Welcome to the website of the Office of Institutional Chaplaincy within the Orthodox Church in America!  We hope you will utilize this website to learn more about institutional chaplaincy in the Orthodox Christian Tradition and credentialing bodies in the greater pastoral care and counseling community, and be apprised of current events within the chaplaincy community.  Please also take a moment to read the life of St. Porphyrios in the "About Orthodox Chaplaincy" whose icon is now on the front page of our website.

OCA Mission Statement for Institutional Chaplains

The Mission of Institutional Chaplains of the OCA is to be faithful in fulfilling the commandment of Christ to love our neighbor as He has loved us:

• To bring spiritual nourishment through sacraments, prayer, and presence to those who are sick, hungry, estranged, poor, naked, dying, and in prison unto the healing of mind, soul, and body.
• To bear witness to the Holy Orthodox Faith within the greater pastoral care and counseling community in this country and throughout the world.

In the words of St. Tikhon: It is our obligation to share our spiritual treasurers, our truth, our light and our joy with those who do not have these gifts. And this duty lies not only on pastors and missionaries, but also on lay people, for the Church of Christ, in the wise comparison of St. Paul, is a body, and in the life of the body every member takes part.

Here are current news updates and announcements.  Please also note that archives have been updated, so you can now easily access all archived chaplaincy stories.  Instructions for how to access the archives can be found on that page.