Name of Seminarian: Alexis Baldwin
Age: 29
Name of Spouse: Veronika
Name and age of children: Aidan (2), Isaak (8 months)
Seminary: St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary
Program and Years in School: MDiv, 3rd year
Home parish: St. John the Evangelist Mission, Tempe, AZ

Story: Alexis and Veronika were raised as Roman Catholic. During the completion of his BA in Theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Alexis was introduced to the Early Church Fathers and to the Orthodox Church. Alexis graduated and he and Veronika were married. During these years, Alexis was Melkite Catholic. Alexis and his wife Veronika became Orthodox after coming to understand that one cannot be fully Orthodox unless one is in the Orthodox Church. While passionate about studying the Church Fathers and Theology, Alexis was inspired by love of serving others and sharing the Truth of Christ and His Church with others to pursue seminary.

Other things of interest? Both Alexis and Veronika enjoy playing music and have performed together several times. Alexis is originally from Indianapolis, IN, but grew up in Mississippi. Alexis is a professional cook and apprenticed under a semi-retired Master Chef who is from France.

Name of Seminarian: Deacon Benjamin Huggins
Age: 31
Name of Spouse: Lauren
Name and age of children: Benaiah (8), Gabrielle (7), Moses (5), Mariam (3)
Seminary: Saint Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary
Program and Years in School: MDiv, 3rd year
Home parish: Holy Theophany Orthodox Church, Colorado Springs, CO

Story: Deacon Benjamin grew up in the Protestant Faith and experienced multiple denominations throughout those years. He felt uncomfortable in many of these different expressions of Christianity and never felt at home. An Anglican priest took him to an Orthodox Vespers service and at the same time his mom gave him the book, "The Way of a Pilgrim", both of which introduced him to the Worship and Faith of the Church. For the next three years he and his wife attended the local Orthodox Church and met with the priest. They both both found it to be a safe place to work out their salvation and continue, to this day, to be amazed at its depth and richness. Deacon Benjamin was ordained to the diaconate on January 6, 2012.

Other things of interest? Deacon Benjamin worked as a Special Education teacher for six years before going to seminary. His wife, Lauren, works as an R.N. They have two biological children and have adopted two children from Ethiopia. 

Name of Seminarian: John (J.J.) Kotalik
Age: 24
Name of spouse: None
Name and age of children: N/A
Seminary: St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary
Program and Years in School: MDiv, 1st year
Home parish: St. Katherine Orthodox Mission Church, Kirkland, WA
 
Story: J.J. was raised Roman Catholic and attended a Catholic university for his BA in Philosophy and Psychology.  At university, he experienced a spiritually gruelling first year when he struggled to find Christ through the Roman Catholic Church. He was exposed to Orthodoxy through those whom he encountered there, especially his roommate, who is now a monk. Through their love and patience and in response to his own struggles with sin, J.J. decided to explore Orthodoxy and realized that the hospital which he sought was the Orthodox Church, Christ's True and Holy Church. Since then, he has strived to dedicate himself to the Church and Her liturgical and pastoral life, serving wherever possible. After beginning an MA in Philosophy, he realized that he was called to another path. After a summer at a monastery, the counsel of wonderful friends and fathers, and the blessing of his bishop, he hopes to prepare himself for a life of service in the Church by attending St. Tikhon's.
 
Other things of interest? J.J. is of mixed Croatian, Polish, and Czech descent and speaks enough Serbo-Croatian to get by, having been asked to serve as a reader in the Serbian Church when visiting family and friends in the former Yugoslavia. He also knows Latin. He loves to sing, especially as a member of his parish choir; he also enjoys a good cup of tea, sharing a bottle of wine with friends, and hiking. Since graduating college, he has worked in the assisted living industry.

Name of Seminarian: Moses (Morgan) McPherson
Age: 30
Name of spouse: Ruth
Name and age of children: Ruth is currently pregnant with their first child, expecting at the end of June, 2012!
Seminary: St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary
Program and Years in School: MDiv, 3rd year
Home parish: St. Demetrios, Camarillo, CA

Story: Moses and Ruth were attending a Christian liberal arts college in Canada, where Moses was working on a double major of Philosophy and Religion. They took a class together on Early Church History through which they were exposed to the writing of Metropolitan Kallistos Ware and the Orthodox Church. It was everything that they were looking for, but didn't know existed! When they returned to California they were Chrismated at the local Church, St. Demetrios. They also spent a lot of time at St. Barbara's Monastery in Santa Paula, and formed a deep and lasting relationship with the nuns there. Moses received Bishop Benjamin's blessing to go to seminary in 2009. They sold everything they had, hopped in their Honda, and headed East! Moses describes his wife as a phenomenal friend, co-struggler, and fellow adventurer.

Other things of interest: Moses was originally born in Canada, but moved to California when he was 9. He lift weights regularly at the local YMCA, and help some of the guys at the seminary get in shape. His wife has worked with special needs children for the last 6 years. She is incredibly gifted and has shown much love to them. She has also been taking the iconography class provided by the seminary, and has done some exceptional work. 

Name of Seminarian: Jeff (David) Morrison
Age: 40
Name of Spouse: Patti (Photini)
Name and age of children: Benjamin (George, 10), Genevieve (8), Cecilia (4)
Seminary: Saint Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary
Program and Years in School: MDiv, 3rd year.
Home parish: Holy Theophany Orthodox Church, Colorado Springs, CO

Story: Jeff has a background as a Protestant church and para-church worker with music, youth, and Christian conferences, as well as a year with his wife teaching in Guatemala. He and his family joined the Orthodox Church in Nashville, loved growing in Orthodoxy in Colorado Springs, and definitely see our country as a wonderful mission field for the gospel. They are grateful to be "home" in the Orthodox Church.
  
