WHAT IS PARENT UNIVERSITY?
Join us for Parent University, a unique opportunity to deepen your understanding of the challenges today’s youth face and learn how to guide them with wisdom and faith as Orthodox Christian parents. This transformative program is thoughtfully organized into three engaging sessions, each addressing critical issues that impact our children and teens in the modern world.
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Through these sessions, we will explore topics such as the effects of technology and social media on spiritual growth, the pressures of secular culture, and the importance of fostering authentic relationships and meaningful faith practices at home. Each session is designed to provide practical tools, proven strategies, and a supportive community of fellow parents who are committed to raising resilient, grounded, and faithful Orthodox Christians.
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Whether you are seeking guidance, encouragement, or new insights, Parent University will empower you to navigate today’s challenges with confidence, helping you nurture your children’s faith and values in a world that often pulls them in the opposite direction. Don’t miss this chance to strengthen your parenting journey and ensure your family grows in Christ-centered love and understanding.
WHAT IS PARENT UNIVERSITY?
A Parent University program is crucial in a church setting because it equips parents with the spiritual, emotional, and practical tools needed to raise children in a Christ-centered way amid the challenges of modern life. Parents are the primary role models and educators of faith for their children, and a church-led initiative can strengthen their ability to fulfill this role effectively. Here are some reasons why such a program is essential:
1. Strengthening the Domestic Church
In Orthodox Christianity, the family is often referred to as the “domestic church.” A Parent University program helps parents understand their role as spiritual leaders in the home, guiding their children in prayer, Scripture, and the sacraments. It fosters stronger family bonds rooted in faith.
2. Navigating Modern Challenges
Today’s children face unique challenges, from navigating digital technology and peer pressure to dealing with secular worldviews. Parents often feel ill-equipped to address these issues. Parent University provides practical strategies and Orthodox perspectives to help parents lead their children through these difficulties with wisdom and the Orthodox faith.
3. Building a Faithful Community
A Parent University program creates a sense of community among parents, offering them a supportive space to share experiences, challenges, and solutions. This shared journey fosters stronger relationships within the parish and a collective effort to raise children in the Orthodox faith.
4. Promoting Lifelong Faith Formation
Faith formation doesn’t end with Sunday School or youth programs—it’s a lifelong journey. Parent University emphasizes the importance of parents actively engaging in their own spiritual growth to model Christ-centered living for their children.
5. Partnering with Church Ministries
Church ministries, from Sunday School to youth programs, thrive when parents are actively involved and aligned with their goals. A Parent University bridges the gap between the home and church, ensuring consistency in the messages and values children receive.
6. Fostering Future Leaders of Faith
Children who grow up with strong spiritual foundations are more likely to stay connected to their faith as adults and become active leaders within the church. By empowering parents, the church invests in the future of its community.
children in the Orthodox faith.
Orthodox Youth & Young Adult Ministries (OYM) is here to empower, partner, and walk with parents as well as lay and ordained ministry leaders – at a jurisdictional, regional, and local level – as they seek to bring young people into an ever-deepening sense of who they are in Christ. Our Why: To bring young people into the fullness of Christian Community so they may be transfigured in Christ. How: We help prepare the Orthodox faithful guide young people into personal encounters with God where He reveals His truth.
The Family Synaxis of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago is a ministry committed to strengthening the bond of families through Orthodox praxis, or practice. Through workshops and discussions, fellowship and, above all, our assembly as the worshipping Body of Christ, the Family Synaxis seeks to fulfill its mission instilling “The Church in the Home.”
The Family Synaxis organizes the following events each ecclesiastical year:
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A family retreat over Labor Day weekend with an Orthodox speaker, small group discussions, children’s sessions, family activities, and worship, held at the St. Iakovos Retreat Center (SIRC);
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A couples’ weekend retreats, and men’s and women’s weekend retreats, with Orthodox speakers, group discussion, private reflection, prayer, and worship, held at the SIRC;
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A family Lenten retreat on the third Saturday of Lent with an Orthodox speaker, group discussion, children’s sessions, and worship, hosted by a different parish each year; and
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“Parenting University,” a series of Friday evening adult-only sessions with Orthodox speakers on topics relevant to parents, hosted by different parishes.
The Family Synaxis began its ministry in 2001 and has ministered to hundreds of families throughout the years. All Family Synaxis events are open to the entire Orthodox Christian community of the Metropolis of Chicago.
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PARENT UNIVERSITY SESSIONS 2025-2026
THEME: FROM FAITH FOR FAITH - CASTING THE NET OF CHRIST (ROMANS 1:17)
This year’s Parent University sessions focus on helping the Church’s faith move from being known to being lived—passing the life of Christ “from faith to faith” to the next generation. In a world where many are like fish swimming in circles, aware of God but not yet anchored in Him, these sessions give parents, children, and the parish community practical tools and encouragement to grow deeply in Christ. Through inspiring talks, interactive discussions, and shared wisdom, participants will learn how to cast nets of faith—drawing themselves, their children, and the community closer to the life-giving waters of the Church.
SESSION ONE: PARENTS - CASTING THE NET OF FAITH | DECEMBER 3
Parents are the first fishermen in the spiritual lives of their children. This session invites mothers and fathers to cast their own nets into the waters of the Church through the voice of a speaker who will share Orthodox teaching and personal testimony. Parents will explore how renewing their own faith can ripple out to their families, creating a home where Christ is lived authentically. Together, we’ll reflect on how personal commitment becomes a net that gathers others into the abundant life of Christ.
SESSION TWO: CHILDREN - CASTING NETS OF YOUNG HEARTS | MARCH 12 2026
Children are not just the future of the Church—they are active participants in the current of God's grace, learning to live fully in His Church today. This session equips parents with practical tools for nurturing their children’s spiritual lives. We’ll explore ways to help young hearts grow strong in prayer, joy, and devotion, creating nets of faith that hold firm in both calm and stormy waters. Parents will leave ready to guide their children toward spiritual resilience, emotional tenderness, and deep connection with the Church.
SESSION THREE: COMMUNITY - CASTING NETS TOGETHER | MAY 2, 2026
Raising children in the Church belongs to the whole parish family, because every child is truly “our child.” In this closing session, a panel of voices will highlight how every generation, ministry, and relationship casts nets that nurture, guide, and support young people in their journey of faith. Together, we’ll examine how the beauty of our worship, the care of our relationships, and the consistency of our witness draw the entire parish into God’s life-giving waters. Participants will explore practical ways to ensure that no child drifts alone, that each young heart feels the embrace of the wider Church, and that the nets we cast together hold strong in both calm and turbulent times. We will leave inspired to be a parish community where everyone—young and old, parents and mentors, friends and teachers—actively casts nets that bring life, love, and faithfulness to the next generation.