As Dean of St Cyril’s I welcome you to our Orthodox Theological College. Each and every day here at St Cyril’s we strive and struggle to be faithful to our mission and vision, being guided by values that are centered in Christ.

One thing that is of utmost importance at St Cyril’s is the notion that the “way” of theology oversees the “content” of theology. What I mean by this is that theology is not simply academia (though we certainly strive for academic excellence): that is to say, theology is inseparable from spirituality. For us, theology that does not serve God and incarnate the Gospel, is, to be short, not in any real sense theology – for it misses the beauty of our endeavour. The well known words of Evagrius of Pontus make this explicit: “The one who prays is a theologian; the one who is a theologian, prays.” Early in the fifth century, St Cyril of Alexandria spoke of this profound truth:

Only if it is one and the same Christ who is consubstantial with the Father and with men can He save us, for the meeting ground between God and man is Flesh and Christ.

In other words, studying theology is the “meeting ground” by which we come to know the God who became man, that is, Christ. For this reason each member of our staff and Faculty, each unit of our degrees, and our entire theological exploration, is directed to a singular aim: meeting the incarnate God. We hope to humbly live this truth within a rigorous educational framework, in harmony with our modern Australian context, without losing sight of the spiritual dimension of authentic Orthodox theology and education.

I encourage you to explore our website, take a look at our degree offerings, and acquaint yourself with who we are. Should you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

Fr Daniel,  Dean of St Cyril’s (SCTC)