Source: Western American Diocese (ROCOR)
February 21, 2016
The 9th Annual Saint Herman’s West Youth Conference was hosted by St. Martin the Merciful Church in Corvallis, OR, from the 27th to the 31st of December, 2015.
This is an official, annual youth conference of the Western American Diocese; it is sponsored for the purposes of educating our youth in the tenants of the Orthodox Faith and engendering acquaintances and friendships for the young people that for them reaches beyond the usual pool of acquaintances limited within respective parishes. Every year the conference has been efficaciously hosted in a different parish of the Diocese. This variation in venue provides the youth with exposure to other parishes in the area.
The program: two keynote speakers were invited to the conference, and two outings were organized off site. In addition, praises were raised up to God and to His St. Herman of Alaska to whom these conferences are dedicated. The youth were encouraged to, and had the opportunity, to confess their sins and receive the Holy Mysteries of Christ at the Divine Liturgy. There were workshops dedicated to the art of Liturgics. By singing, altar serving, and reading during the Divine Services, the youth had practice and concrete application of the skills covered in the workshops.
Other workshops included: cultivating faith in our times, relationships both with God and neighbor, as well as roundtable discussions that provided an opportunity for the youth to ask questions about our Faith; combined, these workshops and discussions created a profound impression on the young men and women. Surrounded by ninety peers, the youth found that they are not alone in their Orthodox identity and struggles to find their faith.
Below the Western American Diocese Media Team presents videos of the lectures read to the attendees by the keynote speakers, Priest Timothy Pavlatos and Matushka Elena Perekrestova. These presentations are outstanding and received positive responses from our youth. Two more videos follow: excerpts from one of the workshops and the closing youth talent show.
Fr. Timothy Pavlatos: Worldly Conforming to Christly Transforming
Matushka Elena Perekrestova: St. Alexander of Munich: A Modern Confessor in the Face of Tyranny
"A Transfigured Life through Repentance and Grace," with Bishop Theodosy & Archimandrite Irenei
The Talent Show that Closed the Conference
