Teen SOYO

Teen SOYO Coordinator: Mary Bonnici - Email
Picture
The Teen SOYO Movement seeks to integrate each young person fully into the Total life of the Church. SOYO brings its members to a deeper devotion to the Holy Orthodox Church, its faith, canons and worship. Teen SOYO creates and fosters ministries to encourage Members to commit themselves to living the Orthodox Faith daily.

The combination of Worship, Witness, Service and Fellowship are the natural expressions of that commitment. We define these expressions as follows:
  • WORSHIP ‐ Corporate worship is the sacramental expression of and participation in Holy Tradition, and is the indispensable foundation of Teen SOYO at all levels. Upon this foundation is a cultivation of daily personal prayer life and reading of Holy Scripture.
  • WITNESS ‐ Christ calls us to be His witness in the world. Teen SOYO must enable fellow Members to express their faith for themselves and to others in order to be true witnesses to Christ and the Orthodox Faith.
  • SERVICE ‐ Christ came not to be served, but to serve. Teen SOYO seeks to emulate Christ in this and honors and glorifies God by loving and serving mankind in the name of Jesus Christ, using our God‐given gifts and talents.
  • FELLOWSHIP ‐ The Holy Trinity is the perfect model of fellowship; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit share perfect communion and exist in perfect love as a community. By gathering together in fellowship, and by showing love for one another in Christ, we emulate the life of the Holy Trinity in our daily life.
The ultimate goal of Teen SOYO is to fully integrate each teen into the full life of the Church, to create a safe and nurturing environment for Teenagers to grow in Christ, and to form spiritual and social bonds between each individual so that a profound and life giving relationship with Jesus Christ and His Holy Church can be realized.
Source: https://teensoyo.org/our-mission/
Teen SOYO at St. John's is open to all youth 6th grade to age 19. 

Upcoming Events

1) SOYO Lenten Meditation: Gospel of St. Matthew - Saturdays (Weekly) starting 26 Feb - meets @4:30pm before Vespers, unless otherwise noted.  Last year, we read C.S. Lewis' Screwtape letters. This year, we'll be reading and discussing the Gospel according to St. Matthew as our lenten meditation. Fr. David and I will be facilitating the discussion and it's intended that we'll combine each discussion with another activity of service and/or fellowship - e.g. Off the streets Lancaster, soup sale prep, kolivia making. While it's preferable to have read ahead of time, you don't need to have read to participate in the discussion.

2) Teen help with JOY club - 3 April @ After sunday school.  Teens have been asked to be helpers for Joy club following SCS. The joy club will be learning about & making prayer ropes.

3) Dioceasn Sprint Retreat - 29 April - 1 May - @ Antiochian Village

4) IN PERSON DIOCEASAN SOYO RETREAT!  It has been 2 years since we've been able to gather together as the Body of Christ! If any teen is interested in going please let me know so that appropriate arrangements can be made. In our teen breakout sessions, we plan to have teen icebreakers, discussions, afternoon program/fellowship time, and service time together.

5) Roller skating/Off the Streets/Bible Bowl & Oratorical Prep - May/June - TBD. We'll reschedule our Roller skating fellowship event along with Off the street service service, Bible Bowl & Oratorical prep on the schedule for May and June! More to come!

6) Teen Lenten Coffee Hour - charitable fundraising - Sunday 27 March. Teens will still attend Sunday school per normal schedule

7) Holy Friday Teen Vigil & Retreat - Friday 22 April - After lamentations @ Church.  Planned to be in-person this year, including vigil!

8) Diocesan Sprint Retreat - 29 April - 1 May - @ Antiochian Village.  Planned to be in-person this year! More details to come!