Remembering our college students
Every year, parishes across North America remember their college students a Sunday in the fall semester. This year, the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America has designated October 19 as College Student Sunday. The Orthodox Christian Fellowship [OCF], the Assembly’s official campus ministry, has provided resources highlighting the importance of campus ministry in general and College Student Sunday in particular.
“Campus Ministry is a personal priority of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon,” stated Andrew Boyd, OCA Youth Director, “and the OCA has re-engaged with OCF in recent years to provide direct financial support, pastoral care expertise, governance, and program support. I encourage everyone to follow His Beatitude’s example and find ways to support campus ministry in our Church.”
OCF offers a number of suggestions by which local communities can help college students throughout the school year.
- Give a presentation. Invite your local OCF chapter or a student from your parish to give a short presentation on the impact OCF has had on their lives.
- Do something to recognize your college students. Host a lunch, make care packages, or even just mention OCF from the pulpit.
- Designate a Parish Liaison. This year, OCF would like parishes to designate one person—a Church School teacher, a secretary, a parish council member, any willing volunteer—to be the OCF parish liaison. Through the Parish Liaison Program, OCF will be able to keep your community informed about all that it does and collaborate on initiatives. To learn more, contact OCF’s Student Leadership Board Chairman, Andrew Abboud, at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) by November 1, 2014.
- Make a donation. OCF asks that a tray be passed on its behalf this year. More information on donating to OCF may be found at http://www.ocf.net/donate.
- Become a Parish Partner. Those parishes wishing to make the strongest commitment to Orthodox campus ministry and our Church’s young people are encouraged to become Parish Partners. In addition to designating a Parish Liaison to keep your community informed and prepared as advocates for Orthodox campus ministry, your parish would make an annual financial commitment to OCF to ensure its continued success and growth for generations of Orthodox college students to come. Send an e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for more details about Parish Partnerships.