Diocesan Seminarians

Luke Anderson

Home Parish: Holy Trinity Church, St. Paul, MN

Seminary: St. Vladimir’s Seminary

Year & Program: 2nd year M.Div.

Luke Joseph Anderson was raised as an Evangelical in rural Minnesota and has a Bachelor of Science in America history from the University of Wisconsin – River Falls. He intended to become a US history and civics high school teacher, but felt a calling to pursue seminary instead due to the greater depth of formation that the liturgy and the life of the Church can provide a child. He was received into the Church on Great and Holy Saturday at Holy Trinity in St Paul Minnesota in 2019. 
 
To prepare for seminary, he spent a 3.5 years doing live in care provider work with two different men as two consecutive terminal cases. Luke was also blessed by his priest to spend 4 years in Holy Trinity’s sanctuary as an altar server, primarily focused on helping their children acolytes. Luke always wanted to bring back the boys who struggled the most to stand still and feels a great amount of respect and fraternity for all of the children he served with. Luke also spent the past 5 years participating in the physical labor of the Church in her charitable work and the busy work needed to run a parish. 
 
From the formation of these three things, Luke hopes to be blessed to serve in the ministries of the Church and to have a work orientated vocation focused on helping people prepare themselves to offer themselves to Christ and to help participate in the process of forming males and females into Orthodox men and women.

Timothy Blinnikov

Home Parish: Holy Myrrhbearers Church, St. Cloud, MN

Seminary: St. Tikhon’s Seminary

Year & Program: 1st year M.Div.

Timothy Blinnikov was born into a Russian immigrant family and raised in the Orthodox faith.  He grew up serving in the altar and singing in the choir at Holy Myrrhbearers Orthodox Church in St Cloud, MN. He graduated Saint Olaf College in 2018 with a degree in Political Science and Russian Area Studies.

Timothy was tonsured a reader in 2016 by His Eminence Archbishop Paul (Gassios) of blessed memory, and continued serving and reading in church. After being encouraged to consider seminary studies by Archpriest Andrew Jaye and Protodeacon Dana Bichler at Holy Myrrhbearers, Timothy was ordained to the subdiaconate in 2023 by His Eminence Archbishop Daniel. Serving in the Altar, and as a sacristan for the next two years helped solidify his decision, and with the support of Priest Peter Ries, and fellow seminarian Deacon Eugene, Timothy made the decision to begin his seminary studies at St Tikhon’s Seminary.

Justin Brannon

Home Parish: Nativity of the Virgin Mary Church, Madison, IL

Seminary: St. Tikhon’s Seminary

Year & Program: 1st year M.Div.

Justin Brannon was born in Reno, Nevada, and raised in the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI), a Oneness Pentecostal sect. After the death of his mother, he moved to California, where he remained in the Oneness tradition under a preacher known for Scripture memorization and expository preaching.

Justin began his theological education at Christian Life College in Stockton, CA, and later earned a Bachelor of Science in Bible and Christian Ministry from Gateway College of Evangelism (now Urshan University) in St. Louis, Missouri. It was there that he met his wife Danielle, a fellow student who would go on to earn a Master’s degree in Christian Ministry. They were married in 2011.

In 2013, Justin and Danielle were received into the Orthodox Church at All Saints of North America Antiochian Orthodox Church in St. Louis under the guidance of Fr. Stephen Salaris. They later moved to Granite City, Illinois, and began attending Nativity of the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church in Madison, IL—just across the train tracks from their home. There, and at their previous parish, Justin served as both an acolyte and Sunday School teacher, and assisted in catechism instruction under Fr. Nicholas Finley.

Justin and Danielle have four children: Celeste (Hope), Eldon (Nicholas), Etta (Theodora), and Virginia (Evangeline).

Justin is beginning his first year in the Master of Divinity program at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. His desire is to serve Christ and His Church faithfully in whatever capacity he is called.

Henry Brink

Home Parish: St Elizabeth Church, Chesterton, IN

Seminary: St. Vladimir’s Seminary

Year & Program: 1st year M.Div.

Henry Brink was raised in a Baptist family and spent most of his childhood in South Dakota and Minnesota. He and his family also lived in Moscow, Russia, where his parents were missionaries. Henry and his wife Marcy both graduated in 2020 from Hillsdale College with degrees in English. While attending Hillsdale, they encountered Orthodoxy and were received into the Orthodox Church in 2021. They now have a son, Elias, and they completed master’s degrees in theology at Notre Dame in 2025. Henry and Marcy share a love of liturgical arts, especially Georgian chant and iconography.

In Fall, 2025, Henry will begin his first year as a seminarian at St. Vladimir’s, while Marcy will begin a Ph.D. in theology at Fordham University, focusing on late antique Christian and Jewish liturgical art.

Joseph Goshorn-Maroney

Home Parish: St Stephen the First Martyr Church, Crawfordsville, IN

Seminary: St. Tikhon’s Seminary

Year & Program: 2nd year M.Div.

