Fr Nicholas, Mr Constantine Baltas, President of the Greek Orthodox Community of Oakleigh and districts, honorable members of the Church committee and the Philoptohos, Mr Ivan Papadopoulos College Principal, dear parents, youth, ladies and gentlemen.

On behalf of the Greek Orthodox Youth Association of Oakleigh, I warmly welcome you to our third annual luncheon. Once again this year, we are given the opportunity to gather together in this hall and share a common meal, while at the same time your presence here today supports the efforts of the Youth Association to preserve and instill in today’s youth the values of Hellenism and Orthodoxy.

It is great honour to present to you all the Youth Association’s achievements throughout the last year. Every Tuesday night, members of the youth, who come from all around Melbourne, attend the Youth Group meetings where a number of topics relating to our Orthodox Christian Faith, traditions and culture are discussed and the youth are given the opportunity to raise questions. This is an opportunity for the youth to gather together in an environment where common goals and beliefs are shared.

Our youth library, which has now been functioning for over one and a half years, is continually being enriched through the purchase of new Greek and English books. This year the Youth Association spent around $2000 on new books, as well as accepting books that have been donated. These books continue to be a source of knowledge and spiritual edification for the youth. Our aim as a Youth Association, is to provide something more than just a youth library, our aim is to make our library an Orthodox Resource Center, making it shortly available to the members of the wider community.

Cornerstone is now in its fourth year of publication and our 22nd issue will be printed soon. It provides the youth with articles about our Orthodox Christian Faith and way of life. It is published every two months and it is distributed free. At the beginning of this year, the Youth Association took the initiative to publish Cornerstone on the Internet. By doing so, every single article published in Cornerstone is available for people to read from all around the world.

In May of 1997 last year, the Youth Association circulated a booklet called “A Guide for Every Orthodox Christian – An Anti-Heretical Manual”. During the last year, copies of this booklet have been purchased from various states around Australia, from Greece and America and it has been well received.

By your presence here today, you help us continue our work. All proceeds from today’s luncheon will be used to cover costs associated with the publication of Cornerstone as well as to enrich and expand our library. We would like to thank you all very much for your ongoing support and for being here with us today. We would especially like to thank all those people who, by providing their services, or by donating prizes have contributed to the success of the luncheon.

I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of our youth to thank our spiritual father, Fr Nicholas, for continuously providing us with his guidance, support and time. Somehow, given all of his responsibilities, he still manages to dedicate his precious time to us. We would also like to thank Presbytera for allowing him to offer us this time. We pray to the Lord, that they be given strength and courage to carry on.

Thank you. (Jim Kakavas Vice-President)