Orthodox Christian Fellowship Honors Founder, Initiates Endowment
JACKSONVILLE, FL [OCF/ACROD] -- Orthodox Christian Fellowship honored
its founder, His Grace, Bishop Dimitrios of Xanthos, at a tribute dinner at the
San Jose Country Club here on Friday, September 17, 2010.
As a recent seminary graduate in the 1960s, Bishop Dimitrios (James Couchell)
was the driving force in establishing what has become the joint campus ministry
arm of all canonical Orthodox jurisdictions in North America.
The dinner gathered clergy and laity from throughout North America to honor
Bishop Dimitrios’ dedication and devotion to college students and to celebrate
the ever-growing network that OCF has been able to build upon the foundation he
laid years ago.
At the dinner, the OCF Board of Directors announced the establishment of the
Bishop Dimitrios of Xanthos Orthodox Christian Fellowship Ministry Endowment,
which has been created to sustain and further the ministries of OCF. The fund
was initiated with a $100,000.00 anonymous donation.
"Bishop Dimitrios has offered so much to Orthodox Christianity in North
America and throughout the world in various capacities," said OCF Board of
Directors Chairman and Interim Executive Director, Rev. Mark Leondis.
Specifically, his efforts on behalf of college students are significant and this
recognition of his work is long overdue."
In conjunction with the dinner, members of the OCF Board of
Directors, the
Regional Chaplains Network, and the Student Advisory Board met.
Those who are interested in participating in the Bishop Dimitrios Ministry
Endowment are encouraged to contact OCF Development Director Presvytera Shyla
Hadzellis at 800-919-1623.
OCF is the official ministry of all canonical Orthodox jurisdictions in North
America and serves as the Orthodox Christian presence on college and university
campuses. OCF is comprised of 300 chapters throughout the US and Canada.
Representing the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese at the Fall Conference and Dinner in honor of Bishop Dimitrios was Very Rev. Fr. Miles Zdinak diocesan representative to the OCF Board of Trustees and the Very Rev. Protopresbyter Peter Paproski, Regional OCF chaplain for Northeastern U.S.A.
For
more information about Orthodox Christian Fellowship, visit www.ocf.net.
