|
Annunciation Cathedral
Focus on Youth |
|
|
|
|
| Jan, 2012 Herald San Francisco, CA | event calendar main index |
|
|
|
| “Happy New Year!” from the Metropolis Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries I hope and pray that all of you had a wonderful Feast of the Nativity of our Lord and that you are ready for all of the blessings and challenges that 2012 will bring! After being in the Metropolis Youth Office for close to three months now, and having the opportunity to speak with many of you out there in our parishes, I believe I have a little better idea of the kinds of things this Office needs to do in order to continue to develop the Youth and Young Adult Ministries of the Metropolis. So, in addition to the yearly programs that you are familiar with like FDF, Oratorical Festival, GOYA Lenten Retreats, Summer Camp and Greek Village, here are a few new things to look for in the New Year:
I very much look forward to getting these websites up and running which should become a very valuable tool to connect all of us throughout our very geographically large Metropolis. However, I would still like to hear from all of you, our young people, young adults and our youth-workers, with any ideas you may have for our Metropolis Youth and Young Adult Ministries. So please e-mail me at pgikas@sanfran.goarch.org with your ideas and suggestions… or just to say “hello” In Christ, GOYA Christmas Party!!
Our January event will be kickball at a park. Stay tuned to the Cathedral Facebook page for more details! A reminder that GOYA is open to all youth grades 7-12. All are welcome to join us! Cathedral Young Adult Group Holds Second “Kris Kringle” Gift Exchange Our Cathedral’s Young Adult Group met Thursday, December 15 at the excellent Chow Food Bar on Church Street to have dinner and hold its second annual “Kris Kringle” (a.k.a. “White Elephant”) gift exchange. Twenty young adults participated in the event, in which each participant brings a wrapped Christmas gift between $10-$15, and after drawing a number, a random gift is selected by each participant. As always, a wonderful time was had by all, and we welcome new young adults Marina Papanikolaou, Sissy Petropoulou, and Thanasi and Christina Tsiatis. For more information on any of the Cathedral’s youth ministries, please contact Father Niko Bekris at fatherniko@annunciation.org, or visit the “Youth of Annunciation Cathedral Facebook” page. Thriving Cathedral Greek School Enters 2012 The Cathedral is pleased to announce that its Greek Language Program began its fourth year last September! The mission of the program is threefold: 1) to teach our children the Greek language, 2) to explore Hellenic culture, and 3) to connect our Greek-American children and Greek expatriates with the historical and cultural characteristics of Greece. Thanks to the efforts of many hard-working teachers and parents, our Greek School program is now thriving! We currently offer 4 grade levels with a small teacherstudent ratio as follows: Level 1 (Ages 4-5) taught by Maria Panostopoulou (currently not
accepting students) This year, there are a total of 30 students enrolled! Classes are held Saturday mornings from 10:00am to 2:00 pm. Tuition is $200 per student. If you are interested in registering your child please contact Pamfilia Zambelis at pzambelis@yahoo.com. New Altar Boy Group Schedule A big “thank you” to all the parents and altar servers who participated in the first month of our new altar groups! This schedule, which balances Sunday School with service in the altar, is a good way to ensure participation in both programs on a given Sunday, and encourages our young men to experience a very special ministry to the Lord. The schedule for this month will be the following: January 1: All altar servers welcome! A reminder that our altar groups are as follows: Group 1: Harry Misthos (group leader), Niko Pezo, Stelio Kyriacou, Kosta Lyberopoulos and Demetri Rally Group 2: Anthony Obester, Dimitri Kontonis, Bobby Kontonis, Niko Manetas, and Steven Manolakis Group 3: Steven Flynn, Clint Flynn, Antonio Panagiotopoulos and Steven Panagiotopoulos Group 4: Vasili Loufas, Andrew Nuris, Jonas and Nathan If you have any questions or suggestions for altar groups, feel free to email Father Niko at fatherniko@annunciation.org. Thanks again! JOY News Last month, our Cathedral JOY group (Junior Orthodox Youth) met at the Pezo home to participate in a special holidaythemed evening, which was enjoyed by all! Our ten boys and girls who attended first split into two teams to each sing their favorite Christmas carol (much to the enthusiasm of the parentjudges), with the winning team going to dinner first. After dinner, one of the newest members of our Cathedral young adult group, Erica Roberts, who works in San Francisco as a graphic designer for Pottery Barn Kids, led our JOY kids in a beautiful Christmas ornament craft project..
Our next month’s JOY meeting will be at the home of Chris and Irene Kyriacou, in Belmont. Details will be forthcoming. JOY is open to all youth grades 3-6. Hope to see you there! Jan
2012 Herald |
||||||||||||
Our thanks to the Misthos
family for once again hosting the GOYA Christmas party last December
16! Ten GOYAns attended the event,
at which they had dinner and watched a Christmas movie in their
pajamas. Thanks also, to Harry Misthos, Katerina Loufas, and Manoli
Nuris, this year’s GOYA leaders, for organizing the event.
