By Giuliana Harris
For years, the generations ahead of me have spoken of the impact that Young Adult League (YAL) left with them. From creating life-long friendships or meeting their spouses, to the overall sense of community: the overarching theme comes out to be togetherness. The last YAL Conference that was held in the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco was in 2002. This Labor Day Weekend will see the resurgence of a YAL Conference for the San Francisco Metropolis and young adults from ages 18 to 35 take place in Long Beach, CA.
2019 YAL Conference (Photo Courtesy of Hon. Steven and Stacia Counelis).
The Advisory Board Co-Chairs, the Honorable Steven and Stacia Counelis, each participated in YAL events in their young adulthood. They will function as the mentors to the Conference’s Steering Committee, which comprises nearly 60 young adults spanning from all over the Metropolis and country. The Chairman of the YAL Conference is George Anagnostopoulos, and the Executive Board for the event includes Kaylee Efstathiu, Matthew Jouthas, Antonia Klima, Georgianna Ramirez, Chris Rotas, Katherine Rotas, Michael Schwenke, Anastasia Selberis, Marina Settelmayer, Nick Stavrou, and Anna Teodsiadis.
The Advisory Board Co-Chairs, the Honorable Steven and Stacia Counelis, each participated in YAL events in their young adulthood. They will function as the mentors to the Conference’s Steering Committee, which comprises nearly 60 young adults spanning from all over the Metropolis and country. The Chairman of the YAL Conference is George Anagnostopoulos, and the Executive Board for the event includes Kaylee Efstathiu, Matthew Jouthas, Antonia Klima, Georgianna Ramirez, Chris Rotas, Katherine Rotas, Michael Schwenke, Anastasia Selberis, Marina Settelmayer, Nick Stavrou, and Anna Teodsiadis.
With the positive impact YAL left on the Honorable Steven and Stacia Counelis, together, they both spoke with me to share more about the past of YAL, and the rising future for the West Coast.
Please describe your background with YAL and the influence it left with each of you.
As young adults ourselves, we each attended many Archdiocesan and Diocesan YAL Conferences, starting as far back as 1984. We developed life-long friendships from around the country, strengthened our faith, and always looked forward to attending the next Conference.
His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony, of Blessed Memory appointed us as the Metropolis of San Francisco YAL Representatives on the National YAL Committee. This National Committee was composed of two representatives from each Metropolis for the purpose of coordinating national YAL ministry including YAL conferences throughout the nation every holiday weekend.
Through the years, we collectively chaired multiple conferences between Arizona and San Francisco/Bay Area. Eventually, Metropolitan Anthony appointed us to serve as Co-Chairs, with Ms. Maria Foskaris, of the 2002 Archdiocesan YAL Conference, concurrently with the Clergy-Laity Congress, held in July in Los Angeles, California. We originally became friends through the Church Choir Federation and Young Adult Conferences since 1996. Then, after the great experience of working together on the Conference for more than a year, we were married in 2003.
What inspired you to bring YAL back?
The last YAL Conference in the Metropolis of San Francisco was 17 years ago. While there has been a vibrant weekend retreat based Young Adult Ministry for several years, it was apparent to Steven, as a Metropolis Council Member, that a higher level of young adult engagement was necessary to reach a broader audience and recreate a Ministry-based connection between them, the Church, our Faith and Culture. His Eminence, Metropolitan Gerasimos gave his whole-hearted support and blessings for this Ministry and continues to provide his spiritual and practical guidance. In fact, the entirety of the Metropolis of San Francisco has supported the Conference – the Metropolis Council, the Youth and Young Adult Ministries Office, the FDF Management Team, Family Wellness Ministry and the Metropolis Staff.
What do you want community members to know about the revitalization of YAL? What can they expect to see beyond the Labor Day Weekend YAL Conference?
The Young Adult Conference ministry is here to serve our young people, 18-35 years old, who have no other organized way to meet each other on this scale through an exciting program of Worship, Fellowship, Service, and Witness, punctuated by powerful speakers and outstanding topics. We are also hopeful that this Conference will inspire other Metropolises across the country to plan their own events.
Young adulthood is a transitional and important time as they begin a new chapter in their lives. They are seeking meaning and purpose as they leave the nest of their family home and enter the next phase of life, working to figure out how they will 1) contribute to civil society through their education and careers, 2) further develop their spiritual lives and deepen their faith in Christ, and 3) establish the foundations for their own future family structures. Our church ought to minister to the unique needs of the 18-35 age group by sponsoring Young Adult conferences for our young adults to connect with one another and maintain their relationship with the Church.
For more information on the 2019 YAL Conference in Long Beach, CA:
To register and book hotel reservations, please visit: https://sanfran.goarch.org/events
Follow on Facebook at facebook.com/yalconference and on Instagram @yalconference
For further questions, contact: yal2019reg@gmail.com
Statement from the Honorable Steven Counelis to The Hellenic Journal:
The Historical Imperative for This Ministry at this Time in this Metropolis
“During the 1982 Clergy Laity Congress in San Francisco, Archbishop Iakovos, of Blessed Memory approved the grass roots desires of many young adults to hold the first National Young Adult Conference in Dallas, Texas the following summer in 1983. An entire generation of young adults who participated in the following 22 annual Archdiocesan conferences matured into clergy, parish leaders, Philoptochos members, Archons and church stewards. Lifelong friendships and communities were formed, and more than a few young people found their spouses along the way. Fundamentally, this national ministry, along with the yearly Diocesan conferences in San Francisco and Chicago, served the spiritual, liturgical and social needs of young adults in the greatest numbers and widest reach across the Archdiocese. Indeed, every generation of young adults has had the same such needs.
Prior to the YAL Conferences, the WWII generation founded the Greek Orthodox Youth of America (G.O.Y.A.) under the spiritual leadership of Archbishop Michael of Blessed Memory. The G.O.Y.A. similarly planned and effected both Annual National and Diocesan District conferences, with thousands of attendees from across the Archdiocese. My knowledge of this era was received from my father, Dr. James Counelis, and my Nouno, Dr. Andrew Kopan, who were early leaders of the G.O.Y.A. which originated in Chicago, Illinois.
To be sure, today’s generation of young adults within our Metropolis and Archdiocese have the same spiritual, liturgical and social needs to connect and share their faith with each other and their society. Unfortunately, the last Archdiocesan Young Adult Conference was held in New York City in 2004.
The good news now is that newly cultivated grass roots efforts in the Metropolis of Denver in 2017 and 2018 resulted in two successful Young Adult Conferences. See: http://metofdenveryaconf.org
In 2017, the organizers overcame the obstacle of a hurricane to present their first conference in Houston; and, in 2018 they built upon their successes with a Salt Lake City event during the Labor Day weekend. Such efforts are proof positive that the current generation of young adults is desperately seeking and creating anew the same essential ministry that prior generations found so compelling and important in their lives.”
Email the author: Giuliana
