OCPM News and Updates
Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry (OCPM), the national prison ministry of the Orthodox Church, is very pleased to announce Rev. John Johnson as its new Board Member. Fr. John serves as the priest at St. Thecla Orthodox Church, a parish of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) in Kensington, Maryland. With the blessing of […]
Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry (OCPM), the national prison ministry of the Orthodox Church, is very pleased to announce the Very Rev. John Kowalczyk as its Director of Training and Spiritual Care. Fr. John is the rector of St. Michael’s Church in Jermyn, PA, and the Director of Field Education and Senior Lecturer in Ethics at […]
Niko Petrogeorge, the Executive Director of OCPM, conducts a series of interviews related to prison ministry. Topics include “the tools of spiritual warfare,” “from prison life to parish life,” and “the impact of OCPM on those incarcerated.” You can listen to all three podcasts and download them here.
Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry (OCPM), the national prison ministry of the Orthodox Church, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Theodore Saclarides to its Board of Trustees. Dr. Saclarides is a cancer surgeon and a deacon at Sts. Peter & Paul Greek Orthodox Church in Glenview, IL. It was the litany petitions of the […]
Our deepest gratitude to Leadership 100 for their grant to Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry which allowed OCPM to “visit” more prisoners through correspondence during the challenging year of 2020 when most prisons were in lockdown. Reaching prisoners by mail was more needed than ever. Read about this major grant from “The Leader, Volume 22, Issue […]
Sunday July 25, 2021 PDF Version “Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise Your name.” (Psalm 142:7) To the Reverend Clergy, Monastics, and Pious Faithful of our Holy Orthodox Church in the United States: Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Greetings and blessings to you all! The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of […]
The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops have blessed the Sunday before the feast of St. Silas, the patron saint of prison ministry, as Prison Ministry Awareness Sunday. This year we remember this sacred ministry on July 25, 2021. This is a crucial day to spread the word that Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry, the national prison […]
Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry is guided by a talented and dedicated Board of Trustees. We are highlighting their experience and expertise so that you can know who leads us. Fr. John Kowalczyk is the Director of Field Education and Senior Lecturer in Ethics at St. Tikhon’s Seminary, contract chaplain at the SCI Waymart Forensic Treatment […]
Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry is guided by a talented and dedicated board. We want to begin highlighting their experience and expertise and will start our first feature spotlight with Dr. Carla Thomas, MD, FAAFO, CEM! In September of 1978, Dr. Carla Thomas left Cincinnati, OH, packed up all her belongings and went to Boston, MA. […]
Dear Faithful Friends, In the early 2000s I met Fr. Stephen Powley from Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry at a church college event and later we served together at the Antiochian Village Adventure camp. Hearing his incredible stories of prison ministry, my eyes were opened to the reality of Matthew 25:36, “I was in prison and you came to Me.” Until that time, I was […]