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4 THE SHEPHERD • DECEMBER 2025 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO Angie Gozum Hitomi Shue Rhad Brown John Jooyan Anastasia Polles Heather Aryana Sophia Thiros Erika Couris Marcella Bothwell Renee Maude December’s quick tip for families: Start a Nativity Countdown Tradition. You can find a printable version of an Orthodox 40 Day Nativity Calendar on the Youth Minis- tries website homepage: https://tinyurl.com/ stspyridonyouth Print the Nativity Calendar, post it in your house, and read each passage with your children and teens each day lead- ing up to the Glorious Nativity. If you would like a printed copy, email youthministries@ stspyridon.org . Save the date - March 7, 2026 for Icons in Progress: Orthodox Teen Mental Health Sym- posium . This symposium will be hosted by St. Spyridon Youth Ministries as a one-day event dedicated to addressing the growing mental health challenges faced by Orthodox Christian teenagers and their parents. Speak- ers include His Grace Bishop Athenagoras of Nazianzos, PhD and George Papageorge, LMFT. Many of us know teens who are cur- rently or have been impacted by mental ill- ness, this is an opportunity to equip them and their parents with concrete Orthodox tools to help. If you would like to help make this event a success, please consider donat- ing on the Youth Ministries website “Icons in Progress” page: https://tinyurl.com/teen- mhsymposium If you have questions about Youth Minis- tries at St. Spyridon, call or text Julie Den- nis, Youth Ministries Director, 619-618-5116 or email youthministries@stspyridon.org. Learn more about St. Spyridon Youth Min- istries on our website: https://tinyurl.com/ stspyridonyouth Follow us on social media: Facebook - St. Spyridon GOC San Diego and Instagram - @youthstspyridon. Little Angels Playgroup As our Parish family grows withmore families with babies and toddlers, so does our Little Angels Playgroup. Check out the cute photo of Father Andrew with little Achilles, joining the playgroup! Our Playgroup meets each week on Wednesdays, from 9:45am-11:00am, in the Lower Education Building. If you have a baby or toddler age 4 and under, email Julie Dennis to get on our contact list: youthminis- tries@stspyridon.org. Sunday School “Christ is Born, Glorify Him!” Wishing our Sunday School families, and all the parish- ioners a very Merry Christmas! On Sunday, December 21st , Sunday School will put on our Annual Christmas Pageant telling the story of our Lord’s Birth, featuring our Youth Choir and kids of all ages (even our Little Angels!). As always, we do our best to encourage our kids to speak up and into mics, but we recommend that families arrive to Divine Liturgy early to get seats near the front to be able to hear the youth and get good photos. Also, we would like to invite our entire community to lunch in the Hall after the Christmas Pageant. We would like to thank our Sunday School Teachers for their dedication and hard work each week. We hope you enjoy the spotlight photos of all of our teachers! Thank you, Ms. Tina Sunday School Director GOYA (Greek Orthodox Youth Association) GOYA hosted its first Annual Friendsgiving feast in November! Great fun was had by all, playing basketball, Mario Cart, and Friend- ly Feud! Check out the photos of our feast! GOYA families, this year’s Annual Christ- mas Party is on December 13th at 5pm. New this year - Christmas Caroling!! If you have a 7th-12th grader and did not get an evite, please email Julie Dennis youthministries@ stspyridon.org. YOUTH MINISTRIES Sign-ups have started for the 2026 Epiphany Cross Dive! 7th-12th graders can join this meaningful and fun tradition on January 11, 2026! No previous experience needed, just be able to swim! Contact Bill Navrides, 619-992-6775, bill.navrides@sharp.com by December 27th to sign up.