John A. Peck serves at St. George Orthodox Church in Prescott, AZ and is already well known as the administrator of the \u201cPreachers Institute\u201d and \u201cJourney to Orthodoxy\u201d websites. Recently he launched a site called \u201cGood Guys Wear Black,\u201d which aims to provide a resource for men discerning their vocation to the priesthood. Fr. John was kind enough to answer some questions I had about this new effort.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Father, how did this whole thing get started?<\/strong><\/p>\n The same things that brought about my other working websites \u2013 I had a need as a priest, and nothing to fill that need. <\/p>\n It\u2019s as simple as that.<\/p>\n It seems like you\u2019ve come out of the gate running \u2013 with, among other things, a news section, pre-made banners for bloggers to use, and complete directory information on seminaries in North America. Were you able to leverage your experience in development of the \u2018Journey to Orthodoxy\u2019 and the \u2018Preachers Institute\u2019 websites to come out with such a comprehensive site? Who is helping in the site\u2019s development?<\/strong> What, if any, involvement have you had from Orthodox hierarchs, the Episcopal Assembly, or the seminaries themselves?<\/strong> I\u2019ve mentioned my ideas to a few possible benefactors, people with financial resources that want to see good things done, but despite the fact that I\u2019m doing precisely what they say they would support, I never hear from them again.<\/p>\n I only do this because I feel it is necessary. While many complain and worry about what to do, have meetings, make plans, often nothing gets done. For my part, I have a few skills, and I can at least get this kind of thing done.<\/p>\n What plans do you have for future projects? How do you plan to get the word out to the parish level? Do you foresee mailers to OCF and youth groups, posters for parish halls, etc.?<\/strong> Here are a few things we need to get done:<\/p>\n What do you think is the biggest surprise to incoming seminarians?<\/strong> I can tell you that when I went to seminary, it was the fact that despite there being a new log chapel smack dab in the middle of the grounds, no one was allowed to enter it. We walked around it. We worshipped in the museum. It was awful. I can\u2019t describe the experience \u2013 how wrong it was. We eventually did get into it to bless it on Theophany, but even that was hard fought. Once in, we weren\u2019t leaving, and it suddenly became the center of our whole experience there. It was alive. It almost breathed. And we were alive in a new and exciting way.<\/p>\n For today\u2019s seminarian, I think a lot would depend on expectations, and the state of discipline at the seminary \u2013 and the seminary one attended.<\/p>\n Frankly, from what I\u2019ve heard from seminarians at every seminary (and I have), any significant increase in discipline hardly exists. It\u2019s more like a gentlemen\u2019s code or something. I don\u2019t agree with this. Seminarians should be given a strict schedule. It should not be like attending college or grad school with chapel (which has, at times, even been optional!).<\/p>\n Seminaries are places of excellent education, but often poor formation \u2013 precisely because I think it is assumed that formation has, for the most part, already taken place. This is a mistake. A seminary is indeed a garden, but gardening means work, planning, discipline to weed out trouble and a regimen which must be adhered to \u2013 but only if you want the maximum harvest. I know \u2013 I\u2019ve been gardening all my life, and I require men who begin their vocation journey to get, plant and care for garden plants as a part of their discipline.<\/p>\n Discipline creates formation and nothing is more important at a theological seminary than formation.<\/p>\n If we aren\u2019t getting the maximum yield from our seminaries, it is up to the seminary to change what it is doing. And the seminaries are in the process of doing that now. I really hope that trustees and benefactors will listen to seminary deans and presidents and listen carefully, and support their plans and vision.<\/p>\n For the future seminarian, I think the best way to not be disappointed is to have no expectations. Then, nothing else matters.<\/p>\n I see a \u201cTentmaking\u201d section is under development. What plans do you have for that part of the site?