Pan-Orthodox conference attracts Orthodox camp directors, staffers

Young adults of various Orthodox jurisdictions gathered together at the Villa Maria Retreat Center in Fontenac, MN for the pan-Orthodoxy camp conference which was hosted this year by The Orthodox Church in America’s Department of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministry.

FONTENAC, MN [OCA Communications] — Villa Maria Retreat Center here was the site of the annual pan-Orthodox camp conference hosted this year by the Orthodox Church in America and Saint Mary Summer Camp program on the last weekend of January 2006.

Chairing the event for the OCA Department of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministry was department member Ron Tucci, along with Doria Saros, director of St. Mary Summer Camp. The Very Rev. Emil Hutnyan, Junior Department Director of the Fellowship of Orthodox Christians in America [FOCA], celebrated the weekend’s liturgical services.

Numerous workshops were conducted throughout the weekend on a variety of topics, including staff selection and development, scheduling, curriculum, games and activities, short and long-range planning, crisis management, and craft ideas.

The Rev. Harry Pappas, pastor of Saint Mary Greek Orthodox Church, Minneapolis, MN, also offered two presentations on the blessings of fostering intra-Orthodox involvement in camping programs. He related his experiences with the Minneapolis program to the 42 participants, who came from every region of the US and represented several jurisdictions.

Natalie Kupelack Nixon, youth director for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA, and the Rev. Michael Nasser, director of Antiochian Village, discussed with conference participants the establishment of an Orthodox Christian Camping Association with the blessing of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas.

“It was wonderful to see youth workers from the various Orthodox jurisdictions gather to share resources and discuss common goals of Orthodox camping for our youth,” Mrs. Cheryl Morse, who chairs the OCA’s Department of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministry.

Click here for pictures of the conference.