Parish Night

We meet at St. Mary’s from 6:15-8:00 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month. Join us for a prayer service, dinner, break-out group sessions (HOPE/JOY, Junior GOYA, Senior GOYA, and Adults), and wrap up. All are welcome to come!

For more specific information, please contact our Youth Director, Jon Klein, jon@stmarysgoc.org.

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Sunday Church School

Our Sunday Church School begins following Holy Communion and lasts approximately 45 minutes, ending at 11:30 a.m. We follow the OCEC (Orthodox Christian Education Commission) curriculum.

If you have questions about Church School, please contact the Church Office, 612.825.9595. We welcome your questions!

New students are always welcome.

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Vacation Church School

VCS for 2020 may have been cancelled…BUT, we’ll be back next year, better than ever!

VCS is for kids three-years old (toilet trained) to grade six in the fall.

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Greek Dance Troupe

The Minneapolis St. Mary’s Hellenic Youth Dance Program was originally established in 2005 by three veteran Greek dance instructors, Tessie Bourdamis (current director), Rena Tsengas (now retired), and the late Christina Sacorafas. In this initial year, there were a dozen students participating in the program. Over these many years, the dance program has continued to evolve and be open to all youth of our St. Mary’s community from the ages of six to twenty.

Dance classes are held throughout the year at St. Mary’s where students learn and practice a multitude of traditional dances from the various regions of mainland Greece as well as the many island groups. Dressed in native Greek costumes, our students perform with precision and enthusiasm, at our annual St.Mary’s Greek Festival in September, our Greek Independence Day program in March, as well as at other special occasions in our community and cultural functions at schools in the greater community. We are blessed and proud that our Greek dance program continues to grow in numbers, support, and popularity. We currently have forty boys and girls who perform over thirty Greek dances and have become proud “ambassadors” of their Hellenic heritage through music and dance. Opa!

Come and join us! All youth ages 6-20 “something” are invited to participate in this great program! Dancers perform annually at the Greek Festival and the Greek Independence Day celebration in March! Contact Tessie Bourdamis for practice schedules and more information: (952) 831-3529.

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GOYA Basketball

In 1946, the Youth Club of Duluth, Minnesota, challenged the Minneapolis Youth Club to a basketball game over a weekend. So many young people took the chartered bus to Duluth and the enthusiasm and success of this event was so pronounced that Minneapolis, in 1947 invited not only Duluth but the Greek Orthodox youth from all over Minnesota for a state –wide youth rally. Over 300 attended.

Since then, annual tournaments have been held each year since 1948. In 1951, the first annual GOYA Basketball Tournament was held with Minneapolis crowned as the first ever champions. In 1953, a distinct queen contest was inaugurated. Choir festivals had been held, seal and emblem contests staged, to mention a few activities.

Today the tradition continues with Orthodox communities from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas participating in the annual tournament, which now has been named the “Metropolis of Chicago Western Region Family Basketball Tournament.”

For more information about the tournament, visit www.greekbball.org or visit the Facebook page