2021 Online Conference Speakers
Keynote Speaker: Rod Dreher
Rod Dreher is a senior editor at The American Conservative and author of five books, including the New York Times bestsellers Live Not By Lies (2020), The Benedict Option (2017), and The Little Way Of Ruthie Leming (2013), as well as How Dante Can Save Your Life (2015) and Crunchy Cons (2006). He lives in Baton Rouge with his wife Julie, a teacher and administrator at a classical Christian school, and their children. The Dreher family are parishioners at St. Matthew the Apostle Orthodox Church (OCA) in Baton Rouge.
Hierarchs
His Grace Bp. THOMAS (Joseph)
Diocese of Oakland, Charleston and the Mid-Atlantic
His Grace the Right Reverend Thomas (Joseph), Ed.D., is an auxiliary bishop of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, serving in the Diocese of Oakland, Charleston and the Mid-Atlantic, and is the Hierarchical Overseer of the Department of Homeschooling.
His Grace Bp. JOHN (Abdalah)
Diocese of Worcester and New England
His Grace the Right Reverend John (Abdalah) holds a Doctor of Ministry degree in Pastoral Care and is a clinical member of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. Bp. John is an auxiliary bishop of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, serving in the Diocese of Worcester and new England.
Speakers
Fr. Noah Bushelli
Fr. Noah is grateful to be married to a living saint, Kh. Elizabeth, who homeschools their nine marvelous children. He is an Archpriest in the Antiochian Archdiocese and was received into the Orthodox Church in 1994. He met his wife at a Vespers service in Alaska and still remembers the joyous and awkward moment. After graduating from University of Alaska Anchorage with a B. Ed. in 2000, they moved to St. Vladimir's Seminary where he graduated with an M. Div. in 2004 with his thesis exploring St. John Chrysostom's notion of the Church as a Spiritual Hospital. After serving St. Nicholas in Bridgeport, CT for three years he moved to St. Philip in Souderton, PA in 2006. He is grateful to raise his family in this warm, generous, faithful and vibrant community and is working very hard to meet the demands of parish life as well as focus on "the one thing needful".
Laryssa Doohovskoy
Comfortable as both a leader and collaborator, Laryssa Doohovskoy is a sought-after soloist and ensemble member. Gathering inspiration from experience as a performer both in the United States and abroad, she enjoys dissecting a wide variety of repertoire including art song, opera, musical theatre, commercial music, as well as chamber and choral music.
In 2019, Ms. Doohovskoy toured with members of the St. Tikhon's Seminary Choir in performances of Benedict Sheehan's Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Ms. Doohovskoy performed with members of Gloriae Dei Cantores, St. Romanos Cappella, and Washington Master Chorale under the direction of Peter Jermihov in a recording of the Rachmaninoff All-Night Vigil.
Joshua Gibbs
Joshua Gibbs teaches online at GibbsClassical.com. He is the author of several books including Something They Will Not Forget and The 25th: New and Selected Christmas Essays. He is an Alcuin fellow, sits on the advisory board of the Templeton Honors College, has bylines at First Things and CultureFeed, and is the creator of the Proverbial podcast.
Fr. Peter Jon & Kh. Kristina Gillquist
Father Peter Jon and Khouria Kristina homeschool their six children in a 19th-century farm house nestled in the woods of Bloomington, Indiana. Father Peter Jon pastors the faithful of All Saints Orthodox Church, while Khouria Kristina, a physical therapist and unofficial expert on Lyme disease, balances everyday life "at home and abroad". They have been blessed to direct the education of their talented and varied progeny from the beginning, and - gulp - will be parents to their first real live high school graduate in May, just about the time their youngest is potty training. They love their wonderful, 8-ring Gillquist Family Circus!
Elizabeth Crispina Johnson
Elizabeth writes from her underground house in the Finger Lakes district of New York. She has written four books published by Ancient Faith Publishing.
Sh. Shell Keim
Sh. Shell Keim is a daughter, wife, mother, teacher, and principal. She homeschooled her six children for 25 years. She began her work as a kindergarten teacher and principal of Holy Youth Christian Academy in Chapel Hill, NC serving the Coptic community after her last child moved on to high school. She coordinated the church school department of All Saints Orthodox Church in Raleigh, NC for 20 years. She has taught the middle school church school class at All Saints for the last 15 years and enjoys learning about the Orthodox faith with her students. Shell is a graduate of the CiRCE Apprenticeship where she was trained to be a certified classical teacher. Shell and her husband, Protodeacon David Keim, reside in Cary, NC, attend All Saints Orthodox Church, and enjoy spending time with their growing family.
Andrew Kern
At the moment of writing, Andrew Kern has seven grand-children. More trivially, having founded the CiRCE Institute after co-authoring Classical Education: The Movement Sweeping America (with Dr. Gene Edward Veith), he has been compelled to serve as its president. Andrew also bears primary culpability for The Lost Tools of Writing, a classical rhetoric and writing resource. Since establishing CiRCE to serve classical educators through research and consulting while developing and providing resources, Andrew has trained and apprenticed innumerable home and school teachers, heads of school, and school boards. He has also defined, defended, practiced, and supported classical education at many conferences, conventions, and book retreats. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina, and their five more or less classically educated and more or less home educated children and ever more grandchildren live in various places, ranging from Uganda to Georgia, depending on when you ask.
