Fellowship of Orthodox Youth in Estonia

The founding assembly of the Fellowship of Orthodox Youth in Estonia
(FOYE) was held on 25th of august 1999 in Haapsalu.
Twelve young persons from different parishes were the founders; seven have since become clergymen.
The heavenly patrons of the EOYL are St. Myrrhbearer Mary the Magdalene and St. martyr Basil of Saatse.

History

The historical roots of the Orthodox Church on the Estonian soil extend over ten centuries.
The Orthodoxy in this land has seen both better and worse times during these centuries.
But through the difficulties we have grown and come to today’s reality, which is a living
Orthodox Church of Estonia with her parishes and clergy, the young and the old, joys and
sorrows. God has granted us His grace so that the Estonian Orthodox tradition can develop
anew. As in a forest there are both young trees, full of life, and old ones, so in the Church
there are different age groups. If you cut the young stand, old trees will remain, doomed to
die soon anyway. Our Church, which has survived the devastating years of Soviet occupation,
is just comparable of such a forest. Due to the Communist ideology, much of our parishes are
devoid of young generations. Our faithful are mostly over middle age or older.

Our families have nearly lost the ecclesiastical-cultural continuity or traditions, which are the
cornerstones of all the Church. We know that continuity can be born only gradually, from generation
to generation. This is why we consider children’s and youth work so important both on the parish
level and the level of organization. To facilitate this work in parishes we have founded our Orthodox
youth organization, the EOYL.

The Present Day

Our Fellowship has existed for almost seven years now. Various events, camps and courses have been
organized during that period. Also, our young people have been able to visit the Church youth in Finland,
Poland, Greece and other places. You can look the activities link to see information about these and the
forthcoming events.

From 2004 the Church has her camping site, which has mostly been administered and kept in order by
the FOYE. Also, the youth of Helsinki parish have used this camp.

In last years, we have published printed matter to help the parish Sunday schools.

We are expecting the parish youth of OCE to take part in an active, creative and hard-working way both
in the FOYE activities and in the founding and continuing of the children’s and youth work in each own
parish. The FOYE can offer its experiences and help.

The mission of our organization is to strengthen the Orthodox Church of Estonia, to assemble the young in
the parishes and to inspire the young to study so as to protect them from harmful influences.

The goals of the FOYE are:
to strengthen the ties of the young with the parishes,
to arrange activities, camps and religious instruction for children and youth;
to advance cooperation with other ecclesiastical youth organizations (Syndesmos, ONL of Finland etc.);
to be in communication with the society directly or through media.

The Activities of Year 2007/2008

September
22. visit to Räpina parish
29. General Assembly in Tallinn

October
13. music and poetry evening in Tallinn
21. visit to Tartu parish
26.-28. Moonlight-camp in Helsinki parish, Finland

November
16.-18. Youth-camp in Valamo Monastery, Finland

December
Christmas meetings around the Estonia

January
2.-4. Sports and prayer camp in Aravete
12. The eating of St. Basil’s Pie (Vassilopitta)

Vebruary
Camp of the FOYE active
Sunday of Orthodoxy in Kohila

March
visit to Värska parish
April
singing camp in Saaremaa Island
May
2.-4. work camp in Karula
June
25.-27. Pilgrimage in Hiiumaa Island
July
7.-12. family camp in Karula
International Youth Camp "Orthodoxy and environment" in Värska

August
Youth Camp in Greece
forest camp (place is open)