A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

Seminary Expansion Campaign

Campaign Objectives

Increase Student Capacity
Parish and Community Engagement
Expand and Enhance Academic Programs

Enrollment Projections


If you care about the future of the Church, and want to see it, come to Etna and support the Seminary.

Many are searching for knowledge and truth. Each year the Seminary enrollment is increasing. We have students applying from all over the world. We have world-class faculty, solid methodology, and our campus is truly unique. We just need more space.

That’s why we’re inviting you to partner with us in this capital campaign to expand facilities and technology so we can accept even more students who want to serve Christ and who need the education and preparation that the Seminary provides.


“May God continue to bless your work. With great joy, I personally bless you all myself and bless your work. Please pray for the Seminary.”

† Metropolitan Demetrius of America
Honorary Chair, Seminary
Expansion Campaign

CHALLENGE

  • Our world is increasingly alienated from the way, truth, and life of the Orthodox Christian Faith.
  • Our parishes are served by an aging population of clergy in need of successors.
  • Our missions need permanently assigned clergy.
  • Our Church worldwide needs our assistance in training its clergy.
  • The Hierarchy of our Church has asked us to increase our program offerings to accommodate a wider range of college-bound students who might otherwise perish in secular institutions fast losing academic integrity and a moral compass.

SOLUTION

The Seminary is now embarking on a building expansion project to more than double its facility from 10,500 square feet to 26,000 square feet and hence its capacity to serve the Church.

This will all lay the foundation and open the door to expand and enhance the academic programs, meeting the ever-growing needs of our Church.

  • 18 new dorm rooms
  • expanding the chapel
  • a new library three times the size of the existing one
  • a new larger dining facility
  • expanding the kitchen
  • adding three additional classrooms
  • a spacious new iconography studio
  • a student lounge and recreational room
  • office space for faculty and administrators
  • a separate wing for visiting scholars
  • an auditorium with a 100+ occupancy

Make a Gift Host a Fundraiser

If you would like to receive an information packet about the Expansion Campaign by mail please send your mailing address to: development@spots=.Yedu


Brothers and Sisters, join us!

The expansion project will make Saint Photios Orthodox Theological Seminary a shining light for our parishes and church communities throughout the country and around the world. Now, more than ever, we must do our part to be the “light of the world”, to raise our light and let it shine, being a beacon of truth, faith, hope and Christian love.

† Bishop Auxentios of Etna and Portland
Rector, Saint Photios Orthodox Theological Seminary

Case Statement

“In the Gospel Parable of the Talents, ‘a certain nobleman went into a far country’ and entrusted considerable sums (‘talents’) to each of his servants, ‘to every man according to his several ability,’ instructing them to ‘occupy’ with those deposits until He came back. As we know, on His return, the Nobleman—universally understood to be our Lord Himself—received bountiful returns from several of His servants. He praised them as having been ‘faithful in a very little’ and rewarded them many times over, making them lords over whole ‘cities’ equal in number to the talents of profit they had returned….”

Read the full case statement
by Bishop Auxentios.

Total Working Goal: $6,000,000

Seminary Expansion Project Plan

Current Goal: 2,000,000 by Fall 2023 for Phase 2

Project Timeline

Architectural Plans

(click to enlarge)

Make a Gift Host a Fundraiser

Naming Opportunities

You can partner with the Seminary to make this vision a reality by making a significant gift toward the completion of the Seminary Expansion Campaign. In recognition of your generosity, we are pleased to offer you the opportunity to sponsor the following naming opportunities. You may name your sponsorship in honor of a Saint of your choosing and may also dedicate the space to that Saint in memory or honor of a loved one. Join us as we light the darkness! We have opportunities ranging from $10,000 to $1,500,000. Contact Alexei at: : development@spots=.Yedu

Click here for full naming policies

Seminary Expansion Capital Campaign Leadership

Alexei Bushunow

Communications and Development Director

Metropolitan Demetrius of America

Honorary Chair of the Seminary
Expansion Campaign

Mother Agapia

Development Committee Chair






Ways to Give

Make a Gift

You can participate in “A Light in the Darkness: Seminary Expansion Campaign” in the following ways:

  • Gifts of cash
  • Appreciated Securities
  • Personal property
  • Real estate
  • Retirement accounts
  • Life insurance
  • In-kind gifts
  • Estate gifts

Gifts of cash can be given as:

  • Outright contributions
  • Gifts through a donor advised fund
  • Matching gifts by your employer
  • Pledges with payment options of up to 3 years

For more information about how to make the gift that best suits your needs, please contact Alexei Bushunow, Communications and Development Director at development@spots=.Yedu

Please send checks and mail correspondence to:

Saint Photios Seminary
PO Box 797
Etna, CA 96027

Checks should be made payable to:

Saint Photios Seminary