John Chryssavgis, Archdeacon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, was born in Australia, studied theology in Athens and New York, and holds a doctorate from the University of Oxford. He co-founded St Andrew's Theological College in Australia, where he taught religious studies at the University of Sydney before moving to Boston as professor of theology. A clergyman of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, he currently serves as theological advisor to the Ecumenical Patriarch on environmental issues. The author of over thirty books and numerous articles in several languages on theology and spirituality, his publications include the award-winning In the Heart of the Desert and three volumes of collected works by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. He lives in Harpswell, Maine.
