The Orthodox Christian Fellowship
(OCF) is the official collegiate campus ministry program under SCOBA
(the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas).
Our mission is to support fellowships on college campuses, whose
members experience and witness to the Orthodox Christian Church through
community life, prayer, service to others and study of the Faith.
Our
headquarters is located in Indianapolis, IN and supports over 300 local
university chapter across the U.S. and Canada. In addition, we provide a
variety of thoughtful and innovative programming, including regional
training, annual conferences, and domestic and international service
learning projects.
Brief History:
OCF is not a new
phenomenon. Orthodox Christian
Fellowship (OCF) has a rich history in North America that spans over 50 years.
Following WWII, an Orthodox college student movement began to emerge.
Individual campus groups were formed at various universities, including
Columbia, McGill, and Penn State.
Despite the momentum of this growing movement, there was virtually no
interaction between the groups. Then, in the spring of 1965, the Standing
Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) created its
first national ministry, the Campus Commission. The purpose of this ministry
was to oversee and coordinate these developing local fellowships.
James Couchell (now Bishop DIMITRIOS of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese) was
appointed as the first Executive Director of the Campus Commission. He visited
hundreds of campuses, helping to establish and grow local campus chapters. Over
100 chapters developed coast-to-coast during this time. The national programs
included a quarterly magazine entitled Concern as well as annual retreats,
which gathered at St. Vladimir's and Holy Cross seminaries. These nationwide
retreats were the predecessors of our present day College Conferences.
In 1971, the exciting growth of campus ministry came to a virtual halt with the
reassignment of James Couchell. Shortly after a new director was appointed,
funding from the archdioceses discontinued, and in 1973, the Campus Commission was forced to close its ministry. It's estimated that campus groups dwindled to
less than 50 nationwide. Without any coordinated effort, successful campus
ministry was inconsistent and sporadic at best.
Although, the
national organization of OCF ceased to exist, the spirit and mission of OCF was
kept alive by individual chapters across the country.
In 1997, three former seminarian classmates responsible for their respective
jurisdictional campus ministry programs, pledged to work together towards the
resurgence of a pan-Orthodox Campus ministry. In 2000, Fr. Michael Nasser of
the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese, Fr. Mark Leondis of the Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese and Fr. Michael Andersen of the Orthodox Church in America went
before SCOBA and asked for the formal reestablishment of a North American
campus ministry. Each jurisdiction was petitioned for appointments. The three
initiating members were joined by Natalie Kapeluck, appointed by the Ukrainian
Orthodox Church of the USA.
The first official meeting
of the new Campus Commission of SCOBA was held in South Bound Brook, NJ at the
Archdiocesan Center of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA. OCF began a partnership with The Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute based at the University of
Berkeley. The PAOI provided OCF with
space for its first office, as well as aiding in providing a part-time
employee.
Over the next two
years, the members of the Board worked diligently to establish the framework of
what is now called Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF), shedding its name of
Campus Commission. They created a website, an online directory, the Real Break,
short-term missions program, a student newsletter, expanding the College
Conference to two sites and a variety of other local resources for campus
chapters.
Looking to take the ministry to the next step, the Board hired a full-time
administrator during the summer of 2002 and moved the North American office to
the campus of Hellenic College/Holy Cross in Brookline, MA. At the same time,
OCF received a portion of a Lilly Endowment grant awarded to Hellenic College
for the Theological Exploration of Vocation. This five-year scaling grant
enabled OCF to build an infrastructure, hire staff, and expand its programs. In
2008, OCF moved its headquarters to Indianapolis, IN, and hired additional
staff to oversee the three-year sustainability grant awarded by Lilly to
explore Christian vocation in the context of service to the poor.
In 2010, OCF
celebrates its tenth anniversary of being reinstated. In ten short years, the number of OCF
chapters has exploded from 50 to over 300, eight of the ten SCOBA jurisdictions
are represented on the Board of Directors, Real Break travels to ten locations
domestic and international, College Conference has expanded to include four
sites, a National Chaplain was developed and consequently a regional chaplains
network has been instituted. These are only a few of the many achievements OCF
has been blessed to realize in such a short time.
Most importantly,
through OCF a haven for Orthodoxy is available to any student who resides on
each of those campuses housing an OCF chapter- upholding the vision of Bishop
Dimitrios and the mission established in 2000.
With more chapters developing, the future of OCF is bright in its
continued journey to Glorify God by supporting His students.