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College Student Sunday 2025 | Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America
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Monday, August 04, 2025
College Student Sunday 2025
Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
God bless you in these summer days as we prepare for a new ecclesiastical year!
Each August, as the rhythms of academic life resume, our Church turns its attention to the young men and women preparing to return to college campuses across the country. These students stand at a threshold, moving between youth and adulthood, and from inherited faith toward personal conviction. It is a time filled with both great promise and profound testing.
College campuses today are not only places of learning but also environments of spiritual challenge. Our students are surrounded by voices that question their identity, values, and beliefs. In the midst of such complexity, the Church must remain close to them. We are called not to judge, but to love; not to remain distant, but to be present.
The Prophet Jeremiah reminds us of God's deep and personal calling: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you” (Jeremiah 1:5).
This sacred truth applies to our college students as well. They are not forgotten or abandoned by God as they pursue their education. Rather, they are known, loved, and called to live as disciples of Christ, even when the world around them seems indifferent or even opposed to the Gospel.
We, the Church, have a responsibility to support them. Clergy, parents, godparents, and faithful parishioners are all called to lift up our students in prayer and to remind them that they belong to the Body of Christ. The Church is their home, and our love and prayers must accompany them wherever they go.
On this College Student Sunday, let us renew our commitment to walk with them in their journey. Let us welcome them when they return, bless them when they depart, and offer strength through our presence and intercession.
We also give thanks for the work of Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF), the official campus ministry of the Assembly of Bishops. Through its many programs and growing missionary outreach, OCF continues to offer students a path to stay rooted in Christ and connected to His Church.
May the Lord protect and guide all of our students, and may He grant them the grace to grow in wisdom, faith, and love.
With paternal love in Christ,
+Metropolitan Gregory
Episcopal Liaison to Orthodox Christian Fellowship
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