Youth Groups
The church currently has two youth groups, one comprised of grades 6 through 8 (Middle School) and the other of grades 9 through 12 (High School). Both Youth Groups meet Sundays 5:30-7:00 p.m. for recreation, music and study. All youth, whether members or not, are welcome. Meet at the church unless otherwise announced.
Middle School/High School Youth
There has been a lot of talk and questions about the new structure of our Youth Ministry. The July Middle School and High Scool member and parent Listening Sessions were very helpful in identifying those things we do well with our youth ministry and those areas we can improve upon. We learned that the Youth of this church enjoy time together in social activities, mission projects, and interactive/discussion studies. We are working to improve planning and preparation by developing a calendar of events for the school year so that youth and parents can make their plans to include youth activities and youth members are more comfortable inviting friends to join them. Better communication is being developed through a youth member directory and revamping our Facebook page. Everyone mentioned their excitement around renovating the upstairs office space into a new space for our youth.
We are changing the structure of our Sunday Night Youth Group Meetings by resourcing and supporting our new Youth Leaders. High School Leaders will be Marcus and Greta Metcalf, Lisa and Kent Briggs, and Manning Wimberley. Middle School Leaders as of this date are Laura Spaulding and Molly Leikam. (others to be announced soon). Youth Leaders will meet once a month to provide input and to review already prepared Sunday night programming. Additional youth leadership will be through our Sunday school teachers, Julie Barnes for High School and Eric Ridenour for Middle School and adult leadership is being sought for Wednesday nights.
In addition to the Jr. High Dollywood trip and the High School Virginia Creeper trip, two end of the summer events are being planned. Jr. High youth should be looking for an announcement for a day trip to Cades Cove and a day raft trip is being scheduled for our Sr. High.
Sunday, September 12 is our first Sunday Night Youth Group meeting. Parents are asked to join youth for dinner and an outline of the coming school year events. We hope to include conversations around fund raising and extra youth events, and then conclude our evening with a softball game of youth verses parents.
Cullowhee UMC is fortunate to have so many gifted youth and parents. Our youth ministry remains a high priority for all of our church members. If you are interested in assisting in this ministry through helping with the new youth space renovation, being part of one of the end of the summer trips, or assisting our youth ministry in any way, please contact Sherrie Schork by email at or by calling the church office at 293-9215.
We are looking forward to an exciting and eventful year. All youth, not just members of our church, who are sixth grade through senior year are invited and encouraged to join our youth groups.
A new Permission Form needs to be filled out each fall.
Click here Permission-slip-emergency-contact-form to download a form.
The calendar for youth activities for Fall 2010 coming soon.
Youth Mission Trips
Youth Mission Trip to Puerto Rico July 2009
The Senior High Youth Group spent 9 days in Lares, Puerto Rico painting and setting tile in the sanctuary of Iglesia Metodista (Methodist Church) in Lares. Our youth helped their new brothers and sisters with their building project which was started in 2006 when we started ours. Our team was the sixth mission team from the Western Carolina Conference of the United Methodist church to go to Lares, but ours was the first group consisting of mainly youth. Our youth represented themselves well with their hard work, immersion in the Puerto Rican culture and in the maturity of handling new situations. In addition to all the hard work, they enjoyed a couple of days of fun which included the beach, caves and El Hunque Rain Forest.
Youth Mission Trip to Lancaster, PA. June 2008
The youth worked hard on their Mission Trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. On the way to Lancaster, they stopped at Lake Gaston Retreat Center and helped prepare the center for the summer season by cleaning and doing landscaping projects. After working hard, they had fun time in the lake. In Lancaster they stayed in a Mennonite family’s home and learned about the Mennonite and Amish customs. For their service project, the youth painted a Mennonite meeting hall. It was a very enlightening experience for everyone.