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4 THE SHEPHERD • NOVEMBER 2022 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO is month we were excited to see the return of all of our Youth Groups – HOPE, JOY, and GOYA, and our other Youth Ministries – Greek Dance and Youth Choir! We continue to see our children and youth in Church and joining in Sunday School, Acolytes, and Kids’ Corner! If you have had a chance to look around Church in the last few weeks, there are kids and babies all around! It is such a joy to see so many young people in Divine Services and in our youth activities. As we get further into the year, and more activities, both in Church and out of Church, come up, scheduling challenges can be overwhelming for families. I encourage our families though, to persevere, to create time for Church, for youth activities with Church. If you bring your kids and teens, we will provide activities and lessons to build relationships with each other, our community, and our faith. Please go to www.stspyridon.org to sign up for announcements, register for events, join Youth Groups, and PLUG IN! Click the Youth Ministries link for more information or contact Julie Dennis, Youth Ministries Di- rector, email: youthministries@stspyridon. org or mobile: 619-940-5167. Don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and Instagram: @ youthstspyridon HOPE (H y Orthod Prim y Educati ) October marked the return of Youth Groups for our younger kids in grades TK – 6th. Pizza at the Park on October 15th pivoted because of rain… to Hot Chocolate and Pizza Party at the Dennis House! HOPE and JOY kids and families got together for pizza, hot chocolate, and fun! We also learned a new morning prayer and each child got a prayer journal. Here is the morning prayer, so you can pray it also: Lord Jesus, I thank You for the gi of this new day. Bless my parents, teachers, and all those who love and care for me. Bless me, also, and protect me from danger and evil. Give me strength to be truthful, honest, kind, and help- ful to others. You are my Lord and King, and to You I give praise and thanks forever. GOYA (Greek Orthod Y th Associati ) St. Spyridon GOYANS participated in our their version of Home Makeover – GOYA style! GOYA met on October 22nd to makeover the Youth Room (upstairs from the Hall). Teens painted a beautiful mural, cleaned the room, cleaned the fridge, got new ping pong balls, xed the foosball ta- ble, put together two tables and chairs for a hangout section, and more! Next on the list is to get an arcade game for the room! Do you or someone you know have an arcade game that they would like to donate to the Youth Room? Our Youth Room is on its way to be- ing a cool, fun hangout place for our Youth Groups, Dance Groups, and High School Sunday School! In addition to the Youth Room Makeover, Goyans collected gi wrapping donations for the Salvation Army Residential Program. e residents will use the gi -wrapping supplies to wrap Christmas presents for their kids. We love to see our teens giving back to their community in so many ways! A big thanks to all of the youth who participated and worked so hard to make this happen! Keep an eye out for our GOYA Novem- ber event! Broomball! What is Broomball? Check it out at the UTC Ice Rink website. It will be a fun (and late) night! If you are not on our email list, call/text 619-940-5167 or email youthministries@ stspyridon.org Be sure to follow St. Spyridon GOYA, @st.spyridon_goya Dance &Ch al We would like to introduce the St. Spyridon Community to our new Dance and Choral School Board: President – Timmy Paraskevopoulos First Vice President – Chrisy Lambros Second Vice President – Nikitas Papadakis Secretary – Sia Brown Treasurer – Julie Dennis Choir Liason – Kathy Meck Our Choral and Dance Groups meet on Sundays: 12:20–1:00pm: Youth Choir 12:30–1:00pm: Primary Group (TKinder – 3rd grade) 1:00–1:30pm: Junior Group (4th – 5th grade) 1:00–2:00pm: Middle School and High School Groups Greek Dance is integral in our Greek Cul- ture, it has been passed down through the generations. A er the Covid years hiatus, our dancers are ready to return to the fun of Greek Dance! Our Festival Performances in June 2022 were just a preview of what our amazing dancers will be doing this year! We will be expanding our performance oppor- tunities to include Community and Church performances. We are planning performanc- es at Community Fairs, Nursing Facilities, Senior Homes, at the Multicultural Center in Balboa Park, and hopefully hosting our very own Glendi in late winter! St. Spyridon will not be participating in FDF this year, but will be looking to grow our program to consider it for future years. We hope you will join us as we rethink and refresh Greek Dance for our Youth. If you are wondering how you can help, we are looking for Dance Instructors! Would you or a family member or a friend love to keep the Greek Dance Tradition alive? Spread the word and/or join our Dance Team! Call/text 619-940-5167 or email youthministries@stspyridon.org Youth Choir has gotten o to a great start. Miss Kathy has chosen some beautiful church hymns to learn along with a few Christmas songs. Look for a small Christmas performance to happen in December! Youth Choir is for all kids and teens ages 8 – 18! Come check it out! If you want more infor- mation on Youth Choir, contact, Miss Kathy at sprnodiva@aol.com or 760-390-0101. Coming soon! Sees Candy Holiday Fund- raiser! Chocolate always makes great o ce gi s, teacher gi s and family gi s! Sunday Sch l Our Sunday School continues to meet every Sunday a er Holy Communion. Our teach- ers teach lessons about the Bible, the Mira- cles of Jesus, stories of the Old Testament YOUTH MINISTRIES continues 5