Youth Group

Our Youth Group generally meets at the church on Sunday evenings from 6-7:30pm.
But times and days may vary due to special events, projects and activities.
We focus on four themes of study and activities throughout the year:
Spirituality and Faith, Mission and Service, Fellowship and Fun, Education and Study.
Our activities might include serving dinner at the St. Francis Dining Hall,
raking lawns for older members of the congregation in the fall,
participating in the SOLV Beach Clean-up,
putting on a Halloween carnival for the community to benefit UNICEF.
We have Bible studies together.
We also might study the faith and culture of
other countries of the world with members of the congregation
who have traveled or lived there.
We annually attend special worship services to remember
the work and dreams of Martin Luther King, Jr.
We celebrate Super Bowl Sunday by making it Souper Bowl Sunday.
We serve soup to the congregation and collect donations
to feed the hungry of our community.
We participate in the life of the congregation
by attending and participating in worship,
singing in the choir,
helping at all-church events,
and participating in the annual Christmas Pageant.

We also just play together by going to the movies
and eating our way around town on our
Christmas Progressive Dinner.

The highlight of our year is the Annual Youth Summer Mission Trip.

Each summer, the youth serve another church or community,
generally on the west coast,
by doing work they are unable to do for or by themselves.

We have, however, traveled as far as New Mexico and, in 2006,
to the Mississippi Gulf Coast to work in the Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts.
The youth select the site location and project early each year
and set about raising the funds for the trip’s expenses.
Fundraisers include the traditional car washes but so much more.
We bake and sell cinnamon rolls,
we cook and serve a five-course dinner around a special theme,
put on a Mardi Gras pancake supper,
run a snack shop at the annual church rummage sale,
collect bottles and cans, and we sell “shares.”
The youth spend many hours working hard to raise these funds
so that no student is eliminated from experiencing the
mission trip due to limited family funds.
We all work for the funds to pay for the trip expenses for all of us.

When we return from our Mission Trip
we share our experiences with the congregation and
express our thanks for their support by leading worship,
serving them a fabulous spaghetti dinner and
showing pictures and movies of what we did.

We always have room for more young people interested in learning about and exploring their faith in a comfortable environment with caring friends.

If you are interested in learning more about our programs for youth please feel free to contact:

Beth Keys, Director of Youth and Children’s Ministries.

Email: bethk@laurelpres.org Phone: 503-232-9129 (Church)

503-620-9308 (Home) 503-351-7726 (Cell)