TSN0226

4 THE SHEPHERD • FEBRUARY 2026 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO February’s quick tip: can’t make it to Divine Liturgy because literally everyone at your house is sick? Tune in online at www.stspyr- idon.org and print out the weekly lesson from the Sunday School newsletter. We are only one month away from the Icons in Progress Orthodox Mental Health Sympo- sium that is being hosted by Saint Spyridon Youth Ministries! Teens ages 13 through 18 and their parents are invited to this one-day event that will address how our Orthodox faith can guide and support them through life as teens and as parents raising teens. Our expert presenters include: His Grace Bishop Athenagoras of Nazianzos, PhD, George Pa- pageorge, LMFT, Michelle Moujaes, Faith- tree Resources, and Estelle Stone, St. Spyr- idon member and Youth Mental Health First Aid Trainer. Sessions will include: How to respond to a friend in Crisis, Reconnecting with your Teen, Self-Esteem and Identi- ty, “Mind, Body, Soul,” Digital Balance and Boundaries and more. This event will sell out as we are inviting other Orthodox parishes in San Diego County. Register today for only $25 per person, and $20 for siblings: https:// tinyurl.com/ticketsteenmentalhealth Don’t have a teen, but want to support our efforts to bring Orthodox mental health con- versations to our teen community? Donate here: https://tinyurl.com/teenmhdonation DATE CHANGE! Our Oratorical Festival is now on March 22 . Our middle and high school Sunday school classes will be doing a deep dive into the topics this year during Sunday School. We hope to see many stu- dents participating and delivering speeches this year! Reminder, all students who par- ticipate will receive a $20 gift card and stu- dents who advance to the District Level in the Junior and Senior levels will receive the George M. Platis Oratorical Scholarship Award , offered by Michael and Maria Platis in memory of their son George, who proudly participated in the parish Oratorical Festival. Save the dates for Vacation Bible School - July 13-17, 2026 ! This year’s theme is The Wonders of Creation! Registration link will be available next month! If you have questions about Youth Minis- tries at St. Spyridon, call or text Julie Den- nis, Youth Ministries Director, 619-618-5116 or email youthministries@stspyridon.org. Learn more about St. Spyridon Youth Min- istries on our website: https://tinyurl.com/ stspyridonyouth Follow us on social media: Facebook - St. Spyridon GOC San Diego and Instagram - @youthstspyridon. Little Angels Playgroup During February, our playgroup days will be February 4th, 18th and 25th. We hope to see parents/caregivers and their babies or toddlers for our playgroup! We meet from 9:45am- 11:00am in the lower education building. If you have a baby or toddler age 4 and under, we hope you will join us for playing! Email Julie Dennis to get on our contact list: youth- ministries@stspyridon.org. Sunday School We were happy to welcome back our students on Sunday, January 18! The students were treated with a Vasilopita cupcake which they enjoyed! Sunday School also hosted Godpar- ent-Godchild Sunday on January 25th. We hope you enjoyed the chance to take photos with your Godparent or Godchild! We are looking forward to a great semester of prayer and learning! Thank you, Ms. Tina, Sunday School Director Sophia Thiros, Asst. Sunday School Director GOYA (Greek Orthodox Youth Association) GOYA had two fun activities this month: a snow day at Big Bear and our annual game night. Despite the warm weather in Big Bear, we had an amazing trip and are so thankful for our chaperones and drivers! This year we had 15 teens trying snowboarding for the first time and taking lessons! Plus, a couple of our teens who are seasoned skiers and snowboarders were on the trip. We were wor- ried about the minimal snow going up to the mountain, but the Lord provided a beautiful day with enough snow for a wonderful ad- venture. The kids could not stop talking about how much fun they had! During game night, we added more hand- prints to the GOYA wall! We hope you will save the date for our GOYA Lenten Retreat on March 21 , from 4 PM to 9 PM (tentative time). Coming up in 2026: Teen Mental Health Symposium (Mar. 7th), All GOYA Lenten Retreat (Mar. 21st), Palm Sunday Luncheon (Apr. 5th), Great GOYA Bake Off Cookie Ep- isode (Apr. 25th), and more! Meráki Young Orthodox Service Group Meraki learned all about Saint Basil and Vasilopita in January and then each child got to bake their very own Vasilopita! As our service project this month, we donated three mini Vasilopites to the Epiphany Cakes for a Cause. Our next Meraki activity is on Feb- ruary 7th from 3pm-5pm - Beach Clean-Up, Picnic, and Kite Flying! YOUTH MINISTRIES