OCA Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries Launches New Website

Committed to reaching the largest group of youth and young adults in the most financially responsible way, the Orthodox Church in America’s Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries has developed an entirely new website at a new address yya.oca.org

With the blessing of His Beatitude, Metropolitan THEODOSIUS and funded through the OCA’s Fellowship of Orthodox Stewards (http://www.oca.org/fos), the new site is not only a destination for resources, it is designed to be a gathering place for youth, young adults, and those committed to ministering with them.

The new web site features immediate access to:

• Church-wide programs such as YO-Mail, the St Peter the Aleut Award, Cyber pals, and Church-wide youth movements such as the Jr. FOCA (Jr. Fellowship of Orthodox Christians in America), AROY (American Romanian Orthodox Youth), and EOCS (Eastern Orthodox Committee on Scouting);

• OCF (Orthodox Christian Fellowship) Resources such as the OCF North American Directory, links to the official OCF web site, and the newly published OCF Starter Kit for people interested in starting or restarting an OCF on a college or university campus;

• Calendars of Youth and Young Adult events throughout North America, as well as gatherings for adults involved with Youth and Young Adult Ministry;

• Galleries of pictures taken at youth and young adult events including All-American Councils, retreats, and camps;

• The Hub, the official young and young adult online resource which includes a multitude of resources for youth and young adult ministries including how-to planning and discussion guides;

• The Hub Forum for people involved in youth and young adult ministries to share ideas and discuss common issues;

• Links to a variety of youth and young adult-related Orthodox web sites such as Syndesmos, and OCEC (the Orthodox Christian Education Commission), as well as websites of interest to college-bound students, and fun and interesting sites for youth and young adults.

• Chat rooms for Orthodox youth and young adults, who often feel isolated in their communities, connect with other Orthodox Christians their age.

Middle School

Sundays 6:00 - 9:00 PM and Fridays 5:00 - 9:00 PM EST

High School

Sundays 8:00 - 11:00 PM and Tuesdays 4:00 - 8:00 PM EST

Young Adults

Sundays 8:00 - 11:00 PM and Tuesdays 2:00 - 8:00 PM PM EST

[NOTE: As one of the Office’s safety measures to make these chat rooms as safe as possible, the middle school and high school chats require a password to enter. A letter indicating that password is being sent to all clergy in the Orthodox Church in America. Youth interested in taking part in this chat room should contact their local priest about obtaining that password.]

The Office is always open to ideas, potential resources, and site-links for future inclusion on the web site. You can contact the Office at PO Box 675, Syosset, NY 11791, phone us at 516.922.0550 ext 141, or e-mail us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).