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4 THE SHEPHERD • NOVEMBER 2024 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO This month, two St. Spyridon Youth Pro- grams started (Little Angels) and restarted (Coffee and Conversation) that reach both the beginning and the end of childhood – lit- tle babies to high school seniors. Programs such as these offer opportunities to bring our children, teens, and families closer to God, closer to our Church, and closer to one an- other. As our 2024-2025 memory verse says, “We, though many, are one body in Christ.” Romans 12:5. Our Dance and Choral School is having a See’s Candy Fundraiser that goes through December 6th. It is easy to make a purchase and the items go directly to your home or the home of another if you’d like to give it as a gift. See’s Candy gifts are the perfect gifts to give to the hard-to-shop-for friend or family member. All proceeds go to the Dance and Choral School! To make a purchase, just scan the QR code on the flyer in this newsletter. Coffee and Conversation, the small group for 11th and 12th graders, wraps up the fall ses- sion on November 10th. St. Photios National Shrine 2024 Essay Con- test details: Open to all U.S. Orthodox Stu- dents ages 13-19, due December 6th, be- tween 950-1050 words. The theme is “The St. Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine stands as a beacon of strength and hope to the Greek Orthodox people. How can such a witness to Orthodoxy serve as an anchor and a beacon to our youth?” Winners of each cat- egory will receive an award of $1,000! More information is available on the St. Spyridon Youth Ministries website or at www.stpho- tios.org The 2025 Oratorical Festival Topics have been announced! Students in grades 4-12 can participate in this wonderful festival. In recent years, students from St. Spyridon have made it all the way to the Metropolis Ora- torical Festival! Participants have the chance to receive scholarships ranging from $500 to $2,000! Keep an eye out for more infor- mation about St. Spyridon Oratorical Festi- val dates! More information can be found at www.goarch.org/en/oratorical Follow us on Facebook (St. Spyridon GOC San Diego) and Instagram: @youthstspyr- idon. To volunteer or get more information with any of the Youth Ministries at St. Spyr- idon, contact Julie Dennis, Youth Ministries Director: 619-940-5167 or email youthmin- istries@stspyridon.org . Sunday School October 20th was Sunday School Open House! Parents had the opportunity to join the classes, meet our teachers, and even par- ticipate in a lesson! For our Theme Sunday in October, Kay Harkins from our St. Spyridon Choir, taught our Preschool – 5th graders the Hymn of St. Spyridon. We have a goal to sing the hymn every Sunday before we start our Sunday School Classes and we are on our way to achieving that goal! Our Service Sunday middle and high school classes final- ized designs for our Youth Room stair mural. We hope to have the mural completed by the Christmas Holiday! Last, our Senior Student Leader Pilot Program is off to an amazing start! Led by Renee Maude, our high school seniors have been going into the classrooms to lead activities and lend extra hands to our Sunday School Classes. GOYA (Greek Orthodox Youth Association) We had two fun events in the recent weeks – Great GOYA Bake Off (Fall Episode) and Rock Climbing at Mesa Rim Climbing Gym. Congratulations to all of our Bake Off Con- testants! The contestants (GOYA teens) were required to use a pre-made pie crust to bake pies with secret fillings that included choco- late, pumpkin, cherry, and apple. All of the pies were both delicious and creative. This activity is a great way for our youth to get comfortable in the St. Spyridon Kitchen so they can be our next generation of festival and bake sale bakers! A big thanks goes to our judges: Elaine Burrell, Sophia Mellos, and Robert Dennis . They had a hard deci- sion and ate a lot of pie! The Bake Off Cham- pions were Kosta Mellos, Costa Mellos , and Alecko Kotinopoulos . Thanks to Thomas and Anne Marie Al- maraz , who organized our Rock Climb- ing trip in October! Check out the photos! GOYA will be meeting for a service project mid-November and Mall Scavenger Hunt on November 26th in the evening. Save the date for our Annual Christmas Party and Christ- mas Light walk at the Maude’s house on De- cember 7th. HOPE &JOY (Holy Orthodox Primary Education &Junior Orthodox Youth): HOPE and JOY families enjoyed the Trunk or Treat festivities at St. Constantine and Helen, where the GOYA’s from each Church joined up to put on a fun festival-like after- noon! Check out the fun photos of our kick off party and Trunk or Treat! Save the date for our service project on November 9th at 10am. Little Angels We kicked off our new group in October! We will meet each Thursday from 9:45 – 11am to play, sing songs, get to know each other, and read stories all about God! This group is for babies, toddlers ages 40 days – 4 years old and their parents! We hope you will spread the word about this wonderful new group! YOUTH MINISTRIES