David Ghan/The Falcon Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia attracted a large crowd into Upper Gwinn Tuesday evening.

Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia spoke yesterday as part of the "Alfred S. Palmer Lecture Series" to increase awareness about the rich tradition of Orthodox Christianity.

His Tuesday morning Chapel speech was titled, "What is Prayer?" That evening, the metropolitan spoke in Upper Gwinn on "Salvation in Christ: The Orthodox Approach."

"He is truly a man of international stature," said Richard Steele, professor of moral and historical theology. "He is probably the best known Christian and Orthodox theologian in the Western world,” Steele said.

The metropolitan was born Timothy Ware in England the year 1934. Upon becoming a bishop, he was given the name Kallistos Ware. He taught at Oxford University for 35 years before retiring in 2001 and now travels to educate about Orthodox Christianity.

The metropolitan’s itinerary for this United States trip includes Washington, D.C., Michigan, four California cities, Seattle, Tacoma and Texas.

There were 520 attendees at the Chapel service, many of whom were members of the Orthodox community from all over Washington state, said Deb Nondorf, Chapel worship team advisor.

Around 500 attended the evening lecture, with an additional 100 watching the speech on a TV monitor from overflow seating in Demaray Hall 150, administrative assistant Anna Dufault said.

Metropolitan Kallistos quoted multiple verses from the Old and New Testaments and the works of numerous prominent historical theologians, and he showed his knowledge of Greek biblical texts.

The metropolitan is an incredibly well-learned individual, Steele said. “He just quotes effortlessly from all these sources, both Eastern and Western,” Steele said. Metropolitan Kallistos quotes ancient theologians in a way that makes them seem more like old friends, he said.

Despite his extensive educational background, he still comes off as accessible in both his writing and speaking, Steele said. He is not overly grandiose, and he has a wonderful sense of humor, Steele said.

Europe in the 11th century broke apart into Eastern and Western Christianity, said Stamatis Vokos, professor of physics and adherent of Eastern Orthodoxy. Western Christianity then split into the Catholic and Protestant denominations, Vokos said.

There are approximately 80 million Orthodox Christians in the world today, Steele said. The branches of Orthodox Christianity are generally labeled according to their particular region, such as Greek, Serbian or Russian Orthodoxy, Steele said.

Sophomore Kayla Lewis became interested in the Orthodox Church after learning about it in her University Foundations class last year. She has attended a couple of local Orthodox services and enjoyed hearing Metropolitan Kallistos speak. “I love hearing that perspective,” she said.

“It just proves that Christianity doesn’t look one way,” Lewis said.

Lewis was impressed by the metropolitan’s highly educated demeanor. “He was very well put together and very well organized,” she said.

Senior Elias Wallace has noticed that SPU’s predominately Protestant students have some misconceptions about Orthodox Christianity.

“They have the wrong assumption of what Orthodox Christianity is,” he said.

As an Ethiopian Orthodox adherent, Wallace was glad to see the metropolitan come to SPU. “He’s a great communicator and he’s a great speaker,” Wallace said.

“My prayer is that they’ll know more about the Orthodox faith and that we actually follow Christ to the full degree,” Wallace said.