St Andrew’s hosted a professional development day for the teachers and staff of the Greek Orthodox co-education private schools in Sydney: St Spyridon College (Kingsford), All Saints Grammar (Belmore) and St Euphemia College (Bankstown). In front of an audience of around 170 people, the event was opened by the College’s Sub-Dean, His Grace Bishop Seraphim of Apollonias, and featured presentations by Revd Fr Leslie Kostoglou, Dr Guy Freeland, Dr Philip Kariatlis, and Anastasios Kalogerakis. Click here to watch a video which contains excerpts from the presentations delivered by the five speakers.

His Grace began the day with prayer and by defining the relationship between the Church and the Greek Orthodox schools of Australia. Mr Kalogerakis then described the different courses offered by the College, in addition to how it caters for cross-institutional study and reaches out to students via online distance education. Dr Kariatlis subsequently spoke about the relevance of Orthodoxy for building an effective school community, affirming that the kind of unity which the Church provides functions as a remedy to the sense of isolation experienced by today’s youth. Dr Freeland in turn examined the meaning of icons and their place within the tradition of the Church, highlighting the distinction between the veneration given to them and the worship offered to God by the faithful. Fr Leslie discussed the architecture of a typical Greek Orthodox Church, commenting also on the significance of votive offerings and the roles of the clergy and laity.

Prior to the closing prayer, His Grace invited the principals of the three schools – Mrs Stefanou-Haag (St Spyridon), Mr Tsoutsa (All Saints) and Mr Hirakis (St Euphemia) – to offer closing remarks on the event. Both the Theological College and the schools look forward to further professional development seminars in the future.