Blessed Nativity from Fr Joseph Purpura

Department of Youth Ministry Christmas Update

Update and Message from Fr Joseph Purpura

Christmas 2010

In This Issue

PVC

Thank You!

Reduce Substance Use

Special Olympics

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Department of Youth

Healthy Youth

SOYO

Greetings!

We pray that you have a Blessed and Joyous Christmas and that the New Year brings you and your loved ones Good Health, Prosperity and the Furtherance of all Good Things!

On behalf of myself, Kh. Kathleen, all of the Purpura Family and the Department of Youth Ministry, we thank you for all of your support, prayers, and encouragement over this past year. May our Lord continue to bless you, your ministry, and your loved ones.

Yours in Christ,

Fr Joseph Purpura

Purity, Virginity, and Chastity

January is the month we ask teens to discuss the Sacred Gift of Life and this year we continue our discussions on raising young people that understand living lives in Purity, Virginity, and Chastity as a preparation for marriage or monasticism.

Encourage your teens individually and as a youth group to utilize the PVC Packet prepared by teen SOYO at http://www.antiochian.org/PVC .

Further, encourage your parents, teachers and youth workers to know and teach this material.

Thank you!

We thank all of you that have supported our ministries throughout this past year and ask that you continue your support and prayers for our ministry to our young people as we enter the New Year.

Support our efforts to reduce substance use and abuse

Your financial help to reduce substance use and abuse amongst our Orthodox Youth is greatly appreciated.

Your tax deductible donations will help us continue our efforts to establish Orthodox Coalitions across the United States and to develop materials and strategies to reduce substance use and abuse in our Orthodox Christian population.

Donations may be sent to:

Please make checks payable to "the Department of Youth Ministry" earmarked OCCHY - or you may make secure credit card donations online at www.HealthyYouth.com Thank You!

We continue to have success in our effort to establish Coalitions for Healthy Youth in our Parishes and a Ministry to Reduce Substance use and abuse on the Archdiocese level.

--------------

On December 15, 2010 the V. Rev. Dr. Joseph F Purpura was invited to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services along with other experts and directors across the country to comment on the newly established National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health Council.

National Christmas Tree

We are pleased that our voice is beginning to be heard in Washington. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, along with the White House Office of Drug Free Communities have been instrumental in our progress.

Following the meeting at Health and Human Services, Fr Joseph Purpura took the photo to the left of the National Christmas Tree on his way to the U.S. Senate where he was invited to witness the vote for the Senate to begin discussion on the New S.T.A.R.T. Treaty with Russia.

If you are interested in helping start an Orthodox Christian Coalition for Healthy Youth (OCCHY) in your parish to help us reduce substance use and abuse in our Orthodox Youth, please contact Fr Joseph Purpura or Kh. Kathleen Purpura or the Department of Youth Office at 781-255-1757.

Special Olympics

We thank all of you that so generously gave to the NAC Teen SOYO Special Olympics Ministry this year.

Below is a listing of all those parishes that contributed to the 2010 Special Olympics Awareness Day Appeal. If your parish has not yet sent in the money they collected please ask them to do so. Thank you.

We thank the following Parishes that have contributed to NAC SOYO Special Olympics during our 2010 October Drive!

