Orthodox Christian Fellowship honors founder, initiates endowment
Orthodox Christian Fellowship honored its founder, His Grace, Bishop Dimitrios of Xanthos, at a tribute dinner at the San Jose Country Club here on Friday, September 17, 2010.
As a recent seminary graduate in the 1960s, Bishop Dimitrios (James Couchell) was the driving force in establishing what has become the joint campus ministry arm of all canonical Orthodox jurisdictions in North America.
The dinner gathered clergy and laity from throughout North America to honor Bishop Dimitrios’ dedication and devotion to college students and to celebrate the ever-growing network that OCF has been able to build upon the foundation he laid years ago.
At the dinner, the OCF Board of Directors announced the establishment of the Bishop Dimitrios of Xanthos Orthodox Christian Fellowship Ministry Endowment, which has been created to sustain and further the ministries of OCF. The fund was initiated with a $100,000.00 anonymous donation.
“Bishop Dimitrios has offered so much to Orthodox Christianity in North America and throughout the world in various capacities,” said OCF Board of Directors Chairman and Interim Executive Director, Rev. Mark Leondis. Specifically, his efforts on behalf of college students are significant and this recognition of his work is long overdue.”
Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak, who represents the Orthodox Church in America on the OCF Board, extended greetings from His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, at the dinner.
“Your Grace, I would like to take a moment to express my personal debt to you and your work,” Metropolitan Jonah’s greeting read in part. “When, as a young man at the University of San Diego, I found the Holy Orthodox Church, it was the opportunity to participate in the local OCF that deepened my initial interest in the Church’s spirituality and infused it with the all-important expression of community. It was due to your tireless work that OCF was available to us, and it was because of OCF that my personal interest in the faith sprouted into a way of life rooted in community. For this, I am intensely grateful. Thank you.”
In conjunction with the dinner, members of the OCF Board of Directors, the Regional Chaplains Network, and the Student Advisory Board met.
Those who are interested in participating in the Bishop Dimitrios Ministry Endowment are encouraged to contact OCF Development Director Presvytera Shyla Hadzellis at 800-919-1623.
OCF is the official ministry of all canonical Orthodox jurisdictions in North America and serves as the Orthodox Christian presence on college and university campuses. OCF is comprised of 300 chapters throughout the US and Canada. For more information about Orthodox Christian Fellowship, visit
www.ocf.net.