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HCHC Appoints New Director of CrossRoad Summer Institute
Hellenic College Holy Cross is pleased to announce the appointment of Kyra Limberakis as Director of the CrossRoad Summer Institute. Kyra has served the program in many capacities since 2014 – as program staff, Assistant and Associate Director, and was a participant herself in 2009. She received her MTS from Boston College’s School of Theology and Ministry where she focused her studies in youth and young adult ministry, and BA from Villanova University in Communications. She continues to take classes at Holy Cross and serves as a teaching assistant for the graduate course in Youth Ministry. Kyra notes, “It is an honor and privilege to serve a program that transformed my life when I was 18 years old and continues to inspire me daily nearly 10 years later. CrossRoad is a program that I believe has the ability to shape the lives of our Orthodox Christian youth in a way that allows them to become agents of mercy and compassion for our Church and our world. I am humbled to begin this journey as the director of CrossRoad and am hopeful for the growth and sustainability of this program for our Church.”
Kyra Limberakis will be the fifth director of the CrossRoad Summer Institute, which was founded as part of a 2003 Lilly Endowment grant to Hellenic College for the theological exploration of vocation. CrossRoad is one of 122 High School Youth Theology Institutes (HSYTI) started through Lilly Endowment philanthropy at colleges and seminaries across the country and the only Orthodox Christian program. CrossRoad now is exclusively funded by its alumni, alumni families, philanthropists and foundations from our wider Orthodox Christian community. Dr Ann Bezzerides, OVM Director and the founding director of CrossRoad, was a resource workshop leader at the 2018 HSYTI Conference, sharing the ongoing learning of CrossRoad with this national cohort. Over 10% of CrossRoad alumni matriculate at Hellenic College Holy Cross; several alumni are already serving as fulltime clergy and lay leaders in parishes. Many more of these young adults are serving in various capacities at their parishes while pursuing careers as ethical, inspired leaders in a wide range of professions.
Fr. Michael Tishel, who has served as CrossRoad Director since 2011, has received the Kulis Foundation Fellowship Grant award through the Office of Vocation & Ministry (OVM). This will allow him to pursue doctoral studies through the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; his academic interests have evolved out of conversations with CrossRoad participants themselves. As Fr. Michael begins his studies remotely, he will continue to facilitate several CrossRoad alumni initiatives, serve as CrossRoad Chaplain, and teach as adjunct faculty at Hellenic College as his schedule permits. During his tenure as CrossRoad Director, he mentored 30+ graduate student staff and inspiring hundreds of participants, updated staff training curriculum, implemented new sessions, and brought in a wonderful array of new speakers from a variety of different fields to CrossRoad. Fr Michael shared, “This program is truly informing, forming, and transforming future leaders. It has been an amazing gift to work alongside an incredible community of ministers to serve and learn with 14 cohorts of students over the past 7 years. I am grateful for having served in this capacity. This experience has shaped my administrative and leadership skills in unparalleled ways.” We are excited for Fr Michael’s new academic focus and the benefits it will have for his ongoing ministry both at HCHC and for the Church more broadly.
To learn more about CrossRoad or to share it with a teenager you love, visit us at www.crossroadinstitute.org