OCA Youth Office Issues Discussion Guide on Christian Response to Terrorist Attacks

In response to the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the Orthodox Church in America’s Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries has issued a resource, “Make the Evil Good,” for discussing the tragedy from the Orthodox perspective with youth and children. “As soon as we began hearing the news about the terrible terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, DC, it was clear that our youth were going to be asking tough questions,” says the Rev. Michael Anderson, OCA Youth Director. “We immediately began working with a number of clergy and laity throughout the Church to develop a discussion guide so that our youth would see that the Church has something to say to us about the tragedy.”

The resources, available in a PDF format, may be downloaded from the Youth and Young Adult page of the OCA web site at https://www.oca.org/pages/youth/index.htm. Those who experience difficulty opening the file may need to download a free copy of Acrobat Reader from http://www.acrobat.com.

“While it is clear that our teens and children have discussed the tragedy in school during the past week, it is critical that they learn to deal with the situation from an Orthodox Christian perspective,” adds Father Anderson. “We do hope that the resources and discussion guides prove to be useful in Church School classes, youth discussion groups, and family discussions.”