Other things of interest? Jeff is a singer/songwriter, Patti is a social worker, and the whole family loves hiking, singing, and playing games together.

Name of Seminarian: Stephen Osburn Jr.
Age: 27
Name of Spouse: Lindsey (Lilliana)
Seminary: St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary
Program and Years in School: MDiv, 1st year
Home parish: St. Paul the Apostle Orthodox Church, Las Vegas, Nevada

Story: Stephen was raised in the Orthodox Church. He spent the first 5 years of his life in England and after his father retired from the Air Force, his family ended up in Las Vegas to be closer to family. Stephen earned his Bachelor's degree in Music Composition in 2009. In 2011, Stephen married his wife Lindsey, who is a convert from Mormonism. Passionate in mission work, Stephen has always been interested in serving the Church and bringing the Word and Truth to others. With the Blessing of Archbishop Benjamin, Stephen and Lindsey moved across the country to prepare for a life of service in Christ's Church.

Other things of interest? Stephen is an accomplished composer and violist. In 2007, his string quartet played a concert for the parishioners of St. Paul's Orthodox Church where His Eminence, Archbishop Benjamin joined in on violin for a part of the concert. Stephen also premiered his first string quartet piece titled "Orthodoxy for String Quartet". Stephen and Lindsey also occasionally participate in medieval and renaissance reenactment events teaching and showing what life was like in the early Byzantine empire.

Name of Seminarian: Deacon Andre Paez
Age: 36
Name of Spouse: Samantha
Name and age of children: Rafael (4), Isabel (2)
Seminary: St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary
Program and Years in School: MDiv, 3rd Year
Home parish before coming to Seminary: Holy Trinity Cathedral, San Francisco, CA

Story: Deacon André is Colombian American and was raised Roman Catholic. He earned a BS in International Business from Pepperdine University and Master in Business from University of San Francisco. It was at Pepperdine where he discovered the Orthodox Church through a dear friend and then was Chrismated in 1997. Upon entering the Church, André wanted to go to seminary but his parish priest, the late Archpriest Victor Sokolov of blessed memory, advised him to grow in the Church first. André heeded his wise council and it was after 13 years of growing in the Church, getting married, and having children that he received the blessing to come to Seminary. He was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by His Grace, Bishop Benjamin on January 30, 2012.

Other things of interest? Deacon André's wife Samantha is Lebanese American and works part-time as a grant writer. He is a volunteer on the OCA's Strategic Plan stewardship and finance committee and is interested in helping to start a pan-Orthodox Credit Union with the intent of increasing the financial strength of the Church, paying off all parish debts, and helping create programs to fund the cost of seminarians' educational expenses.  

Name of Seminarian: Deacon Panayiotis Tekosis
Age: 40
Name of Spouse: Kathryn Anne
Name and age of children: Stavros Aidan (13), Melangell (12), Maximus (9), Emmanuel Ephraim (7), Johanneka (4), Alexander Constantine (1)
Seminary: St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary
Program and Years in School: MDiv, 1st year
Home parish: St. Herman of Alaska, Littleton, CO

Story: Deacon Panayiotis and Matushka Kathryn were raised in the Orthodox faith in Greece. Deacon Panayiotis earned his first degree in Business and a Master's degree in Organizational Behavior. They lived in England for ten years where Deacon Panayiotis had the blessing of expanding his knowledge of the Orthodox faith through informal study under the tutelage of Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) for six years. He was ordained to the Diaconate by Archbishop Elisey of Sourozh (Moscow Patriarchate in the UK) on January 10, 2010. The Tekosis family moved to the USA in late 2011.

Other things of interest? Deacon Panayiotis is a trained and qualified Psychotherapist with license to practice in Colorado and the UK. He enjoys supporting new dads transitioning into fatherhood, and when time allows, he loves digging his vegetable patch. His name comes from Pan-Ayia, a title addressing the "All-Holy" Theotokos in the Greek-speaking lands. Matushka Kathryn is a Doula (birth companion) and the North American publisher of a holistic parenting magazine. Together they educate their delightfully spirited children at home.

Name of Seminarian: James Wiegel
Age: 28
Name of Spouse: Danielle
Name and age of children: Cassia (1 month)
Seminary: Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary
Program and Years in School: MDiv, 2nd year.
Home parish: Holy Resurrection of Tacoma, WA
 
Story: James Wiegel grew up in a pious Evangelical family in Western Washington before moving to Santa Barbara to study literature at Westmont College. While at college, he met his future wife Danielle and grew closer to Orthodoxy, being received into the faith after graduating in June of 2005 and marrying Danielle in August of 2006. He then moved back to the Seattle area, attending services at Holy Resurrection of Tacoma while teaching and coaching speech and debate at a local Catholic high school. In the summer of 2011, with the blessing of Bishop Benjamin, he and his wife moved across the country to attend St. Vladimir’s in preparation for a life of service to Christ in His Church. Their first child, Cassia Renée Wiegel, was born December 23, 2011.

Other things of interest? James and Danielle both love to cook and make a hobby of learning recipes from a wide variety of cultures. They also enjoy soccer (especially the Seattle Sounders!), singing in the choir (James sings in the seminary Octet), and reading long books with a good cup of tea. Danielle was catechized at Sts. Constantine and Helen parish in Colorado Springs, where her family lives.