OCA Youth Department hosts “New Media in Orthodox Student Ministry” Workshop

Orthodox Church in America

CHICAGO, IL [OCA Communications] — The Orthodox Church in America’s Department of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministry hosted a workshop titled “New Media in Orthodox Student Ministry” at the Chancery of the Diocese of the Midwest here August 4-7, 2009.

The goal of the workshop was to bring students working on the Orthodox Christian Fellowship’s podcast together with youth workers and professionals in the radio and online media fields.

Participants included Mr. Steven Edwards, Program Director for Chicago Public Radio; Mr. John Maddex, CEO of Conciliar Media Ministries and founder of Ancient Faith Radio; Mr. Mickey Hodges, OCF Board Member and marketing professional; Mr. Jonathan Bush, OCF Podcast Coordinator and Student Advisory Board Member; Mr.John Diamantis, President of the OCF alumni group at Penn State and Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak and Mr. Andrew Boyd of the OCA Youth Department

Over the course of three days, the group developed and articulated a vision for the podcast, discussed how the program fits into the broader vision of OCF’s student outreach and ministry, and planned the programming for the coming school year. The group was also able to view old issues of OCF’s “Concern” magazine published in the 1960s and 1970s, seeing it as a benchmark for the quality they want in the podcast. Mr. Bush said, “The participants came together for the purpose of making the OCF Podcast a better resource, not just for the immediate future, but that it may become an example as the Orthodox Church transitions into a world where new media and social networking are fast becoming vital avenues for student ministry.”

New episodes will be available each month, along with recorded OCF events, retreats, and functions.

To listen to past episodes, or to subscribe to the podcast, please visit ancientfaith.com/podcasts/ocf.

The OCF podcast is a free ministry of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship, the official campus ministry initiative of the Standing conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas [SCOBA]. For more information please email Jonathan Bush or Protodeacon Joseph Matusiak.

The Youth Deaprtment thanks His Eminence, Archbishop Job, for hosting the workshop at the diocesan Chancery.

OCF is the official pan-Orthodox campus ministry effort of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas [SCOBA]. The Orthodox Church in America’s Department of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministry cooperates closely with OCF.

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