A large group of Orthodox Christian leaders—including well-known authors and speakers Fr. Barnabas Powell and Kh. Frederica Mathewes-Green and successful entrepreneurs Gabriel Otte and Calee Lee—once again gathered at St. Vladimir’s Seminary (SVOTS) for the annual Orthodox Christian Leadership Initiative (OCLI) Conference.
The Orthodox Vision Foundation (OVF) has hosted the conference on campus each year since its inaugural event in 2017. The 2019 OCLI Conference, titled, “For the Life of the World,” began Friday, September 20 and concluded following Divine Liturgy at Three Hierarchs Chapel Sunday, September 22.
The leadership conference’s pre-selected attendees included bishops, priests, deacons, monastics, and lay leaders from several Orthodox Christian jurisdictions and across North America.
“I'm excited to be one of the speakers,” said Fr. Barnabas Powell of Faith Encouraged Ministries, as he recorded a live message Saturday to his followers on Facebook. “And I'm also very excited about what's going to come next...continued discussion about how we escape being irrelevant in this society and start being what normal Orthodoxy has always been: a society- and culture-shaping influence that makes men and women [become] like Jesus Christ by grace."
Dedicated to nurturing and empowering Orthodox Christian servant leadership, OCLI plans to expand its ministry in the coming years by hosting seminars throughout the United States. Members of St. Vladimir’s Seminary, including President Archpriest Chad Hatfield, Seminary Trustee Dr. Frank B. Cerra, and Trustee Emeritus Protodeacon Peter Danilchick, have played key roles in OCLI’s efforts.
About the Orthodox Vision Foundation
The Orthodox Vision Foundation was founded by Charles and Marilee Ajalat, whose son, Richard Ajalat, is an alumnus of SVOTS (’13). The organization funds a broad range of issues and organizations that tackle everything from feeding and equipping the homeless and working poor, to spreading the Orthodox Church’s worldview, to church governance and policy issues, to ongoing education for our clergy and lay leaders, and launching new ministries.