Fr. Nikolai Meyers
Father Nikolai Meyers is a native of Southern California. He holds a bachelor of arts in Bible and cross-cultural ministry from Manhattan Christian College, Manhattan, Kansas. He earned his master of divinity from St. Tikhon Orthodox Theological Seminary, in South Cannon, Pennsylvania. He was ordained Deacon in September of 2007 and to the holy Priesthood in July of 2008 by His Eminence Metropolitan JOSEPH of the Antiochian Archdiocese. He served 6 years as assistant pastor of St. John Orthodox Church in Memphis, Tennessee, and concurrently was the priest in charge of the St. Paul Orthodox Mission in Tupelo, Mississippi. He served almost 5 years as pastor of St. George Orthodox Church in New Hartford, New York, where he was also the spiritual adviser for Teen SOYO in the Antiochian Orthodox Diocese of Ottawa, Eastern Canada and Upstate New York. He now serves as the pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Topeka, Kansas. He has taught Catechism for St. Raphael School for almost 4 years. He is married and has 5 children.
Michelle Moujaes
Michelle is the founder and Executive Director of Faithtree Resources, a 501 c 3 nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles, California. Faithtree creates resources to equip churches, church leaders and the people they serve to know and live the Christian faith, for the common good and the glory of God.
Michelle is happily married to her husband Waleed, and together they have four children, Dimitri, Alexander, Jonah and Sabine. When she’s not speaking or creating content for Faithtree Resources, you might find her speaking internationally on the topic of autism and interventions for adults and children with Extraordinary Needs, or volunteering at St. Michael Church, the home parish she and her family attend.
Monique Neal
Monique Neal lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband and homeschools their four children. She expects to graduate from the CiRCE Apprenticeship Program in 2021 and is currently a student of ancient Greek at Accademia Vivarium Novum.
Nick Papas
Liturgical artist Nicholas Papas has been producing art since early childhood and professionally for over 39 years. He is a communicant at Saint Joseph Orthodox Church in Houston, TX. His previous church homes being; St. Michael Orthodox Church in Greensburg, PA, St. John the Baptist in Black Lick, PA and St. Nicholas Cathedral in Pittsburgh, PA.
While studying painting at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Nicholas simultaneously began to learn iconography from his priest, the late Reverend John Osacky (+ Job, Archbishop of the Midwest, O.C.A.). After receiving his B.A. degree in 1981, he advanced his iconographic skills in Athens, Greece under the tutelage of Nicholas and Basil Lepoura.
Nicholas has been blessed with opportunities to do original work for churches and homes throughout the United States; (additionally, reproductions of his work are in 6 of the 7 continents). It is his hope and prayer that his work be a conduit and catalyst for people to learn of and experience God’s love. Nick’s work can be seen here: facebook.com/Nick.Papas.Studio or instagram.com/nicholas.studio
Elina Pelikan
Elina Pelikan is an iconographer and chanter at St Raphael Orthodox Church in Fuquay Varina, NC. She is a subdeacon's wife, homeschooling
mother of five, and dance/theater/art/music teacher as well as
professional photographer. She has been learning iconography since she
was a teen, and currently is working on several commissioned pieces as
well as planning future work for the walls of her parish church.
Cade Scott
Cade Scott was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska and is the son of Timothy and Lajarle Scott. Cade grew up attending St. John Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral in Eagle, River Alaska. Faith played an integral role in Cade’s life from the time that he was young, so much so that he attended an Orthodox Christian Private school from Kindergarten to 6th grade. He credits that strong foundation for his desire to live a life in the Church.
When Cade was a Junior in College, he met Fr. Chris Shadid while working as a counselor at St. John Camp in Alaska. Fr. Chris was doing work for the Antiochian Archdiocese certifying every camping program across the country. Cade decided to apply for a counselor position at the Village after meeting Fr. Chris and was fortunate enough to get on staff the following summer. After working as a counselor for two summers at the Antiochian Village, Cade spent one summer at our sister camp, Camp St. Thekla in South Carolina. He then came back to the Village in 2017 as the afternoon program coordinator. After the summer of 2017 Cade was offered an internship position with the Village, which turned into a full-time position at the Antiochian Village in 2018, and he has been here ever since. Cade currently is the point person on programming, alumni relations, and fundraising, and he cannot wait to work with our wonderful Village Family moving forward.
Fr. Christopher Shadid
Fr. Chris was born and raised in Johnstown, PA, the son of Fr. Donald and Kh. Janet Shadid. He attended St. Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church where he was active as an altar boy, chanter, choir director, and Teen SOYO leader. In 2014, Fr. Chris began serving as an Assistant Camp Director at the Antiochian Village. He also served as the Vice-Chairman of the Department of Camping from 2013-2020, assisting Fr. Anthony Yazge in working with all of the Archdiocese’s camping programs. While working at AV, Fr. Chris returned to the University of Pittsburgh where he earned his Masters in Social Work (MSW) in 2017. He now serves as a Licensed Social Worker (LSW), working with clients of all ages and backgrounds suffering from various mental health disorders.
Fr. Chris married his wife Sophia in 2018, then was ordained a Deacon in April 2019 and a priest in June 2019. In 2020 he was assigned as the Camp Director of the Antiochian Village Camp where he currently serves. He and Sophia live at AV with their two adorable puppies, Belle and Louie.
Angela Weaver
Shammasy Angela Weaver lives in Lynchburg, VA, with her husband, Deacon Thomas. They have homeschooled their two sons through high school. The oldest is now in the Air Force and the youngest is graduating from high school in 2021. They attend Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Lynchburg, VA. Angela has done many things in her life including being a playwright and directing high school theater, a literature teacher for all grades in a homeschool group, and given seminars on how to begin homeschooling and homeschooling through high school. She has also been the president of a homeschool group, which she started in 2015, runs a local homeschool graduation, and was the coordinator of the Saint Emmelia Conference twice. She loves being part of the homeschool community, especially the Orthodox homeschool community. She is currently teaching for the St. Athanasius Academy, as well as making sure her son graduates this year.