Dear GOYA Members and Parents of Saint George

August 2017

Dear GOYA Members and Parents of Saint George:

I pray that your summer was a relaxing one and your return back to our St. George will be full of vitality and vigor. Your absence during the summer months was truly felt, especially by me.

It is important for you to know that our new GOYA program for 2017-18, will begin on Sunday, September 10th, 2017. Towards the end of the Liturgy we will have the newly elected officers of the GOYA come up to take the oath of office so that they may be properly and officially installed. At the end of the Divine Liturgy ALL the GOYANS, (current and new) along with their parents (which is a must), will gather in the Memorial Room for our first meeting of the New Ecclesiastical Year, and to have breakfast which is traditionally hosted by the parents of all the seniors in the organization.

As you are aware, our Sunday School program does not end at 8th grade any longer, but will continue all the way up to 12th grade. There are no exceptions to this program. If you want to be a participating member of our GOYA program you must be and attend our Sunday School Program on a regular basis. We have established an excellent program for grades 10th, 11th & 12th with two excellent teachers, Mrs. Meropi Martini and Mr. Peter Combates. Those students, who have graduated from our Sunday school already, obviously have no obligation to attend or to participate in this very important program. I do however, encourage and advise those students to attend this class because it will be very informative and very useful later on in your lives.

On Sunday, September 10th, will be the first day of Sunday School. All students who are part of our Sunday School Program, which includes our Senior High Class, except for those who have graduated in the past, will register, attend and participate in their respective class until such time you will be asked to go into Church to participate in the Divine Liturgy with the rest of the congregation. At that time you will enter the Church and come down from the left aisle of the Church to the front where there will be reserved for you about 4 pews. I fervently ask that when attending your Sunday School class, that you be in class no later than 10:30 a.m., so that you will be able to have at least a full hour of class. Your teachers will be instructed that throughout the school year they will be taking attendance. Attendance will be strictly enforced because this will determine whether or not you will be eligible to participate in the athletic program, Sights and Sounds and the Junior Olympics.

At this meeting we will bring to your attention The Rules and Policies of GOYA, and what is required of you as a member. Please keep in mind that the program of GOYA is not a secular organization but rather a religious organization with some social activities that are part of the program. We ask that all of you follow these rules and policies of GOYA so that there can be uniformity within the organization.

I pray that you will be able to afford us your cooperation as well as your parent’s cooperation so that we together may be able to fulfill our holy mission as a GOYA organization.

We are enclosing for your benefit, a copy of the GOYA membership registration form, the Rules and Policies, health/permission form, parent volunteer form and September calendar. Please read it very carefully and complete the form as a family. Once signing the form you will be indicating to us, Father

Nick and GOYA Advisors that you have understood what is asked of you and that you have every intention of following and obeying these rules and regulations. If you are a new member of GOYA, we will need a copy of your birth certificate. All completed registration material will be handed in at the first GOYA meeting in September, along with your dues of $30.00 which will go towards one of our yearly philanthropic events.

NO ONE WILL BE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE GOYA PROGRAM IN TOTAL, UNTIL ALL REGISTRATION FORMS HAVE BEEN PROPERLY COMPLETED, SIGNED AND HANDED IN.

We look forward to your participation and we are very excited with the upcoming events for this new calendar year.

On behalf of the St George Parish Council and GOYA Advisors, I wish all of you all my best wishes and blessings.

Reverend Father Nicholas Pastrikos

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1101 River Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854 * Tel. 732-463-1642, Fax 732-699-9309