The desire for community with those who share their military lifestyle and Christian values led to a Bible study in a Washington, D.C., home that continued for several years. In [December of] 1943, at the urging of the British Officers’ Christian Union (OCU), leaders incorporated OCU in the United States and was renamed Officers’ Christian Fellowship (OCF) in 1972. This chapter provides a short overview of OCF’s 75+ year history. The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.

This chapter is a reading of the OCF Constitution and a summary of what is found in the OCF Bylaws. The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.

STATEMENT OF FAITH STATEMENT OF PARTICIPATION PURPOSE VISION MISSION PILLARS (CUE LINES) DISTINCTIVES GUIDELINES FOR OCF MEMBER CONDUCT (OCF Bylaws) GUIDELINES FOR OCF LEADER CONDUCT (OCF Bylaws) OCF FOUNDATIONS GRAPHIC The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.

Our ministry is run and coordinated from OCF’s Home Office, a name harkening back to when OCU communication and accounting was accomplished in the basement of Buck and Louisa Buxton’s home. The Home Office is where most member inquiries are handled and where we respond to your requests for materials to support local fellowships and conferences. Think of the Home Office as a small nerve center that helps connect OCF members to one another by doing things like managing the OCF member database, providing linkups between members, and working to keep the online OCF Directory up to date. The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.

INITIATE THE CONNECTION Since OCF operates within the larger body of Christ’s church, our leaders in the field should be aware of like-minded parachurch ministries who are laboring nearby and should be the initiators of coordinating and supporting relationships. The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.

IN THIS CHAPTER The OCF Council governs the ministry of OCF, and they hire the Executive Director of OCF. The staff of OCF supports the members of OCF by encouraging Christian obedience and integrity, equipping Christ’s body in accession and education locations, connecting members to one another, developing resources for the field, sending laborers to the field, caring for ministry monies, maintaining and developing OCF’s facilities, communicating the ministry of OCF outside the organization, and praying. The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.

IN THIS CHAPTER Every OCF member needs to know how to find the OCF Directory, use it, and help others navigate the Directory to connect men and women in fellowship around the world—this connects us to other family members. The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.

IN THIS CHAPTER If there were no enemy, then there would be no need for a military. If Satan and rulers in the heavenly places were not a real threat to the Christian, then the church would have had no need to stay alert, to put on armor and to hold fast in the face of lies, threats, deceptions, and mockery. Study the truth and draw near to Him whom we eagerly long to see at the end of days when He returns. The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.

IN THIS CHAPTER Those who serve in the military will be changed before they separate or retire, so what follows are some ways to think intentionally about capturing the good while resisting the bad of military culture. It is good that we get to serve alongside people different than us. It is also good that we learn to live disciplined lives, but serving within the government can make us dependent on government privileges if we are not alert to the danger of the insidious expectation that we deserve something. The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.

IN THIS CHAPTER God works in the lives of His adopted children during the years they wear the uniform and are within the military community. Military life may yield promotions and good assignments, but we will also experience non- promotions and assignment locations we didn’t see coming. In good times and in bad, we always grow, change, and are made into Christ-like servants learning to trust God’s provision. Having served in the military will impact us and the people we serve with for the rest of our lives. The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.

IN THIS CHAPTER The military is a great place for uniformed leaders to learn how to submit to God and to those He places over us. Officers usually serve in positions of influence that give them an opportunity to do good to all those around them, whether to Americans, to allies, or to the people of a nation at war with the United States. Sound ethical and moral actions flow from the practice of studying, thinking, and repeatedly doing what is right, especially when under stress. The bottom line is that Christians ought to have a good (positive) influence on a military unit’s culture and climate, in times of peace and in times of conflict. The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.

IN THIS CHAPTER Understanding the idea of professional calling flows from our grasp of God’s sovereignty over all His creation. The Bible speaks repeatedly of His unfolding plan as He directs the steps of men and women. In light of God’s sovereignty and His step-directing work, entire military households can see themselves as living on mission, allowing their love for God and love for neighbor to establish the priorities of the home. Both adults and children are essential members of the Christian military body. May you use your days well! The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.

