Connection
Our heart behind LOUMC youth is to cultivate a space for students to be their authentic selves as they explore and develop their own faith journey. Our ministry is built around building community together, through Sunday school and fun youth group activities, and with our neighbors through service projects and collaborative youth events with other Portland Metro progressive youth groups.
Youth Sunday School meets each Sunday morning from September to the end of May (exception for holiday weekends, winter and spring breaks) at 10:30AM in the youth room downstairs. Every 3rd Sunday they do a service project such as making sandwiches for the Father’s Heart or hygiene kits for UMCOR.
Youth Group meets every Sunday evening from 5pm-7pm (dinner provided!) throughout the year (exception for holiday weekends, winter and spring breaks). Youth group is a time for students to build connections through activities such as 9-square, movie nights, laser tag, and so much more. On the 3rd Sunday of the month, the youth group does a service project such as preparing meals at the Ronald McDonald House, volunteering at Oregon Food Bank, and serving with other outreach ministries within the Portland Metro area.
Service
One of our core values as a youth group and as United Methodists is service! Our youth program is grounded in being the hands and feet of Christ in the world. Each fall our students hold a church wide fundraiser. As part of our ministry rhythm, students have the opportunity to go on and participate in service learning trips. These trips are never cost prohibitive due to the generosity of our church family and the hard work of these students. For the last 3 summers they have gone to the Yakama Nation with other youth from the Pacific Northwest, for a SLAM (Students Learning About Mission) event where they worked with and learned from youth and adults from the Yakama Nation, which is a Native led and run program.
For more information about our Youth program, contact our Youth Director, Heidi: heidi@lakeoswegoumc.org