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Inside the ACM

Vision

Our vision is to glorify God and help build His holy Church through full-time pan-Orthodox Orthodox Christian Fellowship ministry in Annapolis, MD to students of both St. John’s College (SJCA) and the United States Naval Academy (USNA).

Goals

At Annapolis College Ministry we have several focused goals:

  • Present Orthodox Christians and inquirers at both SJCA and the USNA with regularlyscheduled opportunities for Orthodox worship;
  • Provide Orthodox Christians and the many inquirers interested in learning about Orthodoxy with opportunities for study and application of the Orthodox Faith;
  • Pastor the students in the Orthodox Faith by actively seeking them out, meeting with them, and sharing God’s love and concern for them at this critical and formative time in their lives; Enable volunteers to exercise their own gifts for ministry by helping to build Christ’s holy Church.

Funding and Accountability

This Pan-Orthodox College Ministry is a fulltime local ministry under a Board of Directors. The Board of Directors is composed of a representative from each local parish contributing financially to the ministry, and, when possible, one Orthodox representative each from the USNA and SJCA. On-going priestly supervision of the ministry is presently under Archpriest Gregory Mathewes-Green and the Reverend Father David Subu.

Worship

Our weekly gatherings at the USNA and every weekday at St. John’s College are centered around the worship of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We live for the praise of God’s glory. The worship of the Holy Orthodox Church teaches us and informs our prayers that we may be more united with the Holy Trinity. To that end, we have a weekly Vespers and daily evening prayers at St. John’s College and a weekly evening prayer service at the USNA.

Bible study at St. John's, following VespersVespers at St. John's College

Teaching

For Orthodox and non-Orthodox students who participate in OCF ministry at SJCA and the USNA there is a need to continue to learn and apply the Orthodox Faith in Christ to their daily lives. We hold a study in the Orthodox Faith weekly at both SJCA following Vespers and the USNA following our weekly evening prayer service.

Evangelism

Since many of our students are non-Orthodox, much of our focus in ministry is geared toward those seeking the truth of Christ. It is not uncommon to have more non-Orthodox than Orthodox at our weekly meetings. Sdn. Robert meets regularly with a number of inquirers.

Discipleship

USNA Mid-shipman Meeting regularly with students one-on-one in the St. John’s coffee shop or at the “Dry Dock” at the USNA is the backbone of this college ministry. The pastoral relationship is key to sharing the knowledge and love of Christ with the students and encouraging them in their personal growth in Christ. In the case of inquirers and catechumens, these regular meetings aid them in their pilgrimage to Christ and His holy Church. A number of students have become Orthodox Christians through this ministry.

Retreat

St. John's College RetreatYearly the students take time off from their intensive studies to refresh their bodies and souls on retreat. In 2004, one non-Orthodox couple met while on our retreat and have since been married. Others have discovered Orthodoxy on these retreats and begun their pilgrimage to Christ and His Church.