Youth Group

Recently, I have started to notice that the high school youth group at our church is fairly non-existent. It's not that there aren't any kids that age, or that there is a lack of opportunity for fellowship. It seems (only from an outside observer's perspective) that they just aren't as interested as some in the past have been. Maybe it's because they haven't all grown up together; several new families have joined our church in the last couple of years that have teenagers. Or maybe it's just that they're busy with other stuff.

When I was in the youth group, it was the complete opposite. We got together every Wednesday and Sunday night, without fail. Even when we didn't have an event scheduled, we'd often find some place to hang out together. There was a wide range of ages too, and even a few of us were the only ones in our grade.

Here is a shot of the group (minus a few), the summer before I started college:

From left: Josh Emrich, Roman Kohler, Micah Harvey, Rebecca Shipman, John Laird, Amy Shipman, Brandy Hardy, David Adams, Katie Thomas, Amanda Shipman, Jesse Harvey, Phillip Martin, Bridgette Hardy, Jonathan Adams, Rachel Martin.

I think the biggest difference between what we had and what I see now was that we were all friends - good friends. We felt like a family. We bickered with, teased, and picked on each other. But we still loved each other, and when it mattered, we stepped up and really supported one another.

When I was just 17, one of our youth group members died in a car wreck. It was an absolutely horrible and excruciating time for not just his family, but the entire church family. I think that period was probably the clearest example, that I can personally recall, of what a Christian support system is supposed to be like. We all went over to the family's house and cried, prayed, and even tried to laugh together. There was no hesitation about it. We were so close, it was almost like losing one of my own siblings.

Most of the group has since moved away, and although we still keep in touch, we're not quite as close anymore. But even without my old youth group, I think Matt and I still have a good Christian support system. It's a lot more cross-generational than back then (and a LOT more tame), but still full of love, learning, and laughter.