Our goal is to actualize the Orthodox Christian life in the hearts, minds, and souls of college students by facilitating unified campus ministry efforts—reaching Orthodox college students on campuses throughout North America.
To reach this goal, we plan to install a full-time regional coordinator and trained OCF chaplain in each of eight regional offices, who will be tasked with ministering to the OCF chapters in their respective region.
To ensure transparency, accountability, and alignment to a common vision, each office operates under the guidance of the North American OCF office. The North American office—through comprehensive training—is also responsible for maintaining a clear understanding of Orthodox theology, pastoral care, and youth protection guidelines within the context of campus ministry.
The key component to serving and sustaining each region’s ever-increasing number of chapters will be the Orthodox Campus Volunteer Corps (OCVC), a structured and intensive 2-year service commitment—similar to AmeriCorps or Teach For America—that provides recent OCF graduates a chance to give back to the Church, begin to pay off college loans, and receive experiential training. Their job as district and chapter coordinators is to bring Orthodoxy to college campuses by mentoring student leaders, implementing local OCF programs, and facilitating outreach and service opportunities. It is through the regional office that the OCVC—along with our student and clergy volunteers—will receive continuous support and training through video seminars, ongoing supervision, and leadership retreats.
OCF’s North American programs will continue offering an environment for students interested in deeper spiritual experiences. Every year, Real Break, College Conference, and similar events will be further developed to include more students, locations, partners, and richer content. These programs stand apart as some of the most premier service and educational opportunities available to any college student.
Impact
This regional infrastructure will—first and foremost—sustain our existing chapters year-to-year. It will also enable a variety of ministerial approaches to flourish at the local level over time. Among these, we envision:
- Increased participation in both North American Programs and campus-based chapters,
- OCF student leaders institutionalizing chapter events into campus culture,
- Expansion of Orthodox campus housing opportunities,
- More full-time Orthodox chaplains at universities and colleges,
- Ongoing Orthodox catechesis offered for both Orthodox and non-Orthodox college students,
- Mission parishes intentionally established next to universities,
- Increased interest in Orthodox Studies departments & professors,
- Orthodox perspectives being recognized and sought out in academic settings such as panels, lectures, and inter-religious campus ministry councils,
- Greater collaboration between Orthodox leaders of various backgrounds,
- OCVC graduates entering other Orthodox agencies such as IOCC, OCMC, and FOCUS North America as prepared leaders,
- Improved enrollment in Orthodox seminary and graduate programs from amongst OCF/OCVC graduates, and
- Orthodox seminaries implementing educational tracks for youth development and campus chaplaincy.
The impact of this sort of campus ministry will be significant. Orthodox Christianity will cease to be an obscure eastern religion and quickly become one of the major influential religious bodies within North America. Because of the support OCF—and by extension, the Orthodox Christian Church—provides for college students, a generation of Orthodox Christians will emerge with a close relationship to Christ and a firm knowledge of their faith, ready to serve as leaders in our parishes and communities.
For more information on our current implementation of this plan, and to see how you can get involved, check out our Regional Coordinator Program page!