Who are we?

 

            The St. Lambert United Church Youth Group is a dynamic youth based organization within the church consisting of young people ages 9-18.  The youth group is made up mainly of children from the church but it is not exclusive to them as there are several members who belong to other churches.  We long to be as open as possible and welcome anyone that wishes it to be part of our group.

 

Our History

 

            The youth group was started in the spring of 2000 by Jai Mongiovi in cooperation with the office of the child youth coordinator, who at the time was Margaret Shuttleworth.  It began simply as a way to help the children of the church connect with each other and with Christ through fun activities, community service, and global awareness.  The original group consisted of about 15 kids and thus activities started small.  As the group grew and expanded, they have become an organization within the church over 40 strong that have collectively over the years, raised and donated over $10,000.00 for the church and for social programs such as World Vision and Habitat for Humanity.

 

What do we do?

 

            Most of what the youth group does is goal-orientated usually involving raising money for a specific charity or the church.  However, they do like to have fun once in a while and have organized events just for the fun of it.  Here is a small list of the different activities we have done.

- Bowl-a-Thon for Habitat for Humanity

- World Vision 30 Hour Famine

- Sleepovers

- Pie tasting contests

- Talent and variety shows.

- Barbeques and luncheons.

- Community Volunteer work.

- Church services.

- Retreats

            This list comprises a small snapshot of what we as a group do.  We have had about a dozen different independent events that would just be too cumbersome to list here, but rest assured we are always planning something.

 

Our Future

 

            Who knows what the future may hold.  As the group continues to grow and expand, new activities and goals are arranged.  Check back to this page often to view what up-coming events there will be.  We will also try and have reports and pictures of our major events.  And if you would like to know what the kids themselves have to say about youth group, here are testimonials from two of our regular youth group members.

 

(Julia’s Testimonial)

 

When most kids talk about church, they talk about it with resentment.  They hate going to church because they are forced to.  I don’t feel like that at all.  For me, church is all about having fun, learning new things and getting together with friends.  Unlike quite a few churches, we have a Youth Group.  Our Youth Group consists of nearly all the teenagers who come to our church, as well as some of the younger members.  We do so many things together.  We plan activities, then later do them; we talk about world problems and try to find ways to solve them; we have sleepovers and plan fundraisers, watch movies, and we even hang out together outside of church.  Of course, we also talk about God, church and our beliefs.

 

I’ve been going to St-Lambert United Church since I was born, but I never really got into it.  The only reason I used to come was because my mom made me.  Now, I sometimes go to church even when my mom doesn’t.  The Youth Group members are my friends, and I don’t know what I’d do without them.  They’ve become such a huge part of my life.  They help me with my problems and I help them with theirs.  We laugh with each other, cry with each other and smile with each other.  I can’t imagine what things would be like without all those people.  If you belong to a Youth Group, you probably know what this feels like.  If not, you don’t know what you’re missing out on.  I love these people so much, and I thank them for everything they’ve done for me.

 

 

(Melanie’s Testimonial)

 

            St. Lambert United Church’s Youth Group is an example of what today’s teenagers can accomplish when they have the right resources. Not only do the adolescents of the Youth Group participate in countless fundraisers and charity events such as the World Vision 30 Hour Famine and Bowling for Habitat for Humanity, but they bond while doing so. Although the ages range in the group, everyone feels like one big family when they are at church because of the tight-knit relationships everybody has formed with each other during events such as the retreat and sleepovers. The United Church Youth Group started off as a small group but has bloomed into a wonderful and rather large group of young and talented individuals. Together, the members of the youth group achieve many great things with the help of their leaders Jai, Darla and hope to continue doing so in the future.