JOHNSTOWN, PA  [Diocesan Chancery] -- The Diocesan Chancery is pleased to release the schedule of  this year's ,  in-person Diocesan regional Lenten Retreats for youth and adults, hosted in various regions of the Diocese. The details are as follows: 

JR ACRY Lenten Youth Encounter March 7-9, 2025 - Camp Nazareth, Mercer, PA

Eastern Region Lenten Retreat - Sat March 29, 2025 - Sts Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, Rockaway, NJ.

Central Lenten Regional Retreat - Sat April 5, 2025  - St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Homestead, PA. 

  Western Region Lenten Retreat - Sat April 5, 2025 -St. Michael Orthodox Church, Niles, IL. 

In the 2024 Summer Camp article we talked a lot about memory and what good memories from Camp can do for campers and staff alike.  A truly good memory from Camp (really from anything) can “feed” a person for a lifetime and lift them up again and again each time that memory is recalled.  The completion of the Camp’s Business Wing remodel, newly dedicated as the Polanichka Wing in loving memory of Very Rev. Protopresbyter Michael and Pani Eleanor Polanichka, is something that helped Camp, and those involved in the project, remember two people and their family who were dedicated to the Camp and the Camp’s ministry even before there was a Camp Nazareth.  Given the stories we heard about Fr. Michael and Pani Eleanor, it is safe to say that without both of their efforts, there would be no Camp Nazareth as we know it today. 

During the course of the summer, one of the CN Staff members mentioned that they wanted to come away from Camp with good memories.  It was apparent that the good memories hoped for were (already) precious to them.  It was one of those conversations that left a deep impression because you got to see Camp from yet another person’s perspective and there was something in their desire that made you pay attention to what they were saying even more.  Why would they stress those good memories?  Did they have bad memories elsewhere?  Why would they consider those good memories more important than other things to them at Camp? 

As we celebrate this joyous Feast of the Nativity in the flesh of our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, I wish to share with you one of my favorite Christmas homilies from the Church Fathers concerning this day. St.  John Chrysostom. spoke on the Incarnation with these words:

I behold a new and wondrous mystery! My ears resound to the shepherd's song, piping no soft melody, but loudly chanting a heavenly hymn!

Wichita, KS – The Board of Directors of Orthodox Christian Fellowship met for its annual in-person retreat from November 21-23rd at Saint George Antiochian Cathedral in Wichita.

Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) is the official campus ministry of the Assembly of Bishops. The Board of Directors meets regularly by virtual means, and dedicates time to in-person meetings throughout the year. Comprised of clergy and lay representatives from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the USA, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, and the Orthodox Church in America, this year’s annual board retreat was hosted by Saint George Cathedral in Wichita and local board members Joan Farha and Jamil Malone.