Date:

Sep 2 - 6, 2021

Time:

All Day

Where:

JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa

5350 E Marriott Dr
Phoenix, AZ 85054

Register:

Click Here

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Are you ready to Exclaim your faith? Then the Young Adult League (YAL) Conference over Labor Day Weekend 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona is where you need to be! This will be the third YAL Conference since 2019 hosted by the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco and promises to be bigger and better than ever!

Conference attendees will enjoy a weekend of events, workshops, worship and relaxation from September 2 – 6, 2021 at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Phoenix, AZ, a luxury property with a therapeutic spa, five pools, a lazy river, two golf courses, 17 pickleball courts, and much more! There will be plenty of free time to enjoy these amenities with your new YAL friends, and explore the beauty of the Sonoran desert.

Highlights of the weekend include engaging workshops, daily worship, dances, a Grand Banquet, and a special western-themed event “YeeHaw YAL” on Sunday evening. Diakonia is also an important part of the YAL ministry and will include a Rise Against Hunger challenge to package meals for undernourished people throughout the world.

Video

A Special Invitation from Metropolitan Gerasimos

His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos invites our Young Adults to EXCLAIM their faith this coming Labor Day in Phoenix Arizona.

“I am excited for this opportunity to once again gather with our young adults for this conference and to Exclaim the vibrancy of the YAL ministry,” shared His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco. “These young adults are at a crucial time in their lives, and this conference will help solidify them in their faith and provide direction and purpose for them as Orthodox Christians as they emerge into the work force and beyond.”

Online registration for the conference is now open. Take advantage of the discounted rate from now through June 30. Registration will continue through early August but don’t wait too long. The 2019 conference was nearly a sell-out, with participants from 43 states across the Archdiocese, so be sure to Exclaim your interest by registering today. You can also reserve your accommodations at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Phoenix, that will be a great getaway for Labor Day Weekend. Visit the conference website for more details.

This year’s Keynote presenters are going to take you on a journey that promises to bring you spiritual, social and professional fulfillment. Friday afternoon’s presentation will be offered by Bill Marianes who will speak on “Why Love Light – Being a Disciple in Your Jerusalem and Beyond.” Bill will guide the participants on a discovery of their personal “Why” and how they, as agents of change, can impact their parish, the civic community, and our entire country as disciples and exclaimers of our faith. Bill lives in Gainesville, GA but he is a good friend to our Metropolis, and brings with him a wealth of experience as a sought-after guest speaker who engages his audiences, identifies practical ways for parish involvement, and provides important guidance and insight for emerging professionals as they chart their course through higher education and entering the job market.

On Saturday, the YAL Conference will welcome Rev. Dr. Nicholas and Presvytera Roxanne Louh, Ph.D., all the way from Jacksonville, FL. Participants will be inspired by their presentation on “Exclaiming By Renewing You, Your Relationship with Christ and Each Other”. The Louh’s are a power-couple who bring with them years of experience serving the church, as well as their professional backgrounds in ministry and counseling. They cohost “Healthy Minds Healthy Souls” on Ancient Faith Radio. The Louh’s are also the co-authors of Renewing You which combines principles of spiritual growth with psychological tools to help you become your best self, fully connected with God’s purpose for you. A special book signing will also be held at the YAL Conference.

A new program will also be formally introduced during the Conference – YAL In Your Backyard – which aims to connect current and new members of local YAL communities in fellowship, faith and fun! This program is aimed to keep the excitement of the YAL ministry going and growing in between annual conferences. YAL In Your Backyard will rely upon the leadership of local YAL members to help organize periodic regional events, as well as a National Day of Service, where YAL members from all over mobilize to support a cause and make a positive impact on the greater community by serving those in need.

George Anagnostopoulos from Highland, CA is once again serving as the Conference Chairman. He is leading an outstanding group of young adults on the Executive Committee including: Marissa Hondros (CA), Eva-Marie Kailas (CA), Christiana Konugres (WA), Penelope and Chris Kyriazi (CA), Tasia Matty (CA), Niko Panagiotakopoulos (AZ), Yianna Papadeas (CA), Christos Schwarz (NJ), Christine Scolinos (CA), Marina Settelmayer (CA), Costa Theodore (AZ), Stavroula Tsantilas (WA), and Jenny Walters (CA). They are being mentored by advisors Honorable Steven and Stacia Counelis, who have been involved in YAL since the 1980’s and have been instrumental in its resurgence in the Metropolis of San Francisco since 2019. Also supporting this planning effort are staff members from the Metropolis of San Francisco: Kristen Bruskas – Director of Development and Communications; Johanna Carter – Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries; Paul Gikas – Director of Ministries and Administration; and Rev. Father Gary Kyriacou – Pastor of Youth and Young Adult Ministries.

