SOYO (Society of Orthodox Youth Organizations)

Orthodox Christian Camp & Youth Worker Conference + January 28-30, 2010

January 28-30, 2010 + Silver Spring, MD
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Camp directors, youth workers, administrators, cabin staff and youth advisors from all SCOBA jurisdictions are welcome! Featured keynote speaker will be His Grace Bishop DANIEL of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA.

The 2010 Orthodox Christian Camp and Youth Worker Conference will be held January 28-30, 2010 in Silver Springs, MD (30 minutes from Washington, DC) and hosted by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA. This year's theme is "Communicating the Gospel in the 21st Century." We invite all youth workers, church school teachers, camp directors, camp staff, and anyone interested in working with youth to attend this annual conference.

Date:

Thu, 01/28/2010 (All day) - Sat, 01/30/2010 (All day)

Report from the DOWAMA SOYO Basketball Tournament

The gymnasium at St. Elijah in Oklahoma City was bouncing with activity as more than 150 teens and advisers gathered for the third annual DOWAMA SOYO Basketball Tournament. SOYO members traveled from El Paso, Houston, Denver, Wichita, Omaha and everywhere in between to attend this wonderful event and retreat.

Fr. Michael Nasser served as the retreat speaker for the weekend. He talked with the teens about "Maintaining Faith in Chaos." Everyone in attendance was enlightened by his words of wisdom on how we can make our lives more focused on Christ while living in a world with many distractions.

October 2009: Archdiocese Youth Month

Convention SOYO Leadership Training 2009October is the month to introduce teens to the many opportunities to minister in the Church, including such activities as reading the Epistle, taking the collections, chanting, singing in the Choir, helping in the Church School, and giving sermons approved by the priest. While we want teens always to be active in the services of the Church, October has been set aside in particular to recognize our teens and to give them more opportunities to serve.

One way our teens can get involved is by being encouraged to participate in the Creative Festivals, and the Bible Bowl and Oratorical Festival in 2010. This year’s theme revolves around ecology, and its central Scripture is: “The earth is the Lord’s and its fullness. The world and all who dwell therein.” God created all; all that is in that world, in the air, on the land, and in the sea; and the people of God. Complete topics, rules, and a recommended reading list are available online at: http://www.antiochian.org/festivals.

Please visit our Youth and Family page, and more links follow (click "Read More"):

NAC SOYO Special Olympics Awareness Day

NAC SOYO Special Olympics Awareness Day was this past Sunday (October 18)

This is the day that teens raise awareness of SOYO's ministry to the Special Olympics Athletes. Please remind your parish teen SOYO and or Church treasurer to send in all of the money collected this past Sunday as soon as possible to:

NAC SOYO Special Olympics
Department Of Youth Ministry
PO Box 389
Westwood, MA 02090

Checks should be made payable to "NAC SOYO Special Olympics."

The Department of Youth Ministry will record the donation into the Archdiocese Database and deposit the money into the SOYO Special Olympics Bank Account from which the SOYO Treasurer will pay the bills incurred at the Antiochian Village for the SOYO Special Olympics Program. Please note this is a SOYO program not an Antiochian Village program – which means that SOYO rents the camp from the Village and SOYO pays the bills for this program, so please be sure the funds are sent to the Youth Department and not the camp.

All donations from Special Olympics Awareness Day, as has been done in the past, will be published in a future issue of the WORD Magazine, so parishes can verify their donations.

Special Olympics Awareness Day + October 18, 2009

The third Sunday of October, October 18, 2009 is Special Olympics Awareness Day (SOAD) across our Archdiocese. On Sunday, October 18^th, your teen group, or if you have none, your designated representatives, are asked to seek the financial help of your parishioners in funding the 2010 Special Olympics Sports Camp to be held at the Antiochian Village August 13-22, 2010. Next summer we will be celebrating our 30^th Annual Special Olympics Sports Camp. This ministry is sponsored by the North American Council of Teen SOYO. Our teens work very hard for this ministry and rely on the generosity and support of the faithful of our Archdiocese and the Order of St. Ignatius.

Please use the following downloads to promote Special Olympics Awareness Day:

2009 Clergy Letter (Word format)

Bulletin Insert for October 11, 2009 (PDF)

Bulletin Insert for October 18, 2009 (PDF)

2010 Special Olympics Application (PDF)