IN THIS CHAPTER Worldview informs our priorities, which then determine our use of time. Our understanding of creation, fall, redemption, and living under Christ’s new covenant impacts how we live our lives, prioritize our use of resources, and engage the people around us. If we think deeply now (while we have time for study and contemplation), then it is more likely we will be a leader who acts decisively during times of crisis or stress. The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.

IN THIS CHAPTER We hope your OCF participation will extend beyond the few years one spends in uniformed service. We are constantly seeking to connect men and women serving, and who have served, for the rest of their lives according to their gifts and capacities. Once you have connected and met one another, we want you to keep getting together to help stir one another toward effective stewardship to the end of your days. The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.

IN THIS CHAPTER OCF members plan and host many different gatherings for the benefit of the military community around them. There is no limit to the creativity involved in these gatherings, but each one requires an initiator, an organizer, and help from the larger fellowship to execute the gathering. These are usually exciting opportunities to meet the larger OCF body, to be encouraged in your walk, and to gain new vision for service. The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.

IN THIS CHAPTER OCF owns two conference centers (Spring Canyon in Colorado and White Sulphur Springs in Pennsylvania) for the purpose of bringing the military community of singles, families, and friends together for mutual growth, edification, rest, and refreshment. Guests should leave the conference centers ready to re-enter the mission field where they live. These conference centers function as home base for many military families, the one place the family visits year after year from pre-commissioning years all the way through post-service years, coming back with children and grandchildren. The centers provide OCF members a depot for spiritual maintenance, a crossroads environment to meet members of the larger family of Christ, and a place where vision is developed to serve for the rest of life. The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.

IN THIS CHAPTER The various seasons of life bring about different abilities and capacities to volunteer within OCF and within your local church. This chapter gives ideas for some of the many ways you can volunteer to serve the military community and OCF by using your gifts, time, talent, and treasure. The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.

IN THIS CHAPTER There are three main roles an OCF member can volunteer to fill and become visible in the OCF Directory. These volunteer roles are OCF Local Leader, OCF Contact, and OCF Hospitality Home. The OCF Directory also makes OCF Coordinators visible. If someone desires to support a larger area, region, or military specialty as a Coordinator, please contact the OCF Home Office at (800) 424-1984. Finally, our OCF Council members are volunteers who serve on the OCF Council after being elected to this role. The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.

IN THIS CHAPTER OCF members serve where the local church does not have access or the opportunity to impact lives, but where military members can. OCF gathers Christian believers together so that the gospel, and the impacts of the gospel, might go into places where their military credentials permit access to garrison installations, to deployed locations, and to the many temporary locations where the military is sent. A spiritually healthy OCF member is one who lives under the sound teaching and oversight of a local church body. These local churches have the privilege of teaching, training, and sending gospel-bearing members out as ambassadors for Christ. The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.

IN THIS CHAPTER OCF is a ministry body composed of members (regular, associate, honorary) who are all committed to OCF’s Purpose (to glorify God by uniting Christian officers for Biblical fellowship and outreach, equipping and encouraging them to minister effectively in the military society). Regular members determine the direction of our ministry by voting for Council Members and for changes to the OCF Constitution. Every member of OCF affirms the Statement of Faith and the Statement of Participation (to participate actively and prayerfully in the ministry of OCF with my time, talents, spiritual gifts, and financial resources). This chapter addresses the question of why we focus on commissioned military leaders to accomplish the primary laity work of leading OCF fellowships for the good of the entire military community. Our member-led model allows us to have a small staff focused on equipping, encouraging, connecting, and sending OCF members into various areas of service. The full OCF Handbook can be viewed and downloaded at www.ocfusa.org/handbook. Send thoughts or questions to contact@ocfusa.org.