Joseph was raised on a family farm in west central Indiana near Crawfordsville. He and his home parish of St. Stephen the First Martyr were received into the OCA from the Evangelical Orthodox Church in 2001 by Archbishop Job of blessed memory.

After completing his Bachelor of Arts degree in Geology at Hanover College, Joseph pursued a Master of Science in the same subject at Western Washington University in Washington. After this, Joseph began attending St. Innocent Antiochian Orthodox Church in Everson, WA. There he met his wife Margaret, a teacher, and moved back to Indiana and his home parish of St. Stephen’s to run the family farm. He and Margaret married within the year and now have five children: Eleni, Macrina, Seraphima, Maria, and John.

They have been active members at St. Stephen the First Martyr, Crawfordsville, where Margaret has been involved in reading and singing, while Joseph has served on the parish council in various capacities, and in the Altar. Joseph was ordained to the subdiaconate in 2019 by Archbishop Paul of blessed memory. Joseph, Margaret and their children begin the next chapter of their lives in the Fall of 2024 at St. Tikhon’s Seminary.

Deacon Jarrod Huffman

Home Parish: Holy Trinity Church, Overland Park, KS

Seminary: St. Vladimir’s Seminary

Year & Program: 3rd year M.Div.

Deacon Jarrod and Matushka Emily Huffman were brought into the Church in 2014 at St Paul’s in Las Vegas, Nevada where they maintain a dear connection. A Midwesterner by birth, Deacon Jarrod attended college in Colorado before a thirteen-year career in the United States Air Force. Matushka Emily has an MFA in Writing, and has transitioned into software engineering.

Deacon Jarrod and Matushka Emily spent ten years of their marriage living in Nevada and Alabama, where they served actively in parish life, contributing their time and talents to the choir and church school. In June of 2023, Deacon Jarrod left the military to pursue studies at St Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary. He and Matushka Emily have three bookish children, Ambrose, Theodora, and Elisabeth, and all are excited about the prospect of returning to serve in the Midwest, which they continue to consider home.

Michael Katalenich

Home Parish: St. John of Kronstadt Church, Lincoln, NE

Seminary: St. Tikhon’s Seminary

Year & Program: 1st year M.Div.

Michael was born at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska and raised in a largely non-religious household. He attended a Roman Catholic high school for academic reasons, where he encountered Christ and was received into the Roman Catholic Church. He studied Greek, Latin, and Hebrew at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, completing his bachelor’s degree in 2017.
 
After college, he studied as a novice for the Order of Friars Preachers (Dominicans) in Denver, CO, where he became familiar with the Byzantine-Rite Catholic Churches. Leaving the novitiate, he returned to Nebraska and served as the cantor for the Ruthenian and Melkite Catholic Mission in Nebraska. He also began teaching Latin, Philosophy, and Theater at Pius X High School in Lincoln, NE.
 
In 2021, Michael was encouraged to apply for seminary for the Ruthenian Catholic Church. During this process, he sought clarification in his own life between Holy Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholicism. On the feast of St. Photius the Great in 2022, he was received into the Orthodox Church of St. John of Kronstadt in Lincoln, NE by Archpriest James Dank, where he has helped with catechesis, choir, and reading services. While studying in the St. Macrina program, he was encouraged by his teachers to consider attending seminary.
 
Michael is beginning his first year in the Master of Divinity program at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary.

Gabriel Krug

Home Parish:

Seminary: St. Vladimir’s Seminary

Year & Program: 1st year M.Div.

Christopher Mescher

Home Parish: St. Gregory of Nyssa Church, Columbus, OH

Seminary: St. Tikhon’s Seminary

Year & Program: 3rd year M.Div.

Christopher was raised Roman Catholic around Columbus, Ohio. He undertook his undergraduate studies in mathematics and linguistics at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he attended a traditionalist Roman Catholic parish. After completing his undergraduate studies, he returned to Columbus to attend the Pontifical College Josephinum, a Roman Catholic seminary.

While at the Josephinum, Christopher became more aware of Orthodoxy, eventually beginning to attend St. Gregory of Nyssa Church in 2019. He ended his studies at the Josephinum after completing a B.Phil. degree, and began graduate study in computer science instead. He was received into the Orthodox Church on the Feast of the Transfiguration in 2020. He completed his M.S. in December of 2022, but never lost the desire to continue his seminary studies, which he began at St. Tikhon’s starting in the fall of 2023.

Samuel Miller

Home Parish: St. Mary Cathedral, Minneapolis, MN

Seminary: St. Vladimir’s Seminary

Year & Program: 1st year M.Div.

Samuel Miller is part of the fifth generation of an Orthodox family in America. He grew up attending St. Mary’s Cathedral in Minneapolis, and received his Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in 2025. 

