First Congregational Church of Leverett

Youth Group meets twice monthly.

The Youth Group ordinarily meets twice each month: the first Sunday of each month from 6-8 p.m. at the Dixon House; and the third Sunday of each month, time varies depending on the activity. Pastor Grace Murray will be the leader of the meetings (with help from Amy and Carrie or any other adult who is interested in youth work) on the first Sunday of the month, and Amy Rice and Carrie Burke will be the leaders on the third Sunday of the month.

Youth group is open to all youths (age 12 and older), who are members or friends of our church, or Leverett and the surrounding community. Youth leader contacts:
Carrie Burke, quadcarrie@aol.com, and
Amy Rice, fielder1771@hotmail.com.

YOUTH GROUP HAPPENINGS

December, 2012

Caroling, December 16 The youth group will visit folks in our community with traditional Christmas caroling and cheer on Sunday, December 16. If you would like a visit from our caroling caravan, please contact Carrie Burke or Amy Rice. Also, members of the congregation are welcome to join us in our merry meandering. Just let us know! After the caroling, we will return to the Dixon house for goodies and treats and our annual Yankee Swap gift exchange. Gifts should be in the $5 -10 range, wrapped festively, let the fun begin!
[Editor’s note: Visitees should feel free to sing along and/or hand over some cookies + ]

November, 2012
Youth Group will meet with Lee Sunday, November 11, 2012, after church . They plan to attend a movie at the end of the month, details to be announced later. Youth will also be invited to join activities with South Amherst Congregational Church youth group. Likewise, young people from South Amherst will be invited to participate in some of Leverett’s activities and events.

CROP Walk Youth Group members Katie and Kelley Burke, led by Carrie Burke, participated in this fall's CROP Walk, October 21, 2012, in Orange. They were joined by Kim Mohlar, whose picture appeared on the front page of the Greenfield Recorder’s local section October 22. Many thanks to all who walked and donated.

Proceeds of $381 go to ending hunger one step at a time.

October, 2012
Looking forward, the annual CROP Walk will take place October 21. 

It will be in Orange, MA this year: 
http://www.churchworldservice.org/site/TR?fr_id=15699&pg=entry
Location: Central Congregational Church, 93 South Main St., Orange. 
Registration: 1:00 p.m., Walk: 2:00 p.m.

September, 2012
Big E, Sunday, September 23 The youth group will kick off the new year with a visit to the Big E, one of our favorites. Youth are responsible for bringing their own spending money for snacks, games or rides. All are welcome.

May, 2012
The youth group will meet Sunday May 6 from 6-8 p.m. in the Dixon House with Lee Barstow. All are welcome and dinner will be provided. Join us for an evening of conversation.

Later in the month, the youth group will provide childcare services during the Saturday, May 12 evening jazz concert in the church.

January, 2012 
Looking ahead to January, we will be devoting both or our meetings to planning and rehearsing for the Souper Bowