Belgrade, October 14, 2024
Photo: spc.rs
On Sunday, October 13, a vicar bishop was consecrated for the Serbian Orthodox Church’s Diocese of New Gračanica and Midwestern America.
At its May 2024 session, The Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Church elected Archimandrite Serafim (Baltić), a graduate of Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville and monk of New Gračanica Monastery, as Bishop of Kostajnica, vicar of Midwestern America.
He was consecrated to the episcopacy during the Divine Liturgy at the Church of St. Sava in Belgrade yesterday, presided over by His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije, reports the Serbian Orthodox Church.
Also serving were Metropolitan Longin of Midwestern America, Archbishop Peter of Chicago and Mid-America of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, and other hierarchs of the Serbian Church.
Photo: spc.rs The Patriarch exhorted the newly consecrated Bishop Serafim on the role of a hierarch:
The bishop in the Church is appointed to be in the place and in the image of Christ, which means to perform Christ’s service. First and foremost, to perform the service as the one who presides over the Eucharist, to serve the Holy Liturgy which is both a manifestation and confirmation of God’s Kingdom among us, because in the Holy Liturgy all are gathered. The Lord is there, the angels and the Heavenly world are there, and all of us who walk through history are there, but also, in God’s providence, those who are yet to come. The Lord left the Apostles with the commandment to serve the Holy Liturgy, and He also told them: Go and preach the Gospel, baptizing all nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:19).
… You are there to witness Christ to our people by serving the Holy Liturgy, to baptize our people in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Church is not just one or any biological nation. The Church is God’s people, the Church is the Body of Christ. All nations are called to the Church. Hence, while serving our people first, you are called to witness Christ to all people regardless of which nation they belong to or what color their skin is, to witness Christ to all people and all nations and to bring all to the Church, to baptize all in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. With these wishes and blessings in the name of the Council, we entrust you with this staff with the words: Receive this staff to shepherd the flock of Christ entrusted to you! Let it be a support and strengthening for the obedient, and guide the disobedient and rebellious with rebuke and gentle upbringing, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Photo: spc.rs
Archimandrite Serafim (Baltić) was born on May 7, 1978, in Zagreb, to Veljko and Radojka. He was baptized with the name Bojan. The Baltić family originates from Banija. He completed elementary and three years of high school in Electrical Engineering in his hometown. Due to the war in August 1995, he moved to the United States, to Florida, where he completed high school and obtained a degree in Information Technology. During his education, he encountered Elder Ephraim of Philotheou, who had been divinely sent to America, along with his monks and nuns. His contact with Athonite monks, participation in their services, and receiving their spiritual advice and confessions shaped his future life path.
After completing his undergraduate studies, he visited several Orthodox monasteries throughout America, Serbia, and Greece. In the late 1990s, he met Bishop Longin (Krčo) during his pastoral visits to parishes in Florida. With his blessing, he went to New Gračanica Monastery in 2003. That same year, he enrolled in the Holy Trinity Seminary of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in Jordanville, graduating in 2008 with magna cum laude honors.
During his studies, on Holy Thursday in 2006, he was tonsured as a monk at New Gračanica Monastery. He was ordained a hierodeacon that same year on the feast of the Holy Prophet Elijah. After completing his theological studies, he was ordained a hieromonk on the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos in 2008 by Bishop Longin. During his service at the monastery, he translated the works of St. Nikolai Velimirovich into English. To better familiarize himself with the Athonite monastic typikon, he went to the Holy Monastery of Hilandar, where he spent six months in 2010.
Upon his return to America, he took on various pastoral duties, working with children and youth in diocesan summer camps and youth councils. He also served as a steward at the Saint Sava School of Theology in Libertyville, while simultaneously caring for the mission parish of Saint Petka in Nashville. Since 2015, he has been the secretary of the New Gračanica-Midwestern American Diocese. In the same year, he completed an MBA degree. At the end of 2020, Bishop Longin sent him to Serbia, where he spent six months at the Monastery of the Holy Archangels in Kovilj. From 2021 until August 2024, he served at the Cathedral of Saint Sava in Milwaukee.
At the regular session of the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church, held from May 14 to 18, 2024, in Belgrade, the esteemed Archimandrite Serafim was elected as Vicar to the Metropolitan of Midwestern America with the title of Bishop of Kostajnica.
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