Our Story

Organization History

Oracle Religious Association (ORA) was founded in October 1992 by Sr. Dr. Oralisa Martin. In 1996, we purchased our headquarters at 6101 New Hampshire Avenue NE, Washington, DC. It occupies 4 offices with a cadre of professional volunteers, professors, and consultants. The following year, we received our 501(c)(3) and 509(a)(1) statuses as a nonprofit, public, tax-exempt, and charitable organizations. We legally function through a five-member governing board of directors. ORA has ministered in more than thirty (arch) dioceses including Belize, Central America, and the Bahamas.

Our Activities

Sr. Oralisa envisioned that ORA’s primary purpose is ministry within Christ’s Church and the larger community. Our initial activities were creating and implementing the ORACLE National Summer Institute for Youth and publishing ORACLE: A Text for African American Youth. Next came The ORACLE Professional Development Institute programs, which were tailored to the needs of the Catholic audience. Our keynote addresses, workshops, and seminars were also presented at national Catholic conferences.
As demand for our services grew, ORACLE Religious Association became a local and international organization conducting numerous revivals and retreats. Our most active ministry, WWW: Well Women Witness, has grown significantly over a brief period. It’s being restructured so it can be held in larger venues. Along with women's ministry is the new ORACLE Retreat : The Path of the Suffering Savior - Jesus Christ, a 2-3 day event on the teaching and praying of the Stations of the Cross.