“The talent and enthusiasm of this group of young adults is truly inspiring,” remarked His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos. “They are putting their heart and soul into planning this conference and are passionate about creating opportunities for young adults to live their faith and be empowered as Orthodox Christians and leaders for the church and society.”

See you in Phoenix!

Our Speakers

Profile Marianes2

Bill Marianes

Bill Marianes has been dubbed a “stewardship calling evangelist” and “the “Orthodox WHY guy” by the many Hierarchs, clergy, laity and churches he has been blessed to serve. He is the founder and “Chief Evangelist” for Stewardship Calling, a totally free ministry whose WHY is: “To help people and parishes discover and live their stewardship callings so that they may have a good account before the awesome judgment seat of Christ.”

For the last 15+ years, Bill has crisscrossed the United States and logged well over 350,000 miles inspiring and training Parishes, clergy and laity to understand what true Christian stewardship is, how to live their stewardship calling and reorganize and re-energize their Parishes using best practices. Bill has been blessed to lead the development of strategic plans for church jurisdictions, ministries and parishes that cover over 26% of all Orthodox Christians in America, and has delivered training for well over 600+ Parishes. His programs and materials are available at his always-free website: www.stewardshipcalling.com.

Prior to retiring early to start his full-time volunteer Stewardship Calling ministry, Bill was as a partner at two global law firms, McGuire Woods and Troutman Pepper, each of which have over 1,100 lawyers. He served in management in both firms. Bill was the Managing Partner of the McGuire Woods Atlanta office and was on the Executive Committee and Head of the Technology and Intellectual Property Practice Group at Troutman. He specialized in corporate work and mergers and acquisitions. He was a lead lawyer in the creation of CNN Headline News, the Georgia and North Carolina State Lotteries, Verizon Wireless in Atlanta, and the $3.3 Billion outsourcing technology joint venture between AT&T Global Information Services and Delta Airlines. He closed well over $10 billion of mergers and acquisitions and outsourcing deals.

Bill has two Stewardship Calling live internet radio shows and podcasts on the global Ancient Faith Radio platform: (https://www.ancientfaith.com/radio/live) that air the first Wednesday of every month and any month that has a fifth Sunday. He is also a founding member of a new, nonprofit, pan-Orthodox Christian ministry support and venture philanthropy fund, Orthodox Ministry Services who’s WHY is to help transform and improve Orthodox Church organizations, parishes, and ministries in order to strengthen the Body of Christ. https://orthodoxministry.org/.

Bill currently serves on the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops Secretariat and its Legal Committee; Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Archdiocese Council and Legal Committee; and is the General Counsel of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Atlanta and serves on its Metropolis Council. Bill was the Co-Chair of the 2010 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America National Clergy-Laity Congress in Atlanta. Bill is an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarch – Order of Saint Andrew and is a member of Leadership100. He has received numerous awards for his service to the Church and is highly respected for his work to further Orthodoxy.

Bill has been involved in filing several Amicus Briefs (“friend of the court briefs”) before the U.S. Supreme Court, Georgia Supreme Court and Texas Supreme Court in the areas of the separation of church and state and for the protection of religious and ethnic self-determination and freedoms.

In addition to his service to the Metropolis of Atlanta, he has also served extensively on his Parish Council of the Annunciation Cathedral of Atlanta and on numerous Parish committees, including the Executive Committee of the Parish’s “Project Faith” that completed over $13.5 million of new buildings on the Cathedral complex in Atlanta.

He has also served on the boards for several non-profit organizations in the Atlanta area, leading the development and implementation of capital campaigns. He is also an active member of AHEPA, where he previously served as international General Counselor, working on important projects including the reopening of the Halki Theological School and the reunification of Cyprus.

Bill was born in East Chicago, Indiana; however, he is a self-described “Southerner by choice” having lived in Atlanta and Gainesville, Georgia for the last 44 years. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Northwestern University, a Masters of Business Administration from Emory University’s Gozuetta Graduate School of Business and a Juris Doctorate from Emory University School of Law, all with honors.

