Brookline, Massachusetts, November 20, 2025
Photo: OCF Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) has announced a $25,000 donation match to support bringing a dedicated campus missionary to Penn State University in 2026. The matching challenge, which has been extended through the end of the year, aims to establish Penn State as the fourth campus to receive a full-time OCF missionary.
“We’re getting close to our goal of sending a campus missionary to Penn State in 2026, and our match has been extended through the end of the year,” organizers stated in an email announcement. “Will you consider making a gift today and spreading the word to other alumni, friends, and families of Penn State?”
The campus missionary initiative represents OCF’s response to a growing need for consistent discipleship among college students. Currently, 60% of college students never return to the Church after college, and only 10% of 18 to 29-year-olds exhibit deep and lasting faith.
OCF currently maintains a full-time presence at three locations: Texas A&M University, Arizona State University, and Atlanta (serving Georgia Tech and Emory University). As of fall 2025, each of these campuses has seen student participation increase by at least 185% within the first year of receiving a campus missionary. Approximately one-third of student participants at each location are catechumens and inquirers.
Beyond drawing young people to the Church, campus missionaries disciple students to serve their parishes and communities. At Arizona State University, students spent over 70 hours last school year serving Phoenix’s homeless community. At Texas A&M, OCF students led other campus ministries in opening a food pantry in the on-campus chapel for food-insecure students. Students at all three locations serve as chanters, altar servers, Sunday school teachers, and prosphora bakers in their parishes.
OCF, the official collegiate campus ministry program under the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America, currently has over 270 active chapters and more than a dozen national programs. The organization selects, hires, and trains campus missionaries to serve students full-time, building bridges between campus and parish life.
Donate to the Penn State campus missionary initiative on the Orthodox Christian Fellowship site.
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