Raised by a family which endeavored to live the life of the church, Samuel began to discern a call to service to the church towards the end of high school, largely through the inspiration and encouragement of the cathedral dean and other parish clergy. He has served in the altar since childhood, taught Sunday school, and participated in the pan-Orthodox community in the Twin Cities; he continues to act as a sacristan and lead altar server.

Deacon Pedro Sarsama

Home Parish: St. Matthew Church, Green Bay, WI

Seminary: St. Tikhon’s Seminary

Year & Program: 3rd year M.Div.

Baptized in and raised attending the Cathedral of the Falling Asleep of the Ever-Virgin Mary (OCA-ROEA), Deacon Pedro began attending St Matthew Orthodox Church in 2018 after relocating to Green Bay, WI. There, he was involved in youth and young adult ministry and liturgical service. He worked in non-profit community services and the finance sector before answering the call to attend seminary. He began the MDiv program at St Tikhon’s in 2023. There, he and his wife, Matushka Keely (Raphaela), have benefitted greatly from the spiritual nourishment, liturgical life, and community encouragement of both the monastery and the seminary. 

Deacon Pedro was ordained to the diaconate on March 15, 2025 at St Innocent Church (Olmsted Falls). In addition to striving to balance seminary obligations, family life, and the sacramental-liturgical-personal life of prayer, Deacon Pedro finds incredible joy in his seminary service assisting the monastery sacristan in caring for the precious and holy things at St Tikhon’s monastery church and in serving as the sacristan for the All Saints of North America chapel. God has blessed Deacon Pedro and Matushka Keely with four delightful children: Milița, Julian, Anastasia, and Sylvia. God-willing, they will welcome their fifth child in May.

Deacon Paul Schlafer

Home Parish: St. Nicholas Church, Mentor, OH

Seminary: St. Tikhon’s Seminary

Year & Program: 3rd year M. Div.

Paul was raised in the Episcopal Church, first in Southeast Michigan and then outside Akron, OH. He met his now wife Sarah in High School and was introduced to the Orthodox Faith through her, at St. Nicholas in Mogadore, OH. Cole’s faith continued to grow through his college years at St. Gregory of Nyssa parish in Columbus, OH and he was Chrismated to the Orthodox Faith in December 2008.
 
Since their marriage, Paul and Sarah have been active members of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Mentor, OH. During their time there, Sarah served as Choir Director while Cole has served on parish council in various capacities. 
 
Paul worked for over decade in the software and insurance fields all the while feeling a call toward greater service to Christ’s Holy Church. Finally, that call pulled him to St. Tikhon’s Seminary in Fall of 2023. Paul and Sarah have 3 boys: Simon, Michael, and Nikolai.

Deacon Eugene Schreder

Home Parish: Holy Myrrhbearers Church, St. Cloud, MN

Seminary: St. Tikhon’s Seminary

Year & Program: 3rd year M. Div.

Eugene was raised in the small town of Paynesville, Minnesota, and grew up in the Restorationist denomination called the churches of Christ. He and Elizabeth were married after graduating high school in 2014. In 2020, Eugene received a Bachelor’s degree in History from St. Cloud State University. In his studies he encountered several Orthodox saints whose prayers brought him to the doors of Holy Myrrhbearers Orthodox Church, which was only a few blocks away from the SCSU campus. On the Sunday of All Saints in June of 2020, the Schreder family was baptized into Christ. Not long thereafter, with the help of Fr Andrew Jaye, Eugene began to discern a call to the Holy Priesthood, and Archbishop Paul of Blessed Memory ordained him a reader on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearing Women in May of 2021. Having served Holy Myrrhbearers in this capacity, Eugene, Elizabeth, and their three children began the next chapter of their lives at St. Tikhon’s Seminary in the Fall of 2023. He is now completing his second year at seminary.

Benjamin Zack

Home Parish: St. Panteleimon Church, Summit Argo, IL

Seminary: St. Vladimir’s Seminary

Year & Program: 2nd year M.Div.

Benjamin Zack was raised in a largely non-practicing family in Philadelphia, PA, occasionally attending St. Nicholas Orthodox Church with his grandparents. At age 14, his family moved to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. While in high school, he received a four-year ROTC Scholarship, intending to become an infantry officer in the US Army. At this time, he and his spiritual father began a formal discernment process for the Catholic priesthood. After feeling the Lord’s call, Ben became a Chaplain Candidate upon his graduation from college and commissioning as an officer. During an Army training course at Fort Jackson, while still a Ukrainian Catholic Seminarian, he regularly observed the Divine Liturgy at Holy Apostles Orthodox Church in Columbia, SC. Through this attendance, he felt a profound call to reconcile himself with the Church of his baptism. He and his fiancée, Abigail, were received into the Orthodox Church in America at St. Panteleimon Orthodox Church in Summit, IL. He is now a US Army Chaplain Candidate endorsed by the OCA serving at the 450th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne) in White Plains, Maryland.

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