• Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko

    Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko

    Emil and Elfriede Jochum University Chair and Professor of Theology, Valparaiso University

    Nicholas Denysenko serves as Emil and Elfriede Jochum Professor and Chair and concurrently as associate professor of theology. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota (1994), and his graduate degrees at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (M.Div., 2000) and The Catholic University of America (Ph.D., 2008). Prior to coming to Valpo, he taught for seven years at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he also served as director of the Huffington Ecumenical Institute. Denysenko writes and speaks on diverse topics, and specializes in liturgical theology and Orthodox Christianity. His work has appeared in venues such as the Journal for the American Academy of Religion, Theological Studies, Studia Liturgica, Worship, and St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly. He blogs regularly at “Pray, Tell: Worship, Wit & Wisdom.” In his research, Denysenko explores the intersections of liturgical history, ritual studies, and pastoral theology, and writes for an ecumenical audience. Denysenko is an ordained deacon of the Orthodox Church in America since 2003.
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Religion and Conflict

Drama at the Lavra: What’s at Stake?

The decision of the Ukrainian government to terminate the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s (UOC) lease at the Kyiv Pechers’ka Lavra monastery complex has dominated Orthodox news in recent weeks. The events leading up to the decision have stirred up emotions, generated debate, and given birth to rumors on the state’s objectives. Dispassionate analysis is at the...
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Church Life and Pastoral Care, Gender and Sexuality, Liturgical life

To Baptize or Not: God’s Love and Image

On July 9, 2022, Archbishop Elpidophoros, the primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, baptized the children of celebrity fashion designer Peter Dundas and Evangelo Bousis in a church near Athens. Reactions to the news of the baptism of children of a same-sex couple were predictable. Th... Read more.
Also available in: Ελληνικά | Српски | български | Română
Inter-Orthodox Relations, Orthodoxy and Modernity

The UOC-MP at the Crossroads

by Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko | български | ქართული | ελληνικά | Română | Русский | Српски Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine has caught the attention of the public for multiple reasons. The humanitarian catastrophe, the sheer horror of ceaseless she... Read more.
Also available in: ქართული | Русский | Română | български | Ελληνικά | Српски
Inter-Orthodox Relations, Orthodoxy and Modernity

Pastoral or Provocative? Patriarch Bartholomew’s Visit to Ukraine

Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko | български | ქართული | ελληνικά | Română | Русский | Српски Much has happened in the time that has elapsed since Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople granted autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) in 2018-19. ... Read more.
Also available in: Ελληνικά | български | Română | Русский | Српски | ქართული
Christian Practice, Theology

The Presence of Christ in our Homes on Holy Week and Pascha

by Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko |  ελληνικά  | Română |  ру́сский When COVID-19 first arrived on the scene as a nuisance, and not a pandemic, the Churches responded by making slight alterations to the rite of receiving communion. Catholic and Protestant Churches instructed people... Read more.
Also available in: Ελληνικά | Русский | Română
Liturgical life

Do the Sacraments Prevent Illness?
A Survey of Liturgical Sources

by Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko | ελληνικά | ру́сский | српски The global COVID-19 crisis has ignited a number of difficult discussions among Christians. The method used to distribute Holy Communion is fiercely debated. In the Churches that remain open, many Protestants and Cath... Read more.
Also available in: Ελληνικά | Русский | Српски
Religion and Politics

Did the American Government Create the OCU? Political Ambitions and the Ukrainian Church

by Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko The creation of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) has inspired a number of hypotheses on who initiated the event. Past president Petro Poroshenko, Patriarch Filaret, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew are usually identified as the architects of Ukrainian autocepha... Read more.
Also available in: Ελληνικά
Orthodoxy and Modernity

Filaret’s Final Act and the Future of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine

by Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko In the four months that have elapsed since the Ecumenical Patriarchate (EP) granted autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), the process of adjusting to the new situation has been challenging for both the OCU and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriar... Read more.
Orthodoxy and Modernity

Healing the Ukrainian Schism

by Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko Among the sister Churches that are now called upon to either recognize or refuse recognition of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), a common refrain is intoned: a conciliar and synodal process needs to take place to resolve this issue. Some would like a synaxis of pr... Read more.