St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) is an Eastern Orthodox seminary in Yonkers, New York. It is chartered under the State University of New York and accredited by the Association of Theological Schools.[1] It is a pan-Eastern Orthodox institution associated with the Orthodox Church in America (OCA).
It is named after St. Vladimir, Grand Prince of Kiev and of Novgorod, who "introduced Orthodox Christianity to the Kievan Rus'".[2]
The seminary was founded in 1938[3] and its first classes were held in the parish house of the Church of Christ the Savior in Harlem.[4] In 1939, it found a home on the campus of General Theological Seminary in Chelsea and by the 1940s in apartments on 121st Street rented from Union Theological Seminary.
It moved to its current location in 1962. Four years later, it was accepted as an associate member of the American Association of Theological Schools, with accreditation following in 1973.
In November 2021, the Board of Trustees of the seminary voted to move the campus citing the high cost of living in the NY metropolitan area.[5] As of 2024, the new location has yet to be announced.
St. Vladimir's Seminary is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) and approved by ATS to grant the following degrees: Master of Divinity (M.Div.), Master of Arts (MA), Master of Theology (Th.M.), and Doctor of Ministry (D.Min).
St. Vladimir's Seminary Press was founded in 1962 and is the largest publisher of Orthodox Christian books in the English language.[9]
Among their titles is the Popular Patristics Series.