Contributions received as of 12-20-2010

Name	City	State	Amount Received
			$36,975.94
St. George Church	Houston	TX	$1,520.50
St. George Church	West Roxbury	MA	$1,200.00
EIF - Entertainment Industry Foundation	Los Angeles	CA	$1,000.00
St. Michael Church	Louisville	KY	$779.00
St. Nicholas Church	Grand Rapids	MI	$700.00
Basilica of St. Mary	Livonia	MI	$700.00
St. George Church	Indianapolis	IN	$677.00
St. Elijah Church	Oklahoma City	OK	$640.00
St. Elias Church	Atlanta	GA	$609.72
SS. Constantine and Helen Church	Dallas	TX	$597.00
All Saints Church	Raleigh	NC	$590.50
St. George Church	Grand Rapids	MI	$583.00
St. George Church	Norwood	MA	$582.00
St. Mary Church	Cambridge	MA	$575.00
St. George Church	Flint	MI	$528.00
SS. Peter and Paul Church	Potomac	MD	$525.00
Holy Cross Church	Linthicum	MD	$514.00
St. Elias Cathedral	Ottawa	ON	$500.00
St. John of Damascus Church	Dedham	MA	$495.00
St. Paul Church	Naples	FL	$471.00
St. George Cathedral	Worcester	MA	$457.00
St. Marys Church	Montréal	QC	$455.60
St. George Church	Lowell	MA	$425.00
St. George Church	Cleveland	OH	$401.00
St. Nicholas Church	Cedarburg	WI	$400.00
St. Anthony Church	Halifax	NS	$400.00
St. George Cathedral	Charleston	WV	$390.00
St. Mark Church	Irvine	CA	$375.00
St. Luke Church	Garden Grove	CA	$367.00
St. George Cathedral	Wichita	KS	$364.00
St. George Church	Allentown	PA	$350.00
St. Nicholas Cathedral	Brooklyn	NY	$350.00
St. Mary Church	Pawtucket	RI	$346.00
St. Andrew the Apostle Church	Pensacola	FL	$344.00
St. Innocent Church	Everson	WA	$339.00
St. Mary Church	West Palm Beach	FL	$336.00
St. Stephen Church	Hiram	GA	$330.00
St. George Church	Little Falls	NJ	$330.00
St. Nicholas Church	Bridgeport	CT	$325.00
St. Luke Church	Erie	CO	$320.00
St. George Church	Portland	OR	$320.00
St. Nicholas Cathedral	Los Angeles	CA	$304.00
Holy Resurrection Church	Tucson	AZ	$303.00
St. Basil Church	Metairie	LA	$301.00
St. George Church	Jacksonville	FL	$300.00
St. Ignatius Church	Madison	WI	$300.00
St. George Church	Richmond Hill	ON	$300.00
St. George Church	West Saint Paul	MN	$300.00
St. Mark Church	Youngstown	OH	$300.00
St. Elias Church	Austin	TX	$295.00
St. James Church	Williamston	MI	$290.00
St. George Church	Cedar Rapids	IA	$287.00
St. George Church	Vicksburg	MS	$287.00
St. Peter Church	Madison	MS	$266.00
St. Nicholas Church	Shreveport	LA	$265.00
St. Mary Church	Wilkes Barre	PA	$264.00
St. George Church	Montreal	QC	$260.00
St. George Church	New Kensington	PA	$260.00
St. John the Evangelist Church	Beaver Falls	PA	$250.00
St. Joseph Church	Houston	TX	$250.00
St. Mary Church	Wichita	KS	$250.00
St. George Church	Upland	CA	$246.00
St. Michael Church	Geneva	NY	$244.00
St. George Church	Niagara Falls	NY	$240.00
St. Ignatius Mission	Florida	NY	$229.00
St. George Church	San Diego	CA	$218.00
St. Nicholas Church	San Francisco	CA	$217.00
St. George Church	Danbury	CT	$215.00
St. Ignatius Mission	Mesa	AZ	$215.00
St. Nicholas Church	Beckley	WV	$214.00
St. Anthony the Great Church	Spring	TX	$210.00
Holy Trinity Church	Santa Fe	NM	$209.00
St. Nicholas Church	St. Petersburg	FL	$209.00
St. Philip Church	Edmonton	AB	$208.77
Church of the Virgin Mary	Alsip	IL	$200.00
Church of the Annunciation	Calgary	AB	$200.00
St. George Church	Canton	OH	$182.00
St. Mary Church	Chambersburg	PA	$180.00
Holy Spirit Church	Huntington	WV	$180.00
St. Michael Church	Beaumont	TX	$172.00
St. John Church	Memphis	TN	$162.00
St. George Church	Akron	OH	$160.00
St. Elias Church	New Castle	PA	$158.00
St. George Cathedral	Toledo	OH	$155.00
St. Mary Church	Johnstown	PA	$154.00
Christ the Savior Church	Anderson	SC	$151.00
St. John Chrysostom Church	York	PA	$151.00
St. Paul Church	Brier	WA	$150.00
St. Timothy Church	Fairfield	CA	$150.00
St. John Chrysostom Mission	Golden	CO	$150.00
Holy Resurrection Church	Hobart	IN	$150.00
St. Elias Church	Syracuse	NY	$150.00
St. George Church	Troy	MI	$150.00
St. Thomas Orthodox Church	Sioux City	IA	$131.00
St. George Church	Lowell	MA	$126.00
All Saints of North America Church	Maryland Heights	MO	$125.00
St. Athanasius Church	Goleta	CA	$115.00
St. George Church	South Glens Falls	NY	$112.00
St. Mary Church	Omaha	NE	$106.25
St. Mary Church	Goshen	IN	$104.00
St. Nicholas Church	Bridgeport	CT	$103.00
St. George Church	Altoona	PA	$100.00
SS. Peter and Paul Church	Charlottetown	PE	$100.00
St. John Cathedral	Eagle River	AK	$100.00
St. Anthony Church	La Jolla	CA	$100.00
St. John the Baptist Church	Levittown	NY	$100.00
St. Nicholas Church	Montreal	QC	$100.00
St. Stephen Church	Springfield	MA	$100.00
Emmanuel Church	Warren	MA	$100.00
St. Patrick Mission	Warrenton	VA	$100.00
Three Holy Hierarchs Mission	Wenatchee	WA	$95.00
St. Timothy Church	Lompoc	CA	$92.00
St. Matthew Church	N. Royalton	OH	$83.00
Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste Mission	Sugar Land	TX	$82.00
St. Columba Church	Lafayette	CO	$80.00
Holy Myrrhbearing Women Mission	Bonners Ferry	ID	$75.60
St. Mary of Egypt Mission	Greenwood	IN	$75.00
St. Anthony Church	Butler	PA	$74.00
St. Paul Church	Emmaus	PA	$68.00
SS. Peter and Paul Church	Ben Lomond	CA	$67.00
St. Andrew Mission	Oklahoma City	OK	$65.00
St. George Church	Spring Valley	IL	$60.00
St. John the Baptist Church	Post Falls	ID	$59.00
Holy Apostles Mission	Bowling Green	KY	$58.00
All Saints Church	Bloomington	IN	$57.00
St. Philip Church	Davie	FL	$57.00
St. Michael Church	Monessen	PA	$57.00
St. Mary Church	Berkley	MI	$53.00
St. Ellien Church	Brownsville	PA	$50.00
Brandie Y Barndt	Emmaus	PA	$50.00
St. Andrew Church	Lexington	KY	$50.00
SS. Peter and Paul Church	Salt Lake City	UT	$50.00
St. Basil Church	Silver Springs	FL	$50.00
St. Philip Church	Souderton	PA	$50.00
St. Michael Church	Las Vegas	NV	$49.00
St. Elias Church	La Crosse	WI	$45.00
St. Barnabas Church	Lexington	SC	$40.00
Holy Trinity Mission	Lynchburg	VA	$40.00
St. John the Theologian Mission	Rapid City	SD	$40.00
St. Barnabas the Apostle Mission	Sunbury	OH	$36.00
SS. Peter and Paul Mission	Boone	NC	$30.00
St. George Church	Orlando	FL	$29.00
St. Luke Mission	Abilene	TX	$25.00
St. John the Baptist Church	Solon	OH	$25.00
St. Ignatius of Antioch Mission	St. Catharines	ON	$25.00
St. Gregory Church	Washington	DC	$25.00
St. Silouan the Athonite Mission	College Station	TX	$24.00
Holy Transfiguration Mission	Hillsboro	KS	$20.00
Our Lady of Regla Church	Miami	FL	$20.00

