WOBURN, MA – The Metropolis of Boston and Annunciation Church hosted this year’s 34th annual St. John Chrysostom National Oratorical Festival the weekend of June 9-11, 2017.

The annual event, sponsored by the Archdiocese Department of Religious Education, features young people in grades 7-12 who speak on selected topics relating to the Orthodox Christian faith.

The 18 speakers, one each from the senior level (grades 10-12) and junior category (grades 7-9), represented each metropolis and Direct Archdiocesan District.

Each finalist received scholarship awards from the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival Scholarship Fund and from FAITH: An Endowment for Orthodoxy and Hellenism.

The Oratorical Festival Scholarships, awarded to the first three places in each division were: First Place, $2,000; Second Place: $1,500; and Third Place: $1,000. All other finalists received $500 each and honorable mention certificates.

First Place Senior Division winner is Victoria Martine (right) from Holy Trinity Church Indianapolis-Carmel, Indiana and First Place Junior Division winner is Stephen Kaelin (left) from St. George Church, Eugene, Oregon

Presvytera Margaret Orfanakos, along with her husband of blessed memory, Fr. John Orfanakos co-founded the festival in 1983, and serves as chairman of the Archdiocese National Oratorical Festival.

The Rev. Dr. Anton Vrame is the director of the Archdiocese Department of Religious Education.