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4 THE SHEPHERD • JANUARY 2023 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO Youth Ministries and its families would like to wish all of our families and community a wonderful New Year! Christ is Born! Glorify Him! Youth Ministries is looking forward to an amazing 2023! We will have opportuni- ties for service, fellowship, sharing our faith, and participating in our Orthodox Tradi- tions. Youth Events planned for 2023 include OCMC Coin Drive, Pancakes and Palms, Palm Sunday Luncheon, Holy Friday Re- treat, Greek Dance Performances, Vacation Church School, and Project Mexico Home Building! If you aren’t involved, now is the time! Volunteering in our Youth Programs is a great New Year’s Resolution! Click the Youth Ministries link on the www.stspyr- idon.org for more information or contact Ju- lie Dennis, Youth Ministries Director, email: youthministries@stspyridon.org or mobile: 619-940-5167. Don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and Instagram: @youthstspyr- idon HOPE &JOY (H y Orthod Prim y Educati &Juni Orthod Y th): In December, HOPE and JOY Youth Groups created Breakfast Gingerbread Houses out of pop tarts and cereal. Kids even made snow- men out of “frosting clay!” e houses were filled with colorful decorations! We had a lesson about homes in the years of the early Church and compared them to our houses. Our kids had some great ideas to share! GOYA (Greek Orthod Y th Associati ) Our Annual GOYA Christmas Party was hosted by the Maude Family. e gi ex- change was fun and ended with a rock, pa- per, scissors tournament. Our GOYA fami- lies donated stockings for the Angel’s Christ- mas Party. We ended the party with a walk to Christmas Card Lane! It was a fun time and we hope to see you at next year’s GOYA Christmas Party! Sunday Sch l We would like to extend a big thanks to our Sunday School Teachers! Our Sunday School Team is amazing! ey worked so hard to put together lessons and bring our faith to life for our kids and teens! Our Sunday School Christmas Pageant was a resounding success! is year, the faithful even got to sing along to carols during the pageant. Our community enjoyed a festive lunch a er the Christmas Pageant that even included a visit from Santa! We continue to be grateful for the little slice of joy that is our kids and teens who we see each Sunday in Sunday School classes. Sunday School will resume on Janu- ary 15th. We hope your families enjoy the Christmas break! ORATORICAL FESTIVAL: Attention Elementary, Junior and High Schoolers: sharpen those pencils and clear your throats! It's time to start getting ready for the 2023 St. John Chrysostom Oratori- cal Festival! e topics are on the Archdio- cese website and Christmas break is a great time to start researching and writing your speech. Follow the link below for topic de- tails and rules and registration: https://www. goarch.org/-/oratorical-festival-topics-2023 Our parish festival will be held on Sunday, February 26th. All participants get a $20 gi card! Interested in learning more? Reach out to Chairperson Timmy Paraskevopoulos at 714-931-2431 or t_nicolaou@hotmail.com Kids' C n Kids’ Corner is open each Sunday a er Holy Communion. Families, babies, and toddlers can come and play. Coffee for parents and toys for kids are provided. It is a great place to hang out with other parents of young chil- dren! For more information, please email youthministries@stspyridon.org Dance &Ch al As the year comes to a close, our Dance and Choral group has so much to be grateful for! First, our wonderful instructors, Tony Pe- troulias, Ioanna Loupasi and Mattie Bragg have worked with such enthusiasm and de- votion to teach our kids. Second, for two suc- cessful fundraising events: the See's Candy Fundraiser and the December Nights Park- ing Lot Fundraiser.We are particularly grate- ful for all the volunteers who worked tireless- YOUTH MINISTRIES continues 5