The High School Youth Group is made up of everyone in grades 9-12 in the church and three leaders. The Youth Group meets about once a month, usually at the church, but occasionally at the leader?s houses for the chance to hang out in a Christian setting. We talk about issues that are pressing for the kids as they travel through life. This helps us realize that we aren?t the only ones dealing with these problems or situations and gives a chance to work with other Christians to figure out how best to deal with them.

            We also plan several fun activities for each season. Past outings have included camping on the Eastern Shore, Lazer Tag and bowling and plenty of overnighters. You'll have to come to one of the Youth Group's overnight events at the church to really understand Grog, but let's just say it's probably one of the best games ever made for a dark church.

          The Youth Group sends a team of volunteers to a SERVE site each year in the summer for a weeklong missions and worship experience. Past sites have included California, Michigan and Canada. The team gets a chance to hear from a great speaker and worship God at the host church and then go out into the community and get their hands dirty doing missions work in an amazing variety of ways.

          The Youth Group has become involved in a service program called Angel Tree Ministries. In this program, area prison inmates sign up to have Christmas gifts purchased for their children and brought to their homes so that these children can have some joy while experiencing the heartache of having a parent in jail. Last year, we committed to purchasing two gifts, one clothing-oriented and one toy-oriented for each of 25 children in the area, and we hope to do so again this year.

            There are four current High School Youth Group Leaders. Justin Sybenga is a high school teacher at Wootton High in Montgomery and teaches English. Jason Hoeksema is a middle school science teacher at Oyster Adams Bi-lingual school in DC.  Brian Roelofs is a graduate student studying Biochemistry at Johns Hopkins University. Katie Roelofs is the Minister of Music and Worship at the Church. The four all graduated from Calvin College recently, but each brings a unique perspective to helping out with the Youth Group. Hopefully we'll see you at our meetings!