Youth and Young Adult Ministries

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MARCH 4, 2019

METROPOLIS CLERGY LAITY ASSEMBLY 2019

OFFICE OF YOUTH & YOUNG ADULT MINISTRIES Connecting College Students with local Orthodox Parishes Thousands of our Orthodox youth graduate from High School every year and go away to schools across our country. The Metropolis Youth Office is helping to connect our college students to local parishes near their schools by contacting the Orthodox Priest nearest their school and informing them that an an Orthodox student from our Metropolis is moving to their area. We are asking to the priest to reach out to our students, and welcome them to their communities. I created both an online and paper form, and emailed all of our Metropolis Clergy the information to distribute to their families. So far I have received 41 responses from families.

Metropolis Young Adult Winter Retreat, Lake Tahoe February 16-19, 2018 This retreat sold out again with 60 participants from throughout the Metropolis and across the Archdiocese, as we celebrated the 12th Annual Young Adult Winter Retreat in Lake Tahoe. The retreat was once again held at the Galilee Retreat and Conference Center in Glenbrook, Nevada. Fr. Jacob Saylor was our speaker, and theme was “Repentance as the Way of Life”. Fr. Chris Retelas was our Retreat Priest.

Bay Area GOYA Lenten Retreat, March 9-11, 2018 Organized by Fr. Tom Felactu from Holy Cross in Belmont, and the Metropolis Youth Office, the theme of the Retreat was “Self-Control”. The retreat began on Friday night with the service of the Salutations to the Theotokos at Holy Cross in Belmont, a dinner and chat with His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos and before the participants continued on to the Retreat Center at the Marin Headlands. We sold out with 60 participants from Holy Cross in Belmont, Resurrection in Castro Valley, St. Basil in Stockton, and Ascension Cathedral in Oakland.

Metropolis Young Adult Spring Retreat, April 27-29, 2018 Organized by the Metropolis of San Francisco Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries, we had about 45 Young Adults in attendance from all over the West Coast and from all Orthodox Jurisdictions attend the Metropolis Young Adult Spring Retreat at St. Nicholas Ranch. The !1

MARCH 4, 2019

METROPOLIS CLERGY LAITY ASSEMBLY 2019

theme of the retreat was “To Walk Worthy of Your Calling” presented by Fr. Tom Zaferes and Fr. Seraphim Ramos. One thing we learned from this retreat is that the date was a bit too late in the spring to get a large crowd. We had to push the date back due to switching the date of the Winter Retreat with FDF, and we didn’t want to have two retreats just a few weeks from each other. We will plan on having the Young Adult Lenten Retreat in March or early April next year.

Metropolis Summer Camp, July 8-28, 2018 We sold out once again with 345 campers by the end of February 2018, and had a long waiting lists through June. We hired a stellar staff, and our veteran campers and staff were extremely impressed with our new additions to the staff this summer! A new activity we added this year was hay rides to the barn and tours led by Michael Pappas. This was a huge hit, and it inspired the campers to want to have a service in the barn next summer during camp. We hope to fix up the barn a bit more in order to do this. As of now, there is no air conditioning in the barn, and temperatures are in the 100’s.

Metropolis Young Adult Camping Trip, Aug 31-Sept 3 This is the second year we have had this ministry, and it was another success! Last year we had 25 participants, and this year we had 35 participants from all over California, and a few drove down from Oregon. We had a private campsite on 500 acres in the mountains of Chico, CA. The young adults learned how to pitch a tent, fish, and we all helped cook the daily meals together. We attended Liturgy on Sunday at Sts. Cyril & Methodius Orthodox Church in Chico, CA, and had a Paraklesis and Akathist of Thanksgiving service together at our campsite.

Metropolis Young Adult Fall Retreat, October 12-14, 2018 Another successful Young Adult Fall Retreat, with about 70 participants from across the Metropolis. Our speaker was George Papageorge, and our theme was “Life-Giving Relationships.” We found that the young adults really enjoyed this topic, and George did a great job setting the scene and leading the discussions. The young adults would like to have George return again as a speaker, and perhaps speak on the topic of boundaries. !2

MARCH 4, 2019

METROPOLIS CLERGY LAITY ASSEMBLY 2019

Bay Area GOYA Lock-In, November16-17, 2018 Hosted by the Church of the Resurrection in Castro Valley, we had yet another successful gathering with about 75 youth from across the Bay Area. The kids enjoyed fellowship, a FOCUS service project to put together hygiene kits for the local homeless, a candlelit Paraklesis service in the Church. This has become a very popular gathering in the Bay Area, and between the Oakland and Castro Valley parishes, they take turns hosting it each year and average about 60-80 youth each time.

Metropolis Young Adult Christmas Reception Dec 14 His Eminence once again graciously opened his home to about 100 Orthodox Young Adults from throughout the Metropolis for a Christmas reception on Friday Dec 14, 2018 from 6pm - 9pm. We also had the young adults bring gift cards from stores like Safeway, Walgreens, and CVS to donate to the homeless of the Annunciation Cathedral’s Soup Kitchen in San Francisco.

Metropolis GOYA Winter Camp, December 27-30 This is the first time we’ve formally offered this event in the last few years, and it was a wonderful group of 31 youth from across our Metropolis. The campers had a blast, and said they really enjoyed the smaller group, compared to summer camp, and liked that they had more access to time with their counselors, myself, and our leadership team running the retreat. We took the kids on a field trip to visit Kings Canyon and go sledding in the snow. We also brought them to visit the Monastery and help with a work project. Our speaker was Steve Christoforou form the Archdiocese, and he spoke on the themes of silence and listening.

Metropolis Young Adult Winter Retreat, Lake Tahoe February 16-19, 2019 This retreat sold out again with 60 participants from throughout the Metropolis and across the Archdiocese, as we celebrated the 13th Annual Young Adult Winter Retreat in Lake Tahoe. Cassandra Garibaldi from the Archdiocese Office of Youth & Young Adult Ministries was our speaker, and the theme was “Seek First The Kingdom”. Fr. Pete Sotiras was our Retreat Priest, and it was a huge blessing to have him with us, since he founded this retreat, 13 years ago! Another piece of exciting news is that I got engaged during this retreat! Glory to God for all things! !3

MARCH 4, 2019

METROPOLIS CLERGY LAITY ASSEMBLY 2019

2019 YOUNG ADULT RETREATS Open to all Orthodox Young Adults, ages 18-30’s YOUNG ADULT WINTER RETREAT January 18-21, 2019 President’s Day Weekend - South Lake Tahoe YOUNG ADULT LENTEN RETREAT March 29-31, 2019 St. Nicholas Ranch & Retreat Center YOUNG ADULT SUMMER RETREAT May 2019 Southern California Retreat Center

METROPOLIS YAL CONFERENCE August 29 - September 2, 2019 Labor Day Weekend - Southern CA

YOUNG ADULT CAMPING TRIP Date TBD Near Chico, CA

YOUNG ADULT FALL RETREAT Date TBD St. Nicholas Ranch & Retreat Center

YOUNG ADULT CHRISTMAS RECEPTION December 13, 2019 Metropolis House in San Francisco !4