Church News
St. John's, Congaree, youth on the move
For a medium size church St John’s, Congaree, in Hopkins has a very active youth program. On Youth Sunday recently lessons were read in Arabic, Korean, Kurdish, Tajik, and Russian by exchange students from those countries who attend the parish. Several of these students are Muslims.
Following the service and picnic there was a softball game between the youth and adults. One of the team members was a wonderful student from Pakistan who had never played baseball. The second baseman said when she saw him coming at full tilt with flowing robes and a bat in his hand she had second thoughts about tagging him out. (No one had mentioned that you drop the bat when you run the bases.)
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During the week of June 15, St. John's had a very successful Vacation
Bible School. Then, for the week of June 22, ten students and four advisors
went on a pilgrimage to New York City. They slept in churches and were
challenged to capture on camera images of Christ in places they visited—
the Cloisters, the Cathedral of St John the Divine, Trinity
Wall Street, St Paul’s Chapel, and Ground Zero, among others. That same week
St. John's sent four campers and one counselor to Camp Gravatt.
The core group of acolytes includes 24 students who serve at two services
each week and at special services including weddings and funerals. One high
school student always serves on the vestry. The church does all this with volunteer youth advisors and a part time
retired priest.