During the Pastoral Conference which took place at Holy Trinity Monastery in October, 2011, a round-table discussion was organized, at which clergy of the Eastern-American Diocese talked with the seminarians and answered all of their questions. It was decided that similar meetings would be held in the future. Accordingly, the talk given by Archpriest George Zelenin on March 14th of this year can be seen as a continuation of this worthy undertaking.

Fr. George, a 1994 graduate of Holy Trinity Seminary, met with seminarians from the 1st, 4th, and 5th years at seven o'clock in the morning to talk with them about the process a seminary graduate goes through after ordination and assignment to a parish. Addressing the hearts of the students, Fr. George pointed out the difference between the service of a clergyman and that of any other profession. Fr. George touched upon the psychological and practical aspects of a clergyman's growth into the parish family and introduced the statistic forms which assist in the monitoring of the dynamics of parish life. Unfortunately, due to limited time, Fr. George was not able to fully cover such important topics as the conducting of parish council meetings, the importance of knowledge of civil law, and divorce procedures. For this reason the seminarians hope that dialogue in the areas of theory and practice will continue in the near future.