Some Guidelines for Youth Group

 

Meetings          Junior High youth group (for students in seventh, eighth and ninth grades) usually meets every Tuesday evening when school is in session. We start promptly at 6:00 and finish by 8:00. You should plan to arrive a few minutes early so that our meeting can start on time. Youth can be dropped off and picked up in the parking lot circle, but parents are always welcomed to walk in with, and pick up, their loved ones in the Fellowship Hall. Senior High youth group (for students in tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades) meets most Sundays from 5:30 until 7:00. Dinner is served at both JHF and SHF meetings.

 

Sign In             All youth should be registered by their parents for the youth group, and are asked to sign-in at every meeting. Friends may fill out a guest registration form which is good for three youth group meetings. After that time, their parents are required to register them for the youth group by meeting with one of the advisors, receiving information about the youth group, and filling out a registration form. Permission slips for special events must be completed and turned in 48 hours before the event - no exceptions.

 

Hands Up         If a “Hand-Goes-Up, Mouth-Goes-Shut.” This is a holy habit in youth group which makes it possible to talk together. If an advisor raises a hand, we ask everyone in the room to silently raise their own hand and stop talking. In this way, the quiet is contagious, and we can have the attention of the entire room so that the program may proceed.

 

Safety First      We say this every year, and we mean it. Your youth advisors place safety first, and we ask you to do the same. Recreation is to be played in such a way that all can participate, with teamwork and group building as our first priority. Youth group is also about challenge and risk taking, but the risks in fellowship are for you, not against you - they are to help you grow. The fun comes third – your spiritual and physical safety always comes first, and we ask for your attention, cooperation, and help to avoid any danger.

 

Fellowship       The purpose of youth group is to explore those aspects of our lives and our faith which we cannot explore alone. We learn together that we need each other. This requires respectful talking, careful listening, a willingness to be together, and welcoming of the stranger. This means not only our guests, or people in the group we do not know well, but the stranger within ourselves. At every youth group there are times when we let down our comfortable masks and share honest aspects of our lives we might not share in other places. Honor the Holy in one another.

 

Our Home       The youth group has a home in the Setauket Presbyterian Church. It is not only our spiritual home, but our physical home. We try to practice care for the building, its floors, doors, walls, windows, ceilings, and even the old, donated furniture. The youth group must clean up whatever mess it makes. Keep the bathrooms clean and dry. Do not explore the building or wander from the scheduled youth activities. Stay together and in sight of the advisors.

 

Do not . . .        Do not bring cell phones to youth group. Do not bring video games, hacky sacks, music players, headphones. Do not bring items that will disrupt or disturb the program. Do not bring cameras without previous permission from an advisor. If any of these are seen during a meeting, you should expect that they will be taken away. Leave what belongs to others alone. Please wear shoes to youth group (no sandals or flip flops), so that you may participate in recreation (which often involves running). Alcohol, drugs, and smoking is prohibited. If you need to leave early, please make arrangements with the advisors before the meeting. (Your parent must come in to pick you up).

 

Thank You      A thank you goes a long way, especially with the parents and kitchen crew who come each week to prepare our meals and programs.

 

Remember       Words have meaning. What you say is a gift of you, and is valuable. Youth group is about discovering who God wants us to be and what God wants us to do in the world. It will be hard to go wrong if you always remember that it is Christ who calls us together, who makes this place and time available for us to meet, and who makes us holy in God’s presence.