From May 30 to June 1, a youth symposium entitled "Orthodox Identity in America" was held at St. Mary of Egypt Church in Atlanta, GA.

The symposium was a continuation of the 14th All-Diaspora Youth Congress in Stuttgart, the theme of which was "Preserving Orthodox Identity & Heritage Abroad." This time, participants’ attention was focused on the life of Orthodox youth in the southern part of the U.S., the so-called Bible Belt, which includes the states of the South and parts of the Midwest, including Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Florida, where many symposium participants hailed from. Young people from Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, and California also attended – a total of 60 people aged 18 to 25.

It should be noted that the Bible Belt is a region of the United States that is characterized mostly by conservative Protestantism, including Southern Baptist, Methodist, and Evangelical traditions. The Bible Belt is known for having a higher percentage of people who regularly attend church than other regions of the country. At the same time, in recent years, many young people have converted to Orthodoxy.

Surprisingly, the majority of seminar participants were young people, students and university graduates; girls were in the minority, albeit barely. Almost all of them are recent American converts, as well as immigrants from Ukraine and Russia living in the United States. Many have non-Orthodox parents, and some have already converted their parents to Orthodoxy.

On Friday evening, May 30, the symposium began with an evening of introductions, and on Saturday, the full symposium program was organized for the participants. The organizers of the symposium are the St. Prince Vladimir Youth Association and the parish of St. Mary of Egypt in Roswell (Atlanta).

The keynote speaker, Bishop James of Sonora, who converted to Orthodoxy at the same age as the symposium participants, shared his experience of coming to the Orthodox Faith and growing in spiritual life. It was relevant and useful for the youth to talk with a bishop who had followed the same path.

Priest Peter Markevich (rector of Holy Trinity Church in Mebane, NC) focused his report on missionary and youth work in the parish. Unlike Bishop James, Fr. Peter was born into an Orthodox family in San Francisco; he served in the church from childhood, served as a deacon in Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY for over 10 years, and is currently engaged in active missionary work with new converts.

Unlike the East and West Coasts, there are not many Orthodox parishes in the South, and parishioners sometimes must travel 1½-2 hours to get to church. But the main thing is not to live in isolation, says the organizer of the symposium, Archpriest Andrei Sommer. Fr. Andrei held a master class for the youth on the topic of young people's participation in various spheres of parish life, building the parish from within and at the same time showing themselves, their talents and abilities.

On June 1, the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, the hierarchal Liturgy was served in the church, celebrated by Bishop James, co-served by the parish and visiting clergy. Symposium participants served in the altar and sang in the choir. Almost all the worshippers – more than 150 people – received Christ’s Holy Mysteries.

During the work of the youth symposium, podcasts were recorded, which can be viewed on the website of the Youth Association of St. Prince Vladimir here.

www.youthpv.org