For Youth
For those planning to attend the Almont Winter Retreat for teens in Michigan, here are the necessary medical and registration forms! You can email Rev Alison for more information.
Reverend Alison has a blog, and her latest entry is all about the teen trip to Snyder Family Farm’s Haunted Corn maze!
Check out the link to the SCYL (Swedenborgian Church Youth League) website.
Youth – not adults, not children, not an easy place to be, and especially with all the changes going on in their lives and all the questions they have on their minds.
Youth need a safe place to be, and to be asking those questions, and they need adults who care. We have both.
At Church of the Good Shepherd, youth have their own space, a room they have painted and decorated to express how they see the world. It’s a good place to hang out and to plan activities with the help of our team of energetic youth group leaders.
Those activities can include anything from outings and pizza nights to leading worship and organizing retreats. Highlights of the year for our youth include trips to Almont Bible camp in Michigan over the Christmas break and going to our annual Convention, held in a different city in the US and Canada each year.
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Youth Gatherings |
Best of all is our annual Midwest US – Ontario Youth Retreat, held every April at the church. Youth from Indiana to Maine join their friends from Ontario for an awesome weekend of fun, food, music and worship, all coordinated by our National Youth Director and church staff. The timing of the retreat always puts it close to Earth Day, so the theme every year has to do with the environment and caring for Creation.
But youth group isn’t just about having fun or learning new things. We also believe youth should be given the chance to take on new responsibility and take charge of their lives. Therefore youth are also active in fundraising activities that help pay their way on trips and outings. They’re also active in our “youth acolyte” program as altar servers in worship. And they also help with the younger children, too, providing positive and caring role models for them.
Future plans for youth include starting their own band and a cross-Canada trip to Paulhaven, our big Bible camp near Edmonton, Alberta, to link with youth in the West. Stay tuned! Youth at Good Shepherd are on the move!
116 Queen Street North. Kitchener, Ontario N2H 2H7. 519-743-3845.