Total Collected to Date towards our needed $52,000 is $36,975.94

____________________________________________________________
As of December 20, 2010 we have not received the funds collected for NAC SOYO Special Olympics October Appeal from the following parishes and ask that they send their check made payable to "NAC SOYO Special Olympics" to the following address:
NAC SOYO Special Olympics
Department of Youth Ministry
PO Box 389
Westwood MA

Thank you!

Parish Name	City	State/Prov
Protection of the Holy Theotokos	Ft. Saskatchewan	AB
All Saints of America Church	Homer	AK
St. Herman Church	Wasilla	AK
St. Michael Mission	Dothan	AL
Holy Trinity Mission	Little Rock	AR
SS. Peter and Paul Mission	Hot Springs	AR
St. Nicholas Church	Springdale	AR
St. George Church	Phoenix	AZ
Holy Nativity Mission	Langley	BC
St. Joseph the Damascene Church	New Westminster	BC
All Saints Mission	Rohnert Park	CA
Holy Cross Church	Palmdale	CA
Holy Virgin Mary Church	W Sacramento	CA
Orthodox Church of the Redeemer	Los Altos Hills	CA
St. Andrew Church	Riverside	CA
St. Athanasius Church	Sacramento	CA
St. Barnabas Church	Costa Mesa	CA
St. Gabriel Mission	Angels Camp	CA
St. James Church	Placentia	CA
St. James Mission	Modesto	CA
St. John the Evangelist Church	Orinda	CA
St. John the Theologian Mission	San Juan Capistrano	CA
St. Matthew Church	Torrance	CA
St. Michael Church	Whittier	CA
St. Michael Church	Van Nuys	CA

