MyHCHC
Professor of Theology, Executive Director, Huffington Ecumenical Institute at HCHC
Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis, Archdeacon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, was born in Sydney (Australia) and lives in Harpswell (Maine, USA). Following studies at the Universities of Athens (Greece) and Oxford (UK), where he completed doctoral studies under Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware), he cofounded the first accredited Orthodox theological seminary (St. Andrew’s Theological College) in Australia, where he also lectured at the Department of Religious Studies and the Divinity School of the University of Sydney. In 1995, he was invited to teach at Holy Cross School of Theology in Boston (Massachusetts, USA), where he also directed the Religious Studies Department of Hellenic College until 2002.
Since then, he has served as senior theological advisor to the Department of Ecumenical Affairs in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and continues to serve in his capacity as theological advisor to the Ecumenical Patriarch on environmental issues. In 2023, he was elected Professor of Theology at Holy Cross School of Theology, where he is also the Executive Director of the Huffington Ecumenical Institute.
He holds an Honorary Doctorate from St. Vladimir’s Seminary (New York) and was elected inaugural Honorary Professor of Theology at the Sydney College of Divinity.
His numerous books and articles, which have been translated into many languages, focus on the early church and the desert tradition, as well as on the theology of the environment and the role of the church in the world. His latest books include Creation as Sacrament: Reflections on Ecology and Spirituality (Bloomsbury, 2019) and The Letters of Barsanuphius and John: Desert Wisdom for Everyday Life (Bloomsbury, 2022).
