OCREA in Brief

The Orthodox Christian Religious Education Association (OCREA) was established at the Valamo Monastery (New Valaam), Finland on 31 July 2006 as an outcome of a Syndesmos-sponsored conference focused on Orthodox religious education. OCREA is a thematic and academic network among institutions and colleagues dealing with research and education of Orthodox Christianity. The members come from academics, educators of teachers of the Orthodox religion and those who teach Orthodoxy in both state-supported and independent schools and in the catechetical activities of parishes.

Our Aim

The Orthodox Christian Religious Education Association (OCREA) brings together scholars in this still developing discipline. The Association, as it aims, promotes wider networking among the institutions and colleagues and therefore, to start joint research projects concerning Orthodox Religious Education Pedagogy and Didactics. In addition, the association monitors the discussion concerning Orthodox Religious Education in schools and in the parish environments in Europe and other continents. 

The Conferences

Since its founding, OCREA has organized four subsequent conferences. In June 2011, there was an opening seminar at the Phanar in Constantinople under the omophorion of His Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on the topic “Orthodox Religious Education in a Multicultural World.” The papers from that conference were published in the Greek Orthodox Theological Review (Vol. 57:1-4, 2012). 

The second took place in June 2014 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The title of the conference was “Methods of Teaching in Religious Education: Learning by Heart or by Experience?” The papers presented at the conference have been published in a separate conference publication. It was organized as a joint project with the University of Eastern Finland (School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education) and Saint Clement of Ohrid University of Sofia (Faculty of Theology). 

The third conference was held in Albania in 2017 under the blessing of His Beatitude Anastasios (Yannoulatos), Archbishop of Tirana, Dürres and All Albania. The venue was the Resurrection of Christ Theological Academy in Dürres. The conference theme was “The Mission of the Orthodox Religious Education in Schools and Congregations – Visions and Challenges.” A separate conference publication containing the papers presented at the conference was published as a result of the conference. The conference was an outcome of cooperation between University of Eastern Finland (School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education), Aristotle University of Thessalonica, Theological Faculty (Greece), Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (USA) and Resurrection of Christ Theological Academy in Dürres (Albania).

In 2019, a new worldwide organization, the International Orthodox Theological Association (IOTA) held its first “mega-conference.” Since then, OCREA has cooperated with that as a joint organization. At the inaugural IOTA conference in Iasi, Romania, OCREA organized two sessions focusing on Orthodox education. Those sessions are outlined in the conference volume, Pilgrims Toward the Kingdom. In IOTA´s second megaconference, just held in Volos, Greece in 2023, OCREA organized two sessions facing topics of religious education. One session focused on Orthodox education and the challenges it faces in non-traditional contexts, and the other session was dedicated to OCREA’s practical issues in religious education.

The most recent conference was held in Thessaloniki in January 2025, organised by the University of Eastern Finland (School of Applied Educational Science and Teacher Education), Aristotle University of Thessalonica, Theological Faculty (Greece), Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (USA). The theme of the conference was “Religious Education in Today´s Society“.

Our Impact

OCREA has been a forerunner in two ways. Until now, there has been no international Orthodox organization gathering together scholars focusing on issues of religious education in the public and non-public spheres. Also, the conference publications have been a platform for scholars and students to publish their research outcomes and other activities that deal with religious issues from a pedagogical, didactic, curricular, pupil or teacher point of view. OCREA has representatives from Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States.