Protodeacon Peter

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What is a deacon? According to Protodeacon Peter, "The word ‘deacon’ comes from the Greek ‘diakonia’, which means ‘service.’ The deacon’s job is simply to re-present Christ as Servant in the Church, the one who comes not to be served but to serve (Matt 20:25-28). He assists the priest in the liturgical services, leads the people in prayer, and performs whatever jobs are necessary in the Church (Acts 6:2-6). He has no authority on his own; his vocation is to show forth Christ as Servant. For the deacon, to live is to serve and to serve is to live. This is a joyful task.”

Protodeacon Peter was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by +Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas in 1975. He was encouraged to prepare for ordination by +Protopresbyters Alexander Warnecke and Alexander Schmemann. One-third of his fifty years of diaconal service was spent overseas in Japan, Singapore, Australia, Germany and Hong Kong, mostly with parishes and missions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. He is presently active as an Emeritus Trustee of St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, a member of the Secretariat of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA, and a member of the OCA Sexual Misconduct Policy Advisory Committee. He has formerly served on the Boards of FOCUS North America and the Orthodox Christian Leadership Initiative. In 2018, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, by St Vladimir’s Seminary.

Protodeacon Peter was born and raised in Bayonne, NJ of Russian Orthodox parents. He served as an altar boy at Ss Peter and Paul Church in Bayonne, and was active in Orthodox youth, camping, and fellowship activities in high school and university days. He was educated at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and Syracuse University where he received Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Electrical Engineering, respectively. Protodeacon Peter is retired from Exxon Mobil Corporation, with 33 years of international operations, planning, and general management experience. His community activities have included serving as the Chairman of the Governing Board, International School of Hamburg, Germany, and as a member of the Hong Kong Advisory Committee, US-China Business Council, and the Economist Conferences Asia-Pacific CEO Advisory Group.

He is the author of Thy Will Be Done: Strategic Leadership, Planning, and Management for Christians and The Theology of Leadership: Servant Sacrifice Shepherd Leader, both published by St Vladimir’s Seminary Press.

Protodeacon Peter and his wife Tanya live in Oakton, Virginia. They have three children and eight grandchildren, residing in Denver CO, Minneapolis MN, and Boston MA.