Source: Orthodox Volunteer Corps (OVC)
Blessed Fast of the Nativity. As you begin your journey to Bethlehem, we invite you to walk a piece with OVC as well. Over the next forty days, we will share highlights from our first four years and glimpse into the next four.
An early milestone on our path was October 2021. We traveled to Potomac, Maryland, to present a new idea to forty hierarchs at the annual meeting of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America. We outlined a program of service: selective recruitment, matching process with service placements, weekly seminars on professional development, and regular mentoring. Corps Members would be embedded in a community of support and grounded in the Church. We would connect, in service, some of our most promising young adults with some of their most vulnerable neighbors. We would prepare emerging leaders for a lifetime of service.
The Bishops listened. Then they asked questions. Then, in that October 2021 meeting, they voted to approve Orthodox Volunteer Corps as an official Agency of the Assembly of Bishops.
Today, we remain an Agency, and we continue the mission we first proposed. In one sentence, our work is this: We facilitate a year of immersive service for young adults, with the most vulnerable, and rooted in the Orthodox faith. That mission is resonating with more and more people in our community. Here’s one marker–growth in the number of OVC Corps Members
- Year One: 0
- Year Two: 6
- Year Three: 30
- Year Four: 50
We will share over the next weeks what difference OVC has made in the lives of our Corps Members and what difference they have made in the lives of others.
We invite you to support our work. We raise all our funds. We do not charge Corps Members, because we want them to be able to focus on service. Rather, we provide them with stipends and housing; we invest in their training. We offer alumni programming.
As you plan your almsgiving this time of year, consider supporting these Orthodox young adults as they serve and train. Donate to OVC.
In Christ,
Michael Sider-Rose, Chief Executive Officer
Kyra Limberakis, Chief Operating Officer
SUPPORT OVC TODAY
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Orthodox Volunteer Corps begins recruiting young adults for 2026 cohort
Orthodox Volunteer Corps (OVC), an agency of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America, is now recruiting Orthodox young adults for its fall 2026 cohorts in Boston and Pittsburgh.
The ministry offers a 10-month residency experience for young adults that integrates service placements with vulnerable communities, weekly formation in Orthodoxy and leadership development, life in community with other young adults, and immersion in the life of the Church. Learn more.