Teen SOYO

Teen SOYO Coordinator: Mary Bonnici - Email
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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

2 October, following SCS, church - SOYO Parent Meeting following Sunday school.  Please join Fr. David and I for a discussion regarding supporting and fostering spiritual growth in our young people.
October is Youth Month!
The Church invites its young people to more fully participate in the life of the Church, especially the Divine Liturgy!  Sign up below to read the Epistle, read post-communion prayers, help with communion ushering and greeting visitors at the door.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0A4CAAAB2FA2FB6-youth2  We'll discuss each of the roles in Sunday school this week!

9 October, following SCS, church - Teen SOYO Meeting (and elections) following Sunday school.  This is the teen meeting date where we'll talk more about what SOYO is and elect officers for the year. Officers will be installed by Fr. Peter or Fr. David at Divine Liturgy later in October.

15 October, 1pm, church - Teen prosfora making with Laura Kest and Marie Stolz to be offered at Divine Liturgy & discussion followed by Vespers
9:00 Registration
9:30 Morning Prayers/ Welcome
10:00 Team Building Activity
10:45 Teen Discussion
11:30 Break
11:45 Seminary Tour & Q&A "Day in a life of a seminarian"
1:00 Lunch
2:00 Service Project
3:30 Free time
4:30 Vespers/ Closing
22 October - Diocesan Fall Retreat at St. Vladimir's Seminary 9-5:30pm.  It will be an early start to get there but I welcome any teens to come with me!

13 November - AV Hot Dog Sale.  There will be no SCS this Sunday for the teens to cook, sell, and clean-up after their Hot Dog sale to benefit the AV Camp scholarship fund.

November - Campfire & Star Gazing
TBD - Bring a friend to vespers and ponder the vastness of the universe with us!

November/December - TBD lady teens service day @Women's care center
November/December - TBD SOYO service @ Off the streets Lancaster