End Of The Year Party

Last Sunday, we celebrated our End Of The Year Party.  After record attendance at Three Hierarchs Church for Palm Sunday, OCF celebrated with a Fish Fry dinner and a goodbye celebration to all our graduating seniors. The food was delicious, and it was great to hear the advice the seniors had to give. While we are very sad to see all the amazing seniors leave, we wish nothing but the best for their future, and hope that God guide them through the next chapter of their lives.  

 

Spring Retreat 2013

For this year’s Spring Retreat we were lucky to have Dr. Covington come talk to us about his journey to the Orthodox faith and his experiences in the medical profession. We are very thankful for him donating his time and sharing his wisdom. We also played a bit of Orthodox Jeopardy at the retreat and had a blast.

Later that evening, we went to the annual Relay for Life event that raises money for cancer research. As an OCF, we were able to raise a couple hundred dollars for a great cause!

Bishop Demetrios Visits OCF

OCF was honored to host His Grace Bishop Demetrios of Chicago this weekend. Following Liturgy at Three Hierarchs Greek Orthodox Church, His Grace hosted a press conference alongside State Senator Michael Frerichs and Champaign Mayor Don Gerard concerning a resolution regarding Turkey’s relations with the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Following the press conference, Bishop Demetrios and Mayor Gerard joined members of OCF at the Orthodox Christian Student Living Center (OCSLC) for a meet-and-greet to discuss important issues for Orthodox Christians and young adults. His Grace also provided Mayor Gerard with a tour of the OCSLC after the discussion. OCF Illinois is grateful for His Grace’s visit to its chapter!

Fr. David Rucker’s Visit

Last night, we had the pleasure of having Fr. David Rucker visit us from Florida and tell us all about the Orthodox Christian Mission Center. On behalf of all of OCF Illinois, I’d like to thank him for stopping by and teaching us all about what OCMC has to offer. Also, a special thanks to Fr. James for making us homemade loaded Baked Potatoes.

Dad’s Day Tailgate

We want to say a big Thank You to all the Dads that come down this past Saturday to our Dad’s Day Tailgate! We had brats, hotdogs, and a plethora of desserts. It’s too bad the Illini couldn’t pull out a victory.

Thanks again and until next time!

Fall Retreat 2012!

Not too long ago, we had our annual Fall Retreat! We spent the weekend getting to know each other and fellow OCFers from neighboring schools! We had visitors from Eastern Illinois, Indiana, Lincoln Land, and Butler come through and it was great meeting them.

Our speaker for the weekend was Dr. Bebawi. He had some great stories to tell us as well as life lessons and insights. Friday night we shared a delicious pasta dinner and listened to Dr. Bebawi’s stories. Saturday afternoon we spent at Allerton State Park enjoying the outdoors and doing some fun team building exercises.

We want to quickly thank all those who came out to our Fall retreat as well as Dr. Bebawi. Special thanks to Fr. James, Neal and Alex, for whom without the retreat would not have been possible!

Until next time!

Off To A Great Start!

The semester has begun and OCF has hit the ground running! We had a great turn out at Quad Day and the BBQ that followed. We are very excited about the level of participation we’ve had the past week and look forward to keeping it up!

Our weekly discussions have been a lot of fun so far and everyone is starting to come together as a family. The amount of new freshmen and the returning upperclassmen we have makes this year promising and might make it the best OCF yet!

Until next time!

Looking Forward To Fall ’12

With it being August, this means that fall semester is just around the corner and this means another full year of OCF fun!

We here at OCFIllinois are ready to meet the incoming freshmen and have them join the OCF family.  We are currently in the process of planning a bunch of new and exciting events for this fall. Also, we have the weekly meetings and dinners to look forward to!

Can’t wait to see both new and familiar faces! Enjoy the last few weeks of summer!

See you then!

Relay for Life!

It’s that time of year to start donating for RELAY FOR LIFE!

For those of you who may not know, Relay for Life is an annual overnight event held by the American Cancer Society and Colleges against Cancer to celebrate the lives of cancer survivors, remember lost loved ones, and raise money to help fight back against this disease.

This year, U of I’s annual Relay for Life walk falls on Orthodox Easter. Since most of us will be in church and/or heading home to be with our families, our OCF team won’t be participating in the actual event. However, we are still raising donations for this great cause!!

Our goal this year is to raise $350 and we need your help!!

Click here to view the TEAM page for OCF

Our team page offers three options:

Donate: Donate online! Even if it’s just $5, any increment is appreciated!

Luminaria: For $10, you can purchase an In Honor Of/In Memory Of luminaria bag that will be lit around the track during the Relay event!

Join: Each member of OCF is invited to join our team page! From there, you are able to send out your own emails to family members and friends for additional donations!

If you have any questions please contact Angela (akarou2@illinois.edu) or Nicole (nicole21492@yahoo.com).

Upcoming Tuesday Discussion- Guest Speaker!

Hi OCFers,

We have some exciting news to share. We will have a guest speaker, this coming Tuesday, Feb 21! Fr. Nabil from Indianapolis, IN who was born in Egypt will be discussing the differences and political issues regarding why we are not in communion with the Oriental Orthodox Church. We are really looking forward to having him visit!!

Guest Speaker Flyer!