Diocesan Youth Receive Spiritual Profit From OCF College Conference
JOHNSTOWN, PA --- [Diocesan Chancery] This year, 12 of our Diocesan College Students were sponsored by an anonymous donation to attend the Orthodox Christian Fellowship College Conference East held at Antiochian Village in Bolivar, PA from December 27-30, 2014. As a Diocese we are grateful for this donation together with His Grace Bishop Gregory. His Grace attended the event as he did last year to learn himself, but especially to interact with and get to know the 300+ college students who attended the event. His Grace is the Assembly of Bishop’s Liaison to OCF.
Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) is the official College Student Ministry of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of The United States of America. In one form or another, it has been ministering to Orthodox college students for over 50 years. One of its most popular programs, College Conference, is a gathering of Orthodox College Students from around the country for 4 days during Christmas Break. It is held in two locations: Antiochian Village in Pennsylvania, and at St. Nicholas Ranch in California .
This annual Conference offers an opportunity for our college students to gather together with their peers from many different Orthodox jurisdictions for fellowship, prayer, worship and learning. As a Diocese we are committed to giving our college students an opportunity to interact and connect with other Orthodox College students from around the country at this “level”. There is an Orthodox “world” we need our college students to engage and we have a responsibility to give them the opportunities to do so. They for their part need to devote themselves to this world, grow in it, be thankful for it, and take what they are given and share it with a world in need of our Orthodox Faith.
Each Diocesan student who attended was asked to write a reflection on their spiritually transformative experience at College Conference. Click Here to read these very moving reflections.
As you read the personal accounts of their experiences, give thanks to God for the OCF Ministry, consider supporting it, and help our Diocese give our students this same opportunity year after year.