<\/strong> Tent-making is a key mission strategy. Basically, you require every man who comes to seminary to have a marketable trade or skill. If he does not have one coming in, he should be given training by the time he\u2019s out. It could be apprenticing in stone masonry, plumbing, HVAC, electrician work, bookkeeping, or any more professional pursuits. Seminaries can do this by offering partnerships with local community colleges for students without employable skills. Yes, this is work, but it is important.<\/p>\n Besides, I don\u2019t think anyone should attend seminary who hasn\u2019t worked in a factory or dug ditches or some such work, and definitely should not be ordained until they have spent six months in some job like that. Such experience is a world changer.<\/p>\n Upon graduation, bishops would fill parishes with some clergy, and appoint others who have been properly prepared to pre-determined and approved mission areas to get work, get busy and grow the Church.<\/p>\n In fact, I see that this should be a fertile opportunity for seminaries.<\/p>\n It is not necessary that every tentmaker be a clergyman. Lay people should inundate this opportunity and we should ask them, indeed, call for them to do it \u2013 but not haphazardly \u2013 rather, according to a plan. There should be a year long program of intense, but distance study with local seminars covering very practical skills and topics. We could geometrically multiply mission work here in the USA, Mexico, South America, Canada, and everywhere else. For the tentmaker, the work is the first mission work.<\/p>\n For the clergyman, the chance to populate America with new missions, parishes and cathedrals this is an opportunity with no peer. We need to have a plan, a strategy (Journey To Orthodoxy is doing this now) \u2013 and this in turn will ignite a missionary spirit in laypeople, seminarians and clergy alike.<\/p>\n I know that there are many, trained and capable Orthodox Christians ready now \u2013 if someone would ask them. Within a year, it is easy to gather together a mission plant of 20 households or more. After that, jurisdictional requirements vary to move one to mission\/parish status. But, I would also require every official mission to have a deacon within five years. Is this a lot to ask \u2013 yes! Is it doable? Of course! We are Orthodox Christians. We go everywhere, we pay any price, we overcome every obstacle, and we let the Holy Spirit do the work.<\/p>\n People are looking for the Orthodox faith. We should let them find us easily.<\/p>\n Do you see a place for existing groups to help in this effort to make vocations information more accessible? Do you think groups like the Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement<\/a> (OISM) could help get the ball rolling in explaining seminary life to men discerning the call?<\/strong><\/p>\n I do see a place for others to get this done \u2013 I wish they would! But I\u2019ve been waiting 15 years for someone to do it, and I\u2019m tired of waiting. Anyone helping would be a big help. It\u2019s just not on the radar. Yes, OISM would be a big help as would appropriate focus and action from OCF, but I don\u2019t think this is on their radar. That says something. I think men don\u2019t often discern their call because they are told, implicitly or explicitly, that nobody cares.<\/p>\n There is one easy way to tell if it is important. Look at the budget. Is anything dedicated to promoting, discerning and encouraging vocations? Is there any material? Is there any special event scheduled? Any website material? We all know the answer to that, but it can be fixed! I\u2019m not the one to do it. I have no connection to any seminary. Nothing invested anywhere. But until someone else does it, I will do what I can.<\/p>\n So, I\u2019m here to say that you don\u2019t get to choose the Call, you only choose only the answer. It\u2019s time to man-up and follow the calling of the Lord.<\/p>\n Can you talk a little about the \u201cPre-Seminary\u201d section of your website? Specifically, can you speak about the \u201cCalled to Serve\u201d text you recommend?<\/strong><\/p>\n It is my belief that if a man waits until seminary to do any significant study of Scripture, history or theology, he\u2019ll be a terrible priest.<\/p>\n Before attending seminary, a man should have already read the entire Bible, word for word, every book. They should know how many books are in the Orthodox Bible, the Old Testament, the New Testament, the names of the 12 Apostles (it doesn\u2019t start with \u201cMatthew, Mark, Luke and John\u201d), and much more.<\/p>\n They should know the location of certain very important things. Where in the Bible do you find<\/p>\n This is so simple to do, but few do it. This is what the \u201cCalled To Serve\u201d workbook course solves. It provides a great starting point for Biblical study. That\u2019s why I wrote it \u2013 I needed something like it, but could find nothing. It is the only thorough Bible Survey course that includes all the books of the Orthodox Bible.