Trying to get our college students involved in the Church

(AOB) - October 2, 2016. 2016 College Student Sunday Encyclical: “Come and See.”

Beloved Clergy, Godly Monastics, and Blessed Faithful,

We greet you with joy as we announce the date for College Student Sunday, benefiting Orthodox Christian Fellowship. To support the incredible efforts of our students, College Student Sunday will be the first Sunday of October, running in conjunction with OCF’s Orthodox Awareness Month. This year, the date falls on OCTOBER 2.

Orthodox Christian Fellowship continues to provide students with opportunities to encounter Christ and grow in their Orthodox faith through their growing network of on campus OCF chapters led by talented students, clergy, and lay advisors as well as through programs such as regional retreats, College Conference, Real Break, and the Summer Leadership Institute.

OCF continues to make every effort to connect new freshmen to campus chapters and local parishes through the First Forty Days Initiative, which involves extensive effort from our student leaders and spiritual advisors to contact every incoming freshman within their first forty days on campus. We wholeheartedly pray for and strongly encourage your support of these noble efforts by ensuring that the contact information for your parish’s graduating high school seniors be sent each and every year to the OCF National Office for dissemination to our dedicated local chapters!

Additionally, with the greatest sincerity and earnestness, we encourage your committed financial support of this fundamental ministry which functions completely on the contributions of caring Orthodox faithful like yourselves.

We are asking that a special collection be taken on College Student Sunday in support of the good work of OCF, and we encourage the entire faithful--clergy, parents, grandparents, godparents, aunts, uncles, and friends of our treasured college students--to be generous in your offering of support to this ministry on their behalf. If for some reason October 2 is not a good date for your parish, please make the collection on the Sunday before or after.

Donations may be sent to the OCF National Office at 50 Goddard Ave., Brookline, MA 02445 or online at www.ocf.net/donate.

May our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ who calls all of us to contribute to the ministry of His Church guide and strengthen all of our cherished and blessed Orthodox college students.

+Bishop Gregory of Nyssa - bishopgregoryofnyssa@gmail.com

Liaison to OCF for the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States