Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States

Southern Coptic Diocese "Youth for Christ" 2014 Award

November 29, 2013

COLLEYVILLE, TX. November 29, 2013 -- Southern Coptic Diocese "Youth for Christ" Award - Sharing our Faith

"We believe in one Lord, one faith, one baptism..." (Ephesians 4:5)

"Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit..." (Matthew 28:19)

For this year's Youth for Christ Award, we invite young people (both high school and college level) to form church teams to engage in a research and community outreach evangelical project and report on this activity.

In America there are many denominations within Christianity. There is also a lack of knowledge and understanding of the Orthodox Christian faith both within and outside of the church and community.

The goal of this contest is to encourage the Coptic youth to learn more about their orthodox faith/tradition and great contributions to Christianity made by our church, strengthen their faith and subsequently share this faith/knowledge with others. The Coptic Orthodox church is rich in apostolic tradition and has contributed greatly to the theology of Christianity via ecumenical councils, doctrines, dogma and experientially through the Orthodox liturgical life.

The project this year will consist of a 2 major elements. The first is a research portion which will require a focus on Orthodox liturgical life/dogma/doctrine of the Coptic Church as well as living examples of saints of the church applying this to their own life and how this is critical to our life. The second portion would be developing a survey which will be used to outreach to both the youth within the church and the local community. This survey will need to be administered as a way of introducing others to the Orthodox faith and should include questions about church history, contributions of the Coptic church to Christian theology and the liturgical/sacremental life. Survey should be administered at Sunday school and or youth group meetings within the Coptic community and at malls, college or high school campus for outreach. The survey should be done in yes/no answer format and should be the avenue in which to open dialogue to others. This survey is a critical piece to this project and will need to be submitted and reviewed before implementing. Please note this is due no later than March 30th 2014. (see below)

Each team shall consist of a minimum of 3 youths and a maximum of 5 registered youths, who must be either high school or college age. Teams are encouraged to get others involved to reap the blessing of service. The team has full autonomy on how it operates and should be self directed. The results, however must include:

  1. A report in a written, sound or video form or a combination of them and include the project title along with a copy of the survey and various roles of the team members

  2. The impact the project had on both the participating youth, team members and those being surveyed.

  3. Obstacles, and how they overcame in a Christian approach

  4. Personal reflection (individual, or team) on the change this project brought to understanding and sharing your faith including gaps that the team discovered about their own understanding and interior spiritual life

    • The first place church team consisting of up to 5 registered members will be attending the Diocese Youth Convention completely free (including travel) and a trophie for the church.

    • The second and third place church teams will be given awards.

    • Each contestant will receive a certificate signed by HG Bishop Youssef that he/she successfully participated in the contest.

    • Each Church is encouraged to support their youth, by having youth leaders oversee, co-ordinate and help guide the youth with suggestions for projects.

    • Each Church is encouraged to hold a ceremony for all of the church contestants and give additional awards of the priest choice.

Deadlines

  • February 2, 2014: Registration of team with names of members
  • March 30, 2014: Research topic and Survey are due.
  • May 27, 2014: Paper/and or Video/Audio synopsis is due.
  • June 25, 2014: Winners announced.

Submission Guidelines
The Paper and or Video/Audio synopsis should also include:

  • Biblical Wisdom (Quotes from Old and New Testament supporting Orthodox liturgical/sacremental/dogma/doctrine)

  • Patristic Wisdom (Applicable Quotes from the Sayings of the Church Fathers)

  • Practical Application (A detailed account of the research project, survey and various roles of the team members)

  • Illustrates Impact (how the research project, survey development and community outreach impacted the contestants spiritual lives and the potential witnessed impact on those who were served)

  • If submitting Video/audio, please make sure it is in a universal listening/viewing format. (ie: both PC and Mac). Uploading videos to Vimeo and sending the link works best.

To Participate

  • Register on the Southern Coptic Diocese Website (No registration fee - max 5 youths per team, 1 team per church). In parts of the Diocese where there may be a paucity of youth, youths may combine to form 1 team and represent 2 churches with a max of 5 youths). Click here to register.

  • Send submissions to: youthcontest@suscopts.org

Review Process and Awards

  • Synopsis Papers/video/audio will be peer reviewed first, then the top 5 will be reviewed by a board.

  • Each Church will submit his/her paper by the deadline and list all the team members names.

  • Judges will give a score based on meeting criteria listed above

  • HG Bishop Youssef will be reviewing the top 5 final team submissions

  • Winning submission will be published on the diocese website

  • Funds this year were donated to subsidize the 1st place church team attendance of the convention.

  • Ceremony for Award will be made in the winning churches

  • 1st Place church Team consisting of 5 members will attend the annual youth retreat completely free.

This contest is open to High School and College Youth