Fr. John Kowalczyk addresses Antiochian Archdiocese Convention on work of OCPM
Archpriest John Kowalczyk, Director of Field Education and Senior Lecturer in Ethics at Saint Tikhon’s Seminary, South Canaan, PA, for over 25 years; Secretary of the Board of Directors of Orthodox Christian Prison Ministries [OCPM]; former Associate Pastor of Saint Mary Cathedral, Minneapolis, MN; and long-time Rector of Saint Michael Church, Jermyn, PA, addressed the plenary session at the Convention of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, held in Houston, TX during the last week of July 2013.
Father John has given many keynote addresses at OCPM and related venues across North America. In 2011, he delivered a keynote, “The Orthodox Theology of the Ministry of Presence,” at a plenary session at the Prison Fellowship International Conference in Toronto, Canada, which was broadcast in 65 countries.
“Truly OCPM has become an organization for all jurisdictions in North America, fulfilling Matthew 25:36—‘I was in prison and you visited Me,’” said Father John. “OCPM has helped prepare hundreds of volunteers to enter the darkness of imprisonment with inmates, so the light of Christ can illumine and transform them, and in this process, we also change and become transformed.
“As Field Education Director at Saint Tikhon’s Seminary for over 25 years, and also working as a prison chaplain for the State of Pennsylvania at the largest forensic unit at SCI-Waymart, PA, I have completed over 7,000 clinical religious assessments for the treatment team at SCI-Waymart.”
During the same week, Father John also spoke on “The Theology of the Ministry of Presence” at Houston’s Saint George Greek Orthodox Church, which was taped and is now available on Ancient Faith Radio. He also was interviewed by the Orthodox Christian Network on the development of prison ministry in the Orthodox Church.