A Message from our Youth Ministries Team
If you’re looking here, you must be interested in seeing what we have going on or you've just arrived here by mistake. Even if you got here by mistake, check it out. You just may be interested in some of the stuff we do. Or, better yet, come visit in person. We would love to meet you. You and/or your parents can call or email us if you have questions about what we do inside and outside of the walls at Second Pres."
God Bless you, Youth Ministry Committee
Second Pres youth group has lots of cool ways for youth (6th through 12th grade) to have fun, grow spiritually and socially, and serve our church and community. Middle School (referred to as the Jesus Freaks) and Senior High (referred to as The J Crew) youth meet separately for Sunday school and weekly youth group. There are other “kickin” activities each month too. And, your voice means something here! Most of what we do stems from ideas of participating youth. We would love to have you join us.
Almost all in house youth activities are held in the "youth area" downstairs. This area is newly renovated and furnished by youth for youth. There are some giant bean bags, Foosball table, cafe area to chill and a smart board for lessons and doodling :) We call the whole downstairs "Crossroads" and the youth area "Glory's Edge". Just ask someone where the steps are and turn right at the bottom of the steps. When you hit the big round room - you're there!!
New in 2013 is a youth inspired, youth led worship experience. Held on the second Sunday of each month in the Glory's Edge, worship begins at 10:30 and offers a contemporary, relaxed worship experience for young and old, led by our Crossroads Band made up of youth from Second Pres. All are welcome.
Sunday Mornings at Second
The J Crew (Senior High) Sunday School -We are learning about God's love, growing in our faith, and how to make good choices through some pretty crazy activities! Come break the fast of the night with us at 8:30am. This is your reward for getting up and getting here on time. Share time with us learning, questioning, and discerning God's will for us! We really have fun doing this!. Learn some scriptures and be prepared when temptation strikes. The scripture you learn will guide you through those temptations.
Wednesday Evenings at Second
Jesus Freaks (Middle School) and J Crew (Senior High) youth group meets every Wednesday from 6 - 7:30 p.m. during the school year. Wednesdays are about letting off some steam, hearing a good message, catchin’ up, and planning. There’s some free time to play games, talk, dance, draw, or whatever. We do some team building games and have a lesson or listen to a good message. We also spend some time talking about stuff. We talk about life, things we've done, things we want to do, and how it fits into our church life.
Over the summer things work a little different....
SOFT (Summer Of Fellowship Time) is our summer program which meets Mondays and Thursday from 9am to 4pm for the month of July (except July 9th and 12th). The day includes Bible Study (Romans), service work at the church or Project SHARE, and afternoons of fun (swimming, Wii, picnics, etc).
Fellowship (good Christian fun) is so needed for youth!! There is so much pressure: do this, do that. So we just take some time to do some FUN things.
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Laser tag
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Bowling
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Tubing,
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Second Pres. youth go to an annual youth conference, ATF (Acquire the Fire) which is tons of fun with great bands, spiritual messages, and lots of "hang out" time. We get to stay in a hotel (with a pool) and eat out!!
Oh, but there’s more……………
We like to serve and believe that we are God’s hands and feet through our service. We feel good about our work, and it means so much to those whom we serve. Did I mention that it’s fun?
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We serve our church in worship services, helping in Children’s Church and nursery, helping with VBS, cleaning, and singing.
- We serve our community in a relationship with Project SHARE. We help with distribution (giving out food to those in need) every month, gleaning (harvesting crops donated by local farmers), and other needs that they may have throughout the year.
- We serve our Presbytery (a group of 52 Presbyterian churches) at Camp Krislund every Good Friday to help get the camp ready for summer (sse Camp Krislund below).
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Second Pres. youth staff the local soup kitchen on a Saturday in March.
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Every August we serve a week at The Pittsburgh Project helping the elderly, poor, and disabled with home maintenance and repair.
- For the past several years, Youth along with adults traveled to Cerro Azul and worked with a very poor community as part of Second Presbyterian Church's five-year commitment to this community in Honduras. We built homes, outhouses and mostly relationships. The youth ran a VBS (Vacation Bible school) in the afternoons for the children. Another youth trip to Honduras is planned for 2014.
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We sponsor a three-year-old adorable child (Fernando) from Honduras,
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Sleeping outside the Saturday before Thanksgiving has become a tradition to raise money and awareness for homeless and the work of Safe Harbour through "One Night Without a Home,”
Camp Krislund – Each year we send a group of great kids and adults to Camp Krislund, near State College, Pa. This Presbyterian camping experience is a high-point of many people’s summers (and their spiritual journeys!). Kids from Kindergarten through Senior High participate in the high-energy, high-adventure, Christ-centered programming while adults volunteer in various parts of the camp. Kids can come without their parents; parents can come without kids; in short, Krislund week is for the whole church family. Pastor Jeff serves as the chaplain the week of July 7 to 12, 2013 which is when most of our campers attend. However there are other weeks to go. For more information see Krislund’s website at www.krislund.org.
The mission of Second Presbyterian Youth Ministry is to worship God, care for each other, reach out in service, invite others to join us, and grow in our faith journey.