<\/p>\n When a future seminarian finishes this workbook \u2013 which is only 20 lessons \u2013 he will be comfortable with the Bible, knowing its milestones and special events with ease.<\/p>\n Future seminarians should not be sitting on their hands, but getting to work and preparing. Frankly, I would require either an entrance test (mostly Bible knowledge) or a pre-Seminary boot camp, which would be 3-4 weeks of this kind of stuff \u2013 intensively, pass or fail. Then they can hit the board running, so to speak, and with some confidence about their own course of study.<\/p>\n Everyone wants to read the theology of Gregory Palamas, but aren\u2019t willing to do the hard work of simply studying basic information about the Bible. Our liturgical cycle is loaded with Scripture. It\u2019s not unimportant.<\/p>\n Seminaries want men who for three years of their lives are willing to dedicate themselves entirely to the seminary experience. At the same time, when they graduate few parishes are able to support them and a three-year gap in employment is often hard to explain to employers. Additionally, many seminary families are forced to receive government assistance for heating, food, and medical care during their time at seminary. As more seminarians are men with families, how should seminaries respond to the changing demographic of their institutions?<\/strong><\/p>\n Without a doubt, seminaries need to step up and reduce or remove the cost of going to seminary, and institute loan forgiveness. This is being done somewhat at Holy Cross with some grads, I\u2019m told, and it is a step in the right direction. The Church has to take responsibility for the training of clergy, and by the Church I mean you and me.<\/p>\n Parishes, individuals with means, corporations \u2013 all need to take some sacrificial responsibility here and reap the benefits from God for their accountability. Not sure what to do \u2013 contact us. Not comfortable with us \u2013 contact your bishop. Again, I admonish everyone to support the vision and goals of our seminary leadership. Give them what they need to do what they are trying to do.<\/p>\n Thank you for your comprehensive responses to the questions posed. I hope your website gets the attention it deserves so that future seminarians and their families can make more informed decisions in the discernment process.<\/strong><\/p>\n Thanks for asking. We are still building the site with the best content we can get. We ask everyone to pray that we are not alone in doing so.<\/p>\n And for those who are considering the diaconate, or the priesthood \u2013 contact us<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n\n
\nNew media is constantly changing, and developing the right tools is important. Often, readers request certain things \u2013 which is simply giving the \u2018customer\u2019 what he is asking for! Like most, I learn from what others are doing, and from my own successes and failures. Fr. Hans Jacobse<\/a> helped me design the site. He\u2019s great with coding. He also helped me with my other websites and we often collaborate on independent jobs, parish websites or business websites. We are both mission priests, so such work helps us financially.<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019m sorry to say, none. Hierarchs are busy doing bishops stuff, and seminaries are busy doing what seminaries have always done. This kind of work is necessary, but not on the agenda. I would love to partner with each seminary, offer unique vocational materials from each and work together to direct students not only to admissions, but to a vocation specialist.<\/p>\n
\nHonestly, as a parish priest, I\u2019m way too busy to do this myself, but I have no help and no funding from anyone to do it. I think this is a great opportunity for OCF. At the very least, they should invite someone like myself or a diocesan\/metropolis or seminary representative to speak on vocations, and perhaps set up a vocations weekend.<\/p>\n\n
\nOh, I can\u2019t answer that. I\u2019m not at a seminary now, so I have no idea what the experience is.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n
\nI believe the 21st century is the beginning of the Mission Millennium, and that in this century we will particularly distinguish ourselves as finally having outgrown Church infancy. I know, that comment will not be welcome to some, but I think Christianity is still in its infancy (too much drool and dirty diapers).<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n