Camping
- Department of Camping Director – Fr. Anthony G. Yazge
- Assistant Director – Khalil Samara
The following listing is of all the current camping programs in the Antiochian Archdiocese. For more information, please follow the link to the individual camp's web site or contact the individual camp for more specific information.
- Location: near Ligonier, Pennsylvania
- Dates:
- Winter Camp Session 1: January 13-16, 2012
- Winter Camp Session 2: February 17-20, 2012
- Service Weekend: May 18-20, 2012
- Family Camp: May 25-28, 2012
- Summer Camp Session 1 (2 wks): June 17-29, 2012
- Summer Camp Session 1 (1 wk): June 17-June 24, 2012
- Chanting Camp Session 1: June 17-June 29, 2012
- Chanting Camp Session 2 (2 wks): July 1-13, 2012
- Summer Camp Session 2 (2 wks): July 1-13, 2012
- Summer Camp Session 3 (2 wks): July 15-27, 2012
- Iconography Camp: July 15-23, 2012
- Summer Camp Session 4 (2 wks): July 29-August 10, 2012
- Special Olympics Camp: August 10-18, 2012
- Family Camp Homeschool Edition: August 24-27, 2012
- Camp Director: Fr. Anthony Yazge
- Assistant Director: Marek Simon
- Program Director: Dn. David Jacobs
- Education Director: Tatiana Jacobs
- E-mail the Camp Office
- Website: http://www.antiochianvillage.org/camp
- Location: Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- Dates: TBA
- Camp Director: Fr. Patrick Kinder
- Website: http://www.campstgeorge.org
- Location: Frazier Park, California
- Dates:
- Winter Camp: January 13-16, 2012
- Summer Camp Session 1: July 15-21, 2012
- Summer Camp Session 2 (Teen Week): July 22-28, 2012
- Summer Camp Session 3: July 29-August 4, 2012
- Camp Director: Katrina Bitar
- Assistant Director/Registration Questions: John Mahfouz
- Website: http://www.campstnicholas.com/
- Location: YMCA Camp Takatoka near Tulsa, Oklahoma
- Dates:
- Winter Camp: February 17-20, 2012
- Summer Camp Session One: June 24-June 30, 2012
- Summer Camp Session Two: July 1-7, 2012
- Camp Director: Fr. James Shadid
- Executive Director: Gayle Malone
- Website: http://www.campstraphael.org/
- Location: Diakonia Center in Salem, SC
- Dates: TBA
- Camp Director: Fr. Philip Rogers
- Website: http://www.campstthekla.org
- Location: Camp Kennebec in Arden near Belleville, ON
- Dates: TBA
- Camp Director: Alex Younes
- Website: http://www.camptransfiguration.org
- Location: near Eagle River, Alaska
- Dates: TBA
- Camp Director: Kevin Dougherty
- Website: http://www.stjohnalaska.org/summercamp.html
- Location: Ross Point Camp in Post Falls, Idaho
- Dates: July 16-21, 2012
- Camp Directors: Barbara Schaeffer
- Website: http://www.campstmary.org/
DOWAMA Winter Camp + February 17-20, 2012
Winter Camp 2012 for the Diocese of Wichita will be held at Camp St. Raphael in Wagoner, Oklahoma from February 17-20. This year's theme will be Christ the Merciful Judge, and the camp will feature speaker George Hazaris, the youth director and pastoral assistant from the Greek Orthodox Church of Our Savior in Rye, New York.
Form & $100 registration (Chaperones/Advisors $70.00) payment is due by Tuesday, February 7th, 2012, and should be sent to:
St. George Orthodox Church – Attn: Paul Fuller
5311 Mercer Street
Houston, TX 77005
Click here to download a registration form (Word format). Please contact Paul Fuller at 502.592.9981 (cell) or paulf518@yahoo.com if you have any questions.
Orthodox Teens and Scouts Invited to Join Venture Crew
A rare opportunity for Orthodox teens has been presented to Fr. Joseph Purpura, Chairman of the Department of Youth Ministries for the Antiochian Archdiocese. (Download the letter of invitation.)
Liz Fallin, a parishioner at St. Paul Antiochian Church in Lynnwood, WA, is involved in Pan-Orthodox Scouting in the Seattle area and is an Advisor to a Venture Crew, a coed organization for teens ages 14-20. Liz has alerted Fr. Joseph to openings for a 2013 backpacking trek at the Philmont Scout Ranch in northern New Mexico, the premiere Scout facility in the country--if not the world. Philmont has over 136,000 acres of mountains, and offers 11-day backpacking treks to Scouts and Venturers from around the country. Philmont Treks are so popular that there is a lottery every year for groups who want to go, and only about half of those who enter the lottery are selected.
Recently, Liz's Orthodox Scouting group was selected for an August 2013 trek. Notes Liz, "Because we have a handful of extra slots available, we would like to open this trek up to young men and women ages 14-20, and interested adults.
Antiochian Departments to Host Historic Youth Worker Conference, Jan. 25-28
A historic January 2012 Orthodox Christian Youth Worker Conference, endorsed by the Committee for Youth of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America, is planned for all Youth Workers, Camp Directors and Staff, and OCF Chaplains. The conference runs from Wednesday January 25 to Saturday January 28, 2012 at the Antiochian Village Conference Center and will be hosted by the Departments of Youth Ministry and of Camping of the Antiochian Archdiocese.
Youth Month Interview: Fr. Anthony Yazge
Since October is Youth Month in the Antiochian Archdiocese, the editors at antiochian.org caught up with Fr. Anthony Yazge, who heads up the College Department for the Archdiocese, as well as the camping program at Antiochian Village. (Read this 2006 Word interview with Fr. Anthony and browse his Ask Abouna column.)
Fr. Anthony has been serving teens, college students and campers since 1981, and after thirty years he still approaches his ministry with dedication and enthusiasm.
1. How many years have you been working in youth ministries, and what kind of roles have you filled?
I basically went from my teenage years to being involved in youth ministry. As a seminarian I was involved in planning and leading teen retreats. A few years after ordination, I was appointed as the Midwest Teen SOYO Spiritual Advisor and served in that position for fourteen years before being appointed as the NAC Teen SOYO Spiritual Advisor for the last six years. As the Spiritual Advisor of Teen SOYO, I participated with our teens in many outreach projects over twenty years. In 2001 I was assigned to be priest in charge of Teen SOYO’s Special Olympics Camp and am currently still part of this ministry.
In addition to serving as a Spiritual Advisor for Teen SOYO the past twenty years, I have served the Antiochian Village for many years. I was a camp counselor in 1981 and was a session priest for thirteen years prior to my current assignment as Camp Director in 2006. I have also led a team of teens on a short term mission trip to Project Mexico.
