My Years in Teen SOYO

By V. Rev. Anthony Yazge

I count my life blessed in so many ways. One of those blessings has been my relationship with Teen SOYO. It began when I was twelve years old and the wife of our parish priest encouraged my parents to let me begin participating in Teen SOYO. The people I looked up to and admired were members of Teen SOYO. My cousins were involved. All of the older kids in my parish were active participants. I was ready to be part of the group of cool kids. And so it began and it has yet to end some 35 years later.

It was within Teen SOYO that I learned so much about my faith. I still vividly remember teen retreats that afforded me the opportunity to truly learn what it meant to confess my sins and to delve into a deeper relationship with my parish priest as a true mentor and spiritual father. It was in these retreats that I learned to express my faith in words and stand up for my beliefs that became rooted in the teaching of the Church. It was at these retreats that I met a seminarian who believed in me more than I did myself. These retreats laid a foundation for me to learn how to remove myself from the commotion of daily living so I could take time to experience a communion with God that is hard to do at most other times. These Teen SOYO retreats solidified my love for the liturgical life of the Church.

But Teen SOYO wasn’t only about retreats. Teen SOYO presented me with opportunities that never seemed to be as vividly present at school. I was given the opportunity to learn about the dynamics of organizations, how to lead meetings, maintain a treasury, record minutes, and make decisions that are rooted in prayer. Teen SOYO enabled me to travel around the United States and meet other young Orthodox Christians who were also passionate about Christ and their faith. As a result of such encounters, I established the strongest friendships of my life that remain to this day. Because of Teen SOYO, I was more grounded and less desirous to experiment with things in my youth than many of my peers.

Participating in Teen SOYO, I was also blessed to visit with His Eminence Metropolitan PHILIP and many clergy of the archdiocese, which inspired me to offer my life as a servant of God. I had tremendous adult role models while in Teen SOYO from my lay advisors at the local, regional and archdiocesan levels to the Spiritual Advisors at each of those levels. It was easy to understand God’s calling to service in watching these saintly people. So I did all that I could to fulfill that calling from serving as a President, Vice President and Treasurer of my local Teen SOYO to President and Treasurer of Eastern Region Teen SOYO to President and Treasurer of NAC Teen SOYO. It was during these years that I was blessed once more by being one of the teens on the ground floor of establishing the Teen SOYO Special Olympics Camp with my cousin, Ken. I am pleased to say that this program is now in its 30th year of existence. I have been fortunate to be able to return back to the program as the Teen SOYO Coordinator of the Special Olympics Camp for the past nine years.

All of these factors led to my eventual enrollment as at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. Even while at seminary I was actively engaged in Teen SOYO by leading retreats and working with the teens of the parishes I was assigned to serve. After being ordained and assigned to my first parish, I was blessed to be given the privilege to serve as the Spiritual Advisor for Midwest Teen SOYO, which lasted more than a decade before I assumed the role of NAC Teen SOYO Spiritual Advisor. In the nearly two decades of serving as spiritual advisor, I have met some the finest young men and women you would ever want to meet. These young men and women weren’t content to simply learn about their faith and continue the same ministries. They wanted to expand the scope of their ministry and DO more ministry. The members of Teen SOYO initiated outreach programs throughout the Archdiocese. They are recording radio and podcasts as a means of evangelism. They want to bring an end to the societal abuses of human life. With Metropolitan PHILIP’s blessing and encouragement they launched the Archdiocese recognition of the Sacred Gift of Life Sunday. They are now working towards activities that will promote Orthodox unity at the local level.

I continue to be impressed by the growth and spiritual maturity of our teens over the past forty years. I have seen so many Teen SOYO members move in to positions of leadership within the Archdiocese and the world. May we continue to encourage our young people to commit their lives to Christ and their parish through Teen SOYO. I offer my thanks to God for the many wonderful God-loving people that I have met through the past 35 years in Teen SOYO that have greatly impacted my life. Without it, I don’t know where I would be today.

So much of who I am and what I have become is due to my life in Teen SOYO.