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4 THE SHEPHERD • JULY 2023 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO Youth Ministries is forming a Vision and Mission Committee! We would like you to join us! The committee will meet once per month for the next three months and help create the Vision and Mission for St. Spyr- idon Youth Ministries. We will use Archdi- ocese and Metropolis Youth Ministry Team guidance to create a path for the years to come, where our youth have a place to de- velop their faith across all aspects of their Orthodox journey. Committee members do not have to be parents. Parish members of all ages are welcome to join. Our first meeting will be August 13th immediately after Divine Liturgy. Snacks and coffee provided. If you have a child or teen ages birth through 18, our YouthMinistries has a place for them! Be sure to check out our website: https:// sites.google.com/stspyridon.org/stspyridon- youthministries. Follow us on Facebook (St. Spyridon GOC San Diego) and Instagram: @ youthstspyridon. CONGRATULATIONS! Youth Ministries would like to congratulate one more high school graduate this year! Ele- ni Huntalas graduated from Del Norte High School, will attend Chapman University, and major in Applied Human Physiology. Your St. Spyridon Family will be praying for the next steps on your journey, for you to make a choice and a decision for Jesus each day, and for you to seek God in all you do. From Jer- emiah 29:11, “For I shall consider a plan of peace for you, to give you good things and not calamities. Therefore, pray to Me and I will hear you. Seek Me and you will find Me, because you seek Me with all your heart.” We pray this for you. VACATION CHURCH SCHOOL: Vacation Church School was June 26-30! The theme was Behold the Light, the Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ. They learned about the Nativity of the Lord, the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, the Baptism of the Lord, and the Transfiguration of the Lord. They also learned hymns of the Church, “Those who have been baptized” and “We have seen the light, “as well as some catchy songs, “His Light Makes Us Shine” and “Walk, Walk, Walk in the light!” They had a great time learning, praying, playing, and making crafts. Many thanks to Father An- drew, our youth leaders, and our volunteers who gave their time and talents to make this year’s VCS a success! GOYA (Greek Orthodox Youth Association) By request, the 2023-2024 GOYA Youth Board elections have been moved to our Kick-Off Celebration, August 27th, 4pm at La Jolla Shores. HOPE &JOY (Holy Orthodox Primary Education &Junior Orthodox Youth): Join us for the Summer Family Movie Night in the St. Spyridon Parking Lot! Thursday, July 6th at 7pm. Popcorn and candy provided! Bring a chair and a blanket! Kids and families of all ages welcome to join! Sunday School Sunday School is on break for the summer and will resume on September 10th. Kids’ Corner for babies, toddlers, and families will be open all summer. Toys for the kids, coffee and fellowship for parents! It is a great way to connect with other parents with young children. Sunday School is looking for Sun- day School Teachers, Class Helpers, and an OCMC Coin Drive Chairperson! If you are interested in helping in the fall, email Julie Dennis at youthministries@stspyridon.org Dance &Choral This year our dance groups performed at the 52nd annual Saint Spyridon Greek Festival. Their performances were most certainly the highlight of the year. Our youngest group, Ta Spyridonakia performed in costume for the first time and the crowd went wild when they started to pick up the money thrown at them before the music ended. Our older dance group, Pelagos swelled in numbers in preparation for the festival! We were up to 18 dancers and performed two different sets of dances: a Nisiotisa set and a Cretan set. We performed on the KUSI Morning show Saturday morning and the newscaster was so thrilled that he came back and spent the en- tire day at the festival on Sunday! The perfor- mances were wildly popular and the entire Festival seem to join in on the Dance foor. It was especially heartwarming when we announced that one of our dance members, Nora Kleinhenz, is moving to Michigan with her family, and our Cretan dance teacher, Ioanna Loumpasi, would move to Greece in July. Luckily, we will have a new teacher join- ing us in the fall, Maro Tsigarida who grew up at Saint Spyridon. We are also excited to have Tony Petroulias come back in the fall. We would love to have you join us too! Please reach out to Timmy Paraskevopoulos stspyr- idondance@gmail.com or 714-931-2431 to sign your kids up in the Fall. Classes will start in late August/early September. Reg- ister on the St. Spyridon homepage. Adult classes will start as well so if you’re interested please let us know! If you want to go to FDF, dance at the festival next year, and join us in our performances and outreach programs, please don’t hesitate to sign up early. YOUTH MINISTRIES