Youth

The youth program at Christ Church is overseen by the Christ Church youth commission. The committee meets every third Tuesday throughout the year to plan and support the youth program for the church. Frequently they also served as adult team members facilitating many of the youth activities. The outstanding support provided by these adults is greatly appreciated.

With approximately 24 youth from fifth grade up at any event, we continue to have one of the largest and most active all volunteer programs in the diocese. In September of 2007, recognizing the diverse natures between Junior and Senior High youth we split the group into two groups. Our group was very active throughout the year, meeting every third Sunday when we participated in spirited and spiritual discussions and planning for the following events:

April: In an effort to continue raising funds for our New Orleans Mission trip we held a successful bake sale on Palm Sunday. This was followed the following week with an Easter Egg hunt put on by our older youth for our younger youth in the church.

May: We held our traditional and annual Car Wash this month to raise additional funds to finance our trip to New Orleans. It went very smoothly this year thanks to the extensive advance planning by Greg Sexton.

June: This month was the highlight of the year. Our Senior High youth traveled to New Orleans to assist in the rebuilding of that city after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. After a two day trip down, our group spent the following four days in the gutting of two houses, the rebuilding of one house, the building and setup of a neighborhood youth center, and the feeding and support of numerous displaced persons. We slept in a very crowded Sunday school classroom in St. Georges Episcopal Church in the garden district of New Orleans. On our fifth day, we toured a Louisiana swamp, the French Quarter of New Orleans, an above ground cemetery, and areas in the city where the devastation was intense. Our two day trip home saw an exhausted but mentally and spiritually rewarded group of young people who wanted to return and do it all again.

July: This month we cooled our heels with our annual youth group picnic. The food was excellent, the water cool and the Corn Hole competition intense.

August: We closed out summer with our annual Canoe and Camp trip on the Little Miami River. This was such a great experience in past years that teaming with the youth and adults of St. Andrews we made it a two night event this year. Gourmet food, canoeing, and of course movies were the bill of fare.

October: This month saw our newly formed Junior high youth group head out to Apple County Farms for an afternoon of trying to get lost in a corn maze. (Word has it that several of them succeeded.) Our senior high youth, meanwhile began a series of studies and program centered on the Millennium Development Goals. We began by studying HIV and AIDS in third world countries. The month was capped with our annual Halloween event in the undercroft of the church with the tunnel of fright. The church only lost two youth this year. (They returned when we passed out the candy though.)

December: The year ended with our junior high group, and some of their friends – for a total of 26 people – celebrating the New Year with a high-tech New Year’s Eve party. In all we had three televisions and four projectors all going at once on which we played many video games using borrowed game boys, Play Stations, and Wii games. Just prior to mid-night we had the last service of the year followed by a very, very noisy welcoming of the New Year.

Youth Commission (Annual Report for 2007)