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4 THE SHEPHERD • DECEMBER 2022 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO It was another busy month for Youth Min- istries! Are you plugged into our programs yet? Or are you wondering how you can get connected? If you have kids age Birth through High School, read below to get in- formation on our programs. Are your chil- dren grown? We are always looking for men- tors or guest teachers and leaders in our Sun- day School and Youth Groups. Are you in college or just out of college, wondering how you can give back? How about volunteering once per month with our Service Sunday or Youth Groups? Click the Youth Ministries link on the www.stspyridon.org for more information or contact Julie Dennis, Youth Ministries Director, email: youthministries@ stspyridon.org or mobile: 619-940-5167. Don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and Instagram: @youthstspyridon HOPE &JOY (H y Orthod Prim y Educati &Juni Orthod Y th): HOPE and JOY met together again in No- vember for a fun game night in the Youth Room! Candyland, Uno, Ping Pong, Chess, and so much more! e kids even came up with games that the children in Jesus’ time might have played. It is so wonderful to see our children building relationships with each other through their faith. Keep an eye out for our December Gingerbread House Party! GOYA (Greek Orthod Y th Associati ) Broomball! Our GOYA Youth Group met for a late-night adventure at the UTC Ice Rink! A good, whole-hearted competition was in order. We also had a great discussion on what kids in Apostolic times may have done for fun. What do you think? No time for fun…outdoor activities…ball games… freeze tag…races? Our Annual GOYA Christmas Party is just around the corner on December 17th at 5pm. Dinner, dessert, great fellowship, gi exchange, and stu ng stockings for the Philoptochos Angels Party. GOYA families, we hope to see you all! If you need informa- tion for the party, email youthministries@ stspyridon.org Last, we are looking for youth grades 7 – 12 to join our Cross Dive for the Epiphany Feast on January 8th, 2023. Please email Bill Navrides to sign up. Sunday Sch l Sunday School is in full preparation for the celebration of the Birth of our Lord and Sav- ior! Our Christmas Pageant will be on De- cember 18th! Be prepared for singing and drama as the Nativity unfolds through the voices of our youth! We will follow the Christmas Pageant with lunch in the Fellow- ship Hall! Sunday School will resume on January 15th. I also want to take a moment to encourage families to send your kids and teens to Sun- day School when you are at Church. Even if you don’t come to our Church every Sunday, please encourage your kids and teens to go to their Sunday School classes when they are at St. Spyridon. We hope that this is already, or will become again, second-nature for our children and teens. ey can receive Holy Communion rst, then go to Sunday School. We hope to see you all in Sunday School during December and in the new year! Save the Date: Parish Oratorical Festival Mark your calendars for February 26, 2023 ! is is the date of the St. Spyridon Parish Oratorical Festival. If you are Elementary to High School aged and want to develop and deliver a 3-4 minute speech about your faith, you have the opportunity to present to the parish and earn valuable scholarships! Visit https://www.goarch.org/oratorical for infor- mation on topics and the events. Support is available too, if you want help editing or practicing your speech. Reach out to Timmy Paraskevopoulos at 714-931-2431 or t_nico- laou@hotmail.com for more information. Kids' C n A big thanks to all of the families who donat- ed toys to the Kids’ Corner! Kids’ Corner is open each Sunday a er Holy Communion. Families, babies, and toddlers can come and play. Co ee for parents and toys for kids are provided. It is a great place to hang out with other parents of young children! For more information, please email youthministries@ stspyridon.org Dance &Ch al ank you to everyone who purchased items for the Sees Candy Fundraiser! It was a great success! e funds that we raised are going to future performances, programming, mu- sic, and scholarships. Letter from our Dance and Choral School Board President, Timmy Paraskevopoulos: Let’s Dance! At our very rst dance lesson of the year, I asked the 14 or so kids in my class one sim- ple question: Why are you here? Why did you join Greek dance? I was a little afraid of what I would hear, but the answers I received soon set my mind at ease. I heard the expect- ed “Because I want to go to FDF” but I also heard “When I go to Greece in the summer, I want to be able to dance at the panigyria” and my favorite answer “I went to my cous- in’s wedding last week and I didn’t know how to dance. I want to learn so I can dance at my cousin’s wedding.” And thus embarked our dance journey this year. It has been an amaz- ing mix of old and new. We have some kids who have been dancing for years, and others who are learning for the rst time. We have brand new dance teachers, and we have some familiar faces rejoining our ranks as well. But why do we do this? What value is there in preserving the music, dance, and language of a country some of us don’t even have cultural ties to? And why should we care to pass these dances, the music, and language on to our children? It’s a question worth exploring that some of us might be afraid to ask. You don’t need to be Greek to be Greek Orthodox, so what is the motivation in learning Greek lan- guage, music and dance? I think of what our Music Director, Kathy Meck told me recently, that for Greeks, culture, religion, and language are closely YOUTH MINISTRIES continues 5