St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival
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The Chrysostom Scholarship for Hellenic College
Purpose & Structure of the SJCOF
2013 Information for Parish Festival Chairs
Preparing for a Local Oratorical Festival
It's time to begin preparing for the 2013 St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival—download the list of Topics, Tips, and Resources for the Elementary, Junior, and Senior Divisions!
Be in the know! Like our St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival Facebook page to be notified immediately when topics are available.
Introduced in 1983, the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival provides Greek Orthodox teenagers the opportunity to write and talk about their faith. The Oratorical Festival Program begins at the parish level and is divided into three divisions:
- Elementary Division (local festival only) for students in grades 4–6
- Junior Division for students in grades 7–9
- Senior Division for student in grades 10–12
The top speakers in the Junior and Senior Divisions advance to the district level. Two finalists in each district division represent the district at the Metropolis Oratorical Festival. The top speaker in each metropolis division is then selected to participate in the Archdiocese Finals, which is hosted by a different metropolis each year.
All eighteen finalists at the Archdiocese Finals participate in a weekend of activities, the highlight of which is the delivery of their speeches on Saturday morning. The Oratorical Festival Scholarship Fund provides college scholarships to the top speakers. In 2012, the top three speakers of each division received college scholarships of $2,000, $1,500 and $1,000. This year, each Honorable Mention speaker was awarded an iPad2.
Fr. John and Presvytera Margaret Orfanakos serve as the Archdiocese Festival Co-Chairs.
On June 7-9, 2013, the 30th National Oratorical Festival will be hosted by the Metropolis of Detroit at the Annunciation Church in Memphis, Tennessee! Click on the News Release for more information.
On June 8–10, 2012, the National Oratorical Festival was hosted by the Metropolis of New Jersey at St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Bethesda, Maryland. Read the top speeches and see pictures from the festival on page 25 of the July/August 2012 issue of the Orthodox Observer.
The Chrysostom Scholarship for Hellenic College
- Informational Flyer
- Letter to Parents
- Letter to Chairpersons
- Hellenic College Finalist Scholarship Form
2013 Information for Parish Festival Chairs
- 2013 National Festival
- SJCOF Manual (pdf)
- 2013 Topic List (pdf)
- 2013 Topics, Tips & Resources (pdf)
- Direct Archdiocesan District
- Metropolis of Atlanta
- Metropolis of Boston
- Metropolis of Chicago
- Metropolis of Denver
- Metropolis of Detroit
- Metropolis of New Jersey
- Metropolis of Pittsburgh
- Metropolis of San Francisco
Preparing for a Local Oratorical Festival
The Holy Resurrection Greek Orthodox Church in Brookville, NY, has held one of the more successful Oratorical Festival programs in our Archdiocese. A key to their success has been excellent organization and ongoing contact by the festival's chairperson with everyone involved at the local level, as well as with the District, Metropolis, and Archdiocese.
The Department is very grateful to Mrs. Vivian Casil for sharing a set of downloadable (pdf) letters and handouts used by the Resurrection parish that you might find helpful as you organize your parish Oratorical Festival.
