When I accepted the role of Youth Director, I was met with much support and a list of challenges on the table. We have been blessed with a robust Sunday School program, active GOYA group, and a bevy of good-spirited, excited youth; however, it is clear that these youth are not present in the numbers that many may have been familiar with in years’ past. This is congruent with the experience of many Christian communities, particularly in the U.S. While we have been successful in reaching those in need on the digital frontier (with near-11,000 subscribers on YouTube), it is undeniable that we must also fortify our local “frontier” at the community level with an expanded focus on youth programs and offerings.
My assigned focus for the first year of this journey was to research and develop solutions to facilitate an ongoing foundation for youth activity. From New York to Texas, we corresponded with Orthodox Churches that showcase successful youth/young adult programs and facilities (including Orthodox schools) to explore and learn their best practices for success.
St. George Current Youth Room
Which brings up the big question: based on our findings, how do we attract the youth to be active participants for the future of our community? My answer, that I have proposed to our Parish Council, based on my past youth worker experience and what I have found at other Orthodox parishes, is to create a space that will lean into their interests and facilitate interaction. This idea is vali-dated by the success stories in the Buffalo Life Center and Houston’s St. George Orthodox Church and Annunciation Greek Orthodox church. These facilities host large teen rooms with features such as: board games, pool tables, table tennis, foosball, approved video games, televisions, projectors, library, crafts, and more. Additionally, they support contemporary chairs, tables, couches, and lighting that provide a relaxing, inviting atmosphere.
In the three days I was in Houston, I never once saw the Teen Room empty of youth participants (with the proper exception being the Sunday morning Divine Liturgy). Saturday at 9am the room was packed with youths interacting and playing games (and they were not there for any specified event). When I asked them questions, they were very friendly, polite, and displayed the best Orthodox practices.
As impressive as Houston’s current room is, their success has enabled them to expand. They are currently well on their way to reach a fundraising goal to build a brand-new facility that will provide a new ballroom and an entire floor dedicated to youth with the additions of a work- out gym, new activities such as air hockey, contemporary lighting effects, and more.
St. George’s Future Teen Room
For comparison, the Buffalo Life Center has a more modest Teen Room with additional playground, half-basketball court, and large field for sport. This is supplemented with a children’s library and craft center that is currently expanding.
With the application of the best practices that these three Orthodox Churches have demonstrated, in addition to the donations and facilities we already have, we should be able to create a wonderful, dynamic space for our youth. Imagine an activity center where they can be encouraged to interact and play fairly among a bevy of options including a frappe/coffee bar; a study area/library where they can be inspired by the Good News and written Word and further provide opportunities for tutoring programs or craft workshops; or, a small auditorium with a stage to provide a space for community plays and presentations (such as our Christmas play where they will be able to rehearse and perform on the same stage).
A Community Center, would provide the opportunity to host more easily many events such as a weekly Youth Night, karaoke, games, movies, group activities, and more. The events would be a bit more structured to include an Orthodox topic and teen-centric subjects that should be paired with (but not overwhelm) the night’s activities where we will encourage a genuine, safe environment where questions can be asked, and topics explored via activity.
We hope that our largest challenge after building this space will be that the youth want to use it too much. We feel that if the biggest problem we face is that our kids want to go to Church a lot, then we have won more than half the battle. We have been doing an excellent job teaching Orthodox and Greek values at Annunciation, but we have a lot of opportunity on the table that we must take advantage of. We provide religious guidance through Sunday School. We provide Greek culture guidance through Greek School, the Festival, Greek Dancing, and more. We need to focus on teen guidance for teen issues in a similar fashion.
As we’ve stated before, this is the future of our community, and these are the types of interactive, memory-making opportunities that will create strong bonds for OUR future. We live in a digitally isolating world, where community, family, and safety are dissolving at a rapid rate. Giving them their space, oddly enough, can help redirect them toward the stronger bonds of their peers. After all, God is in Community (Communion). Let’s do our part to take action to build and strengthen it.
Demos Euclid
Annunciation Youth Director