St. Peter the Apostle Church	San Dimas	CA
St. Raphael of Brooklyn Mission	Thousand Palms	CA
St. Stephen Church	Campbell	CA
St. Augustine of Hippo Church	Denver	CO
St. Elias Church	Arvada	CO
St. James Church	Fort Collins	CO
St. Mark Church	Denver	CO
St. George Church	Washington	DC
St. Andrew the Apostle Mission	Lewes	DE
St. Athanasius Church	Claymont	DE
Holy Cross Church	Ormond Beach	FL
St. Andrew Church	Eustis	FL
St. Anthony the Great Mission	Melbourne	FL
St. George Cathedral	Coral Gables	FL
St. Ignatius of Antioch Mission	Boca Raton	FL
St. Peter the Apostle Mission	Fort Myers	FL
St. Raphael of Brooklyn Mission	Iowa City	IA
Holy Transfiguration Mission	Boise	ID
St. Ignatius Church	Twin Falls	ID
All Saints Church	Chicago	IL
Holy Transfiguration Church	Warrenville	IL
St. Elias Mission	Peoria	IL
St. George Church	Cicero	IL
St. Nicholas Church	Urbana	IL
St. Ananias Mission	Evansville	IN
St. George Church	Terre Haute	IN
St. John Chrysostom Church	Fort Wayne	IN
All Saints Church	Salina	KS
SS. Peter and Paul Church	Topeka	KS
St. Basil the Great Church	Kansas City	KS
St. Mary Magdalene Mission	Manhattan	KS
St. Michael the Archangel Church	Wichita	KS
Three Hierarchs Mission	Garden City	KS
Archangel Gabriel Mission	Lafayette	LA
St. John the Divine Church	Lake Charles	LA
St. George Church	Lawrence	MA
St. Michael Church	Cotuit	MA
St. James the Apostle Mission	Westminster	MD
St. John the Baptist Mission	Lewistown	MD
St. Mary Church	Hunt Valley	MD
Holy Cross Mission	Dorr	MI
Holy Incarnation Church	Lincoln Park	MI

St. Catherine of Alexandria Mission	Ypsilanti	MI
St. Mary Church	Iron Mountain	MI
St. Simon Church	Ironwood	MI
St. John the Theologian Mission	Cape Girardeau	MO
St. George Church	Kearney	NE
St. Vincent of Lerins Church	Omaha	NE
St. Anthony Church	Bergenfield	NJ

St. Stephen the Protomartyr Church	S. Plainfield	NJ
St. Anthony Church	Melville	NY
St. George Church	New Hartford	NY
St. George Church	Albany	NY
St. James Mission	Poughkeepsie	NY
St. Mary Church	Brooklyn	NY
Virgin Mary Church	Yonkers	NY
St. Elias Church	Sylvania	OH
St. James Church	Loveland	OH
St. Luke the Evangelist Mission	Chagrin Falls	OH
Holy Ascension Church	Norman	OK
St. Antony Church	Tulsa	OK
St. James Mission	Stillwater	OK
Christ the Saviour Mission	Waterloo	ON
Holy Transfiguration Church	London	ON
St. Ignatius of Antioch Church	Windsor	ON
St. Mary Church	Mississauga	ON

Holy Ascension Mission	West Chester	PA

St. George Cathedral	Pittsburgh	PA
St. George Church	Bridgeville	PA
St. George Church	Upper Darby	PA

St. Michael Church	Greensburg	PA
St. John the Baptist Mission	Laval	QC
St. Catherine Church	Aiken	SC
St. Nicholas Church	Myrtle Beach	SC
St. Vincent of Lerins Church	Saskatoon	SK
Holy Resurrection Mission	Johnson City	TN
St. Elizabeth Mission	Murfreesboro	TN
St. Ignatius Church	Franklin	TN

Christ the Savior Mission	Jacksonville	TX
Holy Apostles Mission	Bullard	TX
Holy Cross Mission	Odessa	TX
Mission of the Holy Mother of God and St. Thomas	Fredericksburg	TX
Our Lady of Walsingham	Mesquite	TX
St. Benedict of Nursia Church	Wichita Falls	TX
St. Ephraim the Syrian Church	San Antonio	TX
St. George Church	El Paso	TX
St. John the Forerunner Church	Cedar Park	TX
St. Paul Church	Houston	TX
St. Peter Church	Fort Worth	TX
St. Sophia Church	Dripping Spgs	TX
St. Basil the Great Mission	Poquoson	VA
St. Raphael of Brooklyn Mission	Chantilly	VA
Christ the Savior Mission	Spokane Valley	WA
Holy Cross Church	Yakima	WA
St. Andrew Church	Arlington	WA
St. Nicholas Church	Spokane	WA
St. Thomas Mission	Snohomish	WA
Holy Resurrection Church	Gillette	WY

I pray that you have a Blessed and Joyous Nativity. May the new born Christ Child bring great joy and hope to your life and ministry.

Yours in Christ,

V. Rev. Dr. Joseph F Purpura
Department of Youth Ministry