Bill and his wife of 40 years, Audrey, have two daughters, Alexis who received her PhD from The Johns Hopkins University and completed post doctorate studies at the Medical University of South Carolina and who lives in the jungles of Trinidad & Tobago and Brazil performing cutting edge environmental and animal research, and Eliana, a graduate of Emory University, who is a professional actress.

Profile Louhs

Rev. Dr. Nicholas G. Louh and Roxanne Louh, Psy.D., PA

Rev. Dr. Nicholas G. Louh

The Reverend Dr. Nicholas Louh currently serves as the Senior Priest of St. John the Divine Greek Orthodox Church in Jacksonville, FL.

Fr. Nicholas is known in both local and global communities as a devoted pastor, motivational speaker, and compassionate champion for those in need, and a passionate advocate for interfaith dialogue and social justice. Fr. Nicholas has a heart for guiding people through the difficulties of everyday life, by providing practical means to bridge their faith into their everyday life.

He travels throughout the country leading retreats on understanding and living out God’s purpose. In addition to his role as pastor at St. John the Divine, Rev. Louh serves as the Vicar for the Eastern Florida Conference of the Holy Metropolis of Atlanta and is a member of the Metropolis Council as well as Communications Chairman of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Council.

In addition to his role as pastor at St. John the Divine, Rev. Louh serves as the Vicar for the Eastern Florida Conference of the Holy Metropolis of Atlanta and is a member of the Metropolis Council. He is also an Adjunct Professor of World Religions at the Florida State College at Jacksonville and is the chaplain for the Jacksonville Sharks Arena Football Team. He appears on WJCT radio as part of the “God Squad”, a monthly panel discussion broadcast program discussing a broad array of religious topics of current interest. He also proudly serves on several local and state boards, including OneJax, an interfaith organization. He is the co-host of a live call-in radio show with his wife, Dr. Roxanne Louh, called “Healthy Minds | Healthy Souls“, which can be found on Ancient Faith Radio on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month at 8pm. Rev. Louh also shares daily inspirational radio messages on 92.5 FM Sports Radio, as well as on local cable television.

He received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Florida, and his Master of Divinity and a Master of Theology from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Seminary in Brooklinee, MA. He then attended Gordon Cornwell Theological Seminary where he earned a Doctorate of Ministry (2003) with an emphasis on Pastoral Counseling in the urban ministry.

Rev. Louh and his wife Dr. Roxanne Louh have two children, George and Gabriella.

Presvytera Roxanne Louh, Psy.D., PA

Dr. Roxanne Louh, a native of Gainesville, is a licensed clinical psychologist in Jacksonville, Florida, where she uses her extensive training in private practice and as a speaker with expertise in a variety of concerns, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, marriage and parenting issues, and eating disorders, body image awareness, and women’s issues. She has presented to national groups, universities, area high schools, and churches across the country.

Dr. Louh is a highly regarded and respected figure in her profession through both her educational achievements and her training. She received her early education from the University of Florida, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology and a minor in food science and human nutrition. She earned her first Master of Science degree in Clinical Psychology at the University of Central Florida. Her second Master’s degree and her Doctorate are in clinical psychology from the Florida Institute of Technology. During her graduate work, Dr. Louh devoted much of her time to working within the college counseling arena, empowering women through body image awareness, whole body health, stress management, and emotional health. A residency at Virginia Commonwealth University and the Medical College of Virginia was followed by full-time work in clinical psychology at Baptist Medical Center in Jacksonville. Her position involved working in the outpatient practice and serving as the Clinical Director of Psychological Services at Wolfson’s Children’s Hospital’s (a part of Baptist Medical Center) treatment program for eating disorders. She opened her own private practice in 2006.

Dr. Louh continues to dedicate much of her time to community-wide presentations, reaching the public through various news media, social media, radio, educational talks, and blogs. She makes regular appearances as a guest expert on the show, “The Chat,” a local news show similar to “The View,” where four cohosts discuss current and newsworthy topics of the day. She strongly believes in the prevention of mental health issues through education and awareness. She is an established member of the American Psychological Association, and regularly contributes to a blog for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, entitled “Healthy Minds Healthy Souls.” Together, Dr. Louh and her husband co-host a bi-weekly radio show on Ancient Faith Radio, “Healthy Minds, Healthy Souls, Uncovering the Potential For Your Life.” Dr. Louh lives in Jacksonville with her husband, Fr. Nicholas and their two children, George and Gabriella.