Registration opens for 2018 Youth/Camp Workers’ Conference
The 17th Annual Orthodox Christian Camp and Youth Workers Conference will take place at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Atlanta, GA from Thursday, February 1 through Saturday, February 3, 2018. Online conference and hotel registration is now available.
“This is a great opportunity for anyone involved with or interested in camp and youth ministry to come together with like-minded people,” said David Lucs, Director of the Orthodox Church in America’s Department of Youth, Young Adult and Campus Ministry. “This annual event provides clergy, camp, and youth workers with opportunities for engaging conversation, making connections, and the sharing of ideas to help with their programs and specific needs in their home parishes.”
A number of OCA clergy and laity, including Father Daniel Hickman, Longwood, FL, Deacon Gabriel Aldridge, Atlanta, GA, and others, will be leading workshops and discussion groups. The OCA last hosted the 2016 gathering in Dallas, TX. The keynote address will be presented by Father Alexander Gousettis, Director of the Center for Family Care of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
“This year’s conference theme focuses on the place of gratitude in youth ministry,” said Natalie Nixon, Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA. “We encourage camp and youth workers from all Orthodox parishes across North America to join us for enriching presentations and discussions for their benefit and application in their home parishes and camps.”
The theme will help camp and youth workers discover a key element of ministry that often eludes us: the “gratitude of Saint Paul” who, while struggling to establish and maintain churches, was in fact thankful for everyone and everything. Conference organizers hope that the theme will provide the inspiration and spiritual nourishment for youth workers to “abound in thanksgiving” [Colossians 2:7] in the midst of the beautiful, but often difficult, field of youth work.
The two-day event is being co-hosted by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA and the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the USA, with the blessing of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America.
A discounted early bird registration rate is available until December 15, 2017, along with a discounted hotel rate. Detailed conference information is available online.
The Stewards of the Orthodox Church in America helps provide funding for the OCA Department of Youth, Young Adult and Campus Ministry. For additional information on the Stewards or to make a donation, please visit the OCA web site.