Seminarian Elijah Peterson

Elijah Peterson is a second-year seminarian at St. Tikhon’s Seminary and a member of the Class of 2027. He grew up in Western Pennsylvania in the Orthodox Faith, coming from a family of Serbian Orthodox immigrants. He has two brothers and one sister, all of whom are devoted Orthodox Christians. His family spent much of their time attending either St. Anthony’s Orthodox Church in Butler, Pennsylvania, or Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania.

For college, Elijah moved to Atlanta to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he majored in Computer Science. While there, he became an active member of St. Basil the Great Orthodox Mission in Marietta, Georgia. He loved seeing the blossoming parishes of the South and how many people from all different backgrounds were turning to Christ. After graduating from Georgia Tech, he worked for several years in Software Engineering while remaining active in the St. Basil’s community. He was eventually sent by his parish and the Diocese of the South to study at St. Tikhon’s.

Outside of his studies, Elijah enjoys spending time with his family, reading, and playing chess. Believing that a good clergyman ought to be well-balanced and a lover of beauty, he reads poetry and secular literature in preparation for ministry. He also enjoys staying active by working out and playing basketball with his fellow seminarians.

He is blessed to have a wonderful spiritual guide who is a hieromonk at the monastery, noting that very few other places in America have such an incredible opportunity to simply be in God’s presence so consistently. God willing, he hopes to share that same prayer life with others as a priest.

When asked what he loves about St. Tikhon's, Elijah says: