Orthodox Christian Fellowship
About
The Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) is the official collegiate campus ministry program under SCOBA (the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas). Our mission is to support fellowships on college campuses, whose members experience and witness to the Orthodox Christian Church through community life, prayer, service to others and study of the Faith.
Our headquarters is located in Brookline, Mass and supports over 300 local university chapter across the U.S. and Canada. In addition, we provide a variety of thoughtful and innovative programming, including regional training, annual conferences, and domestic and international service learning projects.
OCF is not a new phenomenon. Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) has a rich history in North America that spans over 50 years. Following WWII, an Orthodox college student movement began to emerge. Individual campus groups were formed at various universities, including Columbia, McGill, and Penn State.
Despite the momentum of this growing movement, there was virtually no interaction between the groups. Then, in the spring of 1965, the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) created its first national ministry, the Campus Commission. The purpose of this ministry was to oversee and coordinate these developing local fellowships.
James Couchell was appointed as the first Executive Director of the Campus Commission. He visited hundreds of campuses, helping to establish and grow local campus chapters. Over 100 chapters developed coast-to-coast during this time. The national programs included a quarterly magazine entitled Concern as well as annual retreats, which gathered at St. Vladimir's and Holy Cross seminaries. These nationwide retreats were the predecessors of our present day College Conferences.
In 1971, the exciting growth of campus ministry came to a virtual halt with the reassignment of James Couchell. Shortly after a new director was appointed, funding from the archdioceses discontinued, and in 1973, the Campus Commission was forced to close its ministry. It's estimated that campus groups dwindled to less than 50 nationwide. Without any coordinated effort, successful campus ministry was inconsistent and sporadic at best.
Although, the national organization of OCF ceased to exist, the spirit and mission of OCF was kept alive by individual chapters across the country.
In 1997, three former seminarian classmates responsible for their respective jurisdictional campus ministry programs, pledged to work together towards the resurgence of a pan-Orthodox Campus ministry. In 2000, Fr. Michael Nasser of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese, Fr. Mark Leondis of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and Fr. Michael Andersen of the Orthodox Church in America went before SCOBA and asked for the formal reestablishment of a North America