Fishers, IN – November 11, 2009

Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) continues to receive funding from the Lilly Endowment in support of its Just Love service learning programs, having recently been awarded a matching grant of $35,000. The grant comes as part of the Programs for the Theological Exploration of Vocation (PETV).

In the past year, OCF has been able to add several new service learning programs due to the support of the Lilly Endowment. One of these programs, Just Love, is an inner-city immersion program designed to allow students to spend a day serving the poor of their city, learn about the complexity of poverty and the challenges facing the poor, and how we are called as Christians to respond.

Another new program these funds will go to support is the Pilgrimage for Justice. This yearly event brings students together from throughout North America to experience and reflect upon some of the harsh realities of injustice in our world today such as human trafficking and homelessness. The very first Pilgrimage was held in June of this year and incorporated simulated activities, reflective exercises, and prayer to challenge students to live out the Gospel each day of their lives.

The days are becoming chilly at the Village and the nights are downright cold.  That can only mean one thing - Winter Camp must be around the corner.  We have two sessions of Winter Camp planned for young people in grades 7 through 12 on the observances of Martin Luther King Jr. weekend (Jan. 15-18) and Presidents weekend (Feb. 12-15).  There are two ways to register: online or mail-in paper forms.  If you register online, you will need to download and mail the Medical and Snow-tubing forms.    We are also accepting Winter Camp Staff applications.  Our tentative theme for both sessions of Winter Camp is "The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make."  Don't wait another day, register today!  Check back soon for more details and visit our Winter Camp page for additional information.

The Antiochian Archdiocese’s Christian Education Director Carole Buleza, department web editor Timm Wenger, and the team at antiochian.org, have redesigned and significantly improved the department’s popular web pages this fall. At www.antiochian.org/christianeducation, browsers can find resources for parents, Sunday School teachers and directors, youth workers and homeschoolers. Curriculum is readily available, and a special section created for small church schools helps instructors in communities where resources are limited. The Department of Christian Education now has a Facebook presence as well, and teachers can log in by clicking the Facebook button for that purpose posted on the web page’s right-hand column.

OrthodoxResource.com is not only the online home for the Orthodox Life Tips podcast, but it is also the central gathering place for all the podcasts, studies and other resources created by Jason for different Orthodox groups, including Antiochian Archdiocese youth programs, Ancient Faith Radio, and Orthodox Christian Network, as well as articles he writes specially for OrthodoxResource.com.