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6 THE SHEPHERD • OCTOBER 2023 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO My name is Michael Defelippi. Over Labor Day weekend I had the privilege of attend- ing the 2023 Young Adult League (YAL) Conference in Orange County, hosted by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America – Metropolis of San Francisco. The conference took place over the course of three days and was held at the gorgeous Hyatt Regency Or- ange County, as well as a rockin’ night at the House of Blues in Anaheim and a beautiful Divine Liturgy service on Sunday at St. John the Baptist Church in Anaheim. This was my first year attending YAL and it was such an amazing experience! The theme of this year was to “FULFILL Your Life in Christ’.’ As a recent college graduate, this theme strongly resonated with me as I want to keep close the importance of living a fulfilling life in Christ as I embark on my post collegiate life and beyond. Each day at YAL was packed with events, guest speakers, workshops, worship, and ultimately closed each night out with a “Big Fat Greek Party”. We were so fortunate to have His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos in attendance the entire weekend as he spent time speaking at the workshops, blessing the food, and even joined us for some Greek dancing on the dance floor. One of the best parts of the weekend was hanging out with my friends from St. Spyr- idon, along with meeting new Greek Ortho- dox young adults from across the country who traveled to SoCal to attend this confer- ence. This year, we had nine members from St. Spyridon attend YAL and each of us met many more Greek Orthodox young adults that we can’t wait to reconnect with and see at the next YAL conference. I cannot speak highly enough of this conference and am looking forward to the next one! Thank you very much, Michael Defelippi YOUNG ADULT LEAGUE (Y.A.L.) Congratulations to our Choir Master Kathy Loukatos Meck , who was honorably invited to sing the American National Anthem at the SD Loyal game on September 24, 2023. Several community members also attended the game. National Church Music Sunday Youth Choir to Sing the Divine Liturgy Sunday, October 1st ADVERTISE IN THE SHEPHERD NEWSLETTER! BUSINESS ADS AND PERSONAL GREETINGS & ANNOUNCEMENTS AVAILABLE AT LOW RATES! FOR DETAILS, EMAIL INFO@THESHEPHERDNEWS.COM OR CALL 858.292.6070 THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!