Protopresbyter Michel Elias Najim

Cathedral Dean and Pastor

St. Nicholas Cathedral, Los Angeles, CA                                                                      (1996-20014)

Administrative and spiritual head of a community of several thousand Arab-American Orthodox communicants, one of the largest Cathedrals in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.  Duties include ministering to communicants, teaching, counseling and monitoring the operation of the Cathedral office. In addition, responsible for external relations with other churches and religious organizations.

Professor, Antiochian House of Studies

Balamand University and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh, PA                (1992-20014)

Instruct students in Church History and Patristics for the Master program in Applied Theology. Instruct students in ethical and theological issues related to parish life as part of the Doctor of Ministry program (1994-2014).  Also responsible for teaching courses in Christian/Islamic relation and Antiochian Church history , and Maximus the  Confessor.

Professor, Fuller Seminary, Azusa Pacific University, ClaremontGraduate School of Religion                                                                                                                                        (1992-2005)

Instruct students in Church History and Patristics for students of theology and religion.  Also responsible for reading papers and dissertations.

Catechismal instructor

St. Athanasius Academy, CA                                                                                           (1987-1996)

Transferred from Lebanon and given responsibility for the catechismal instruction of several thousand converts brought into the Antiochian Archdiocese in 1987 at Saint Athanasius Academy.  Acted in various other capacity for the Archdiocese as directed by the Archbishop while ministering Saint Nicholas Cathedral community.

Dean

St. John of Damascus School of Theology, Balamand,Lebanon                                    (1979-1987)

In addition to professorial duties cited below, acted as head administrator for the School.  Developed curriculum and educational programs for the students in residence.  Provided pastoral and academic guidance, as well as general management of facilities.  Acted as pastor to several local parishes in the Diocese of Tripoli and North Lebanon

Professor

St. John of Damascus School of Theology, Balamand, Lebanon                                   (1978-2014)

Teaches courses in Patristics, Antiochian Patristics, Eastern Christianity, Islamic/Christian relations and scholarly languages.  Acted as pastor to a parish in the Diocese of Tripoli and North Lebanon (1978-1987).

Pastor

The Church of the Virgin Mary of Halcion, Salonica, Greece                                       (1977-1978)

Acted as rector to a parish while conducting postgraduate studies.

Additional Academic and Ecclesiastic Positions

Representative and Member

World Council of Churches                                                                                                                                       (1983-2009)

Representing the Antiochian Orthodox Church to the WCC at various committees, including Missions and Evangelism (1983-1989) and the Faith and Order Commission (2001).

Visiting Professor

St. John of Damascus School of Theology, Balamand, Lebanon                                                                        (1999-2014)

Claremont Graduate University                                                                                                                               (2000-2005)

Adjunct Professor

Azusa Pacific University, Los Angeles, CA                                                                                                                        (2001)

Adjunct Professor

Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA                                                                                                         (1994-1998)

Representative

Official Orthodox and Roman Catholic Dialogue.                                                                                               (2000-2012)

Co-Chairman

Department of Liturgics and Translation, Antiochian Archdiocese                                                                  (1988-1997)

Member

Liturgical Translations Committee Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops ofAmerica                        (1993-1995)

Professor

St. Athanasius School of Theology, Santa Barbara, CA                                                                                      (1987-1992)

Education:

Doctor of Theology

Aristotelian University, Salonica, Greece                                                                                                                          (1985)

Master of Theology

Aristotelian University, Salonica, Greece                                                                                                               (1974-1976)

Master of Divinity

Balamand University, Tripoli, Lebanon                                                                                                                  (1971-1974)

Published Works

Books

Understanding the Orthodox Liturgy (with T. L. Frazier, Oakwood Pub. 1995), St. Johnof Damascus (Salonica, Greece 1985), Orthodox Study Bible (Translation/Contributing Editor, Thomas Nelson Pub. 1982), Orthodox Mission in the United States (Oklahoma1981), An Introduction to Patrology (Balamand Univ. 1980), The History and Legacy of Arab Christianity in the Pre-Islamic Period (Balamand Univ. 1980). The Liturgical Books of the Orthodox-Catholic and Apostolic Church Origins, Introduction, and Use by the V. Rev. Michel Najim and the Rev. Patrick B. O’Grady (Balamand University)

Articles

“Two Ways in the East” (in Vested in Grace, Holy Cross 2001), “An Orthodox Perspective on Yves Congar’s Book ‘I Believe in the Holy Spirit’” (delivered at the Meeting of Catholic Theologians, San Diego 2001), “Christianity and the Globalization of Culture” (Balamand 2001), “Abortion and the Orthodox Perspective” (Balamand 2001), “The Characteristics of Arabic Christian Theology” (Balamand 1999), Chaceldonian and nonchalcedonian dialogue (Annour 1986). ANTIOCH AND SYRIAC CHRISTIANITY, Antiochian Village-Ligonier Pennsylvania (further citations available upon request)

Translations

Responsible for over a dozen major translations, especially the series of Ancient Christian commentary on Scriptures 10 Volumes were published so far by Balamand University.

Language Skills

Fluent in English, Arabic, Modern and Classical Greek, Latin, Ancient Hebrew, Aramaic and French; reads Spanish and German.

Fr. Michel is presently an Archpriest and Great Economos in the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America. Born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1949, he is married (wife Eva) and has three children (Theodore, Maxime and Lydia).