November 9, 2021

MISSIONS WEEK 2021

An annual highlight of the fall semester is Missions Week, co-sponsored by the Missions Institute of Orthodox Christianity at HCHC and the student-run Missions Committee. Invited missionaries from around the globe spend a week on campus interacting with students and speaking about their work both formally and informally. The week is capped by the annual EFOM (Endowment Fund for Orthodox Missions) Lecture.

The year’s Missions Week began on Monday, November 1, and featured Steven Christoforou, who works with the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Youth and Young Adult Ministries and is passionate about sharing the Gospel in a clear and accessible way and helping people, especially young people, see Christ at work in their lives. He delivered several brief sermons at Vespers in Holy Cross Chapel on timely yet timeless topics, ranging from “Is Ministry Leading Young People to Christ?” to “Why It’s Easier to Be a Sports Fan Than a Christian” and “How Would the Fathers Handle Ministry Today?” His topic for the EFOM Lecture was “Forming Christians in Our Secular Age: Understanding the Mission Field of Contemporary America.”

The Missions Institute of Orthodox Christianity, founded and directed by Rev. Fr. Luke Veronis, who teaches at both Hellenic College and Holy Cross, promotes a vibrant missionary consciousness among students and seminarians in the United States. The Institute helps future Church leaders understand the centrality of missions, evangelism, and outreach, with the objective of inspiring students to participate in and to develop such ministries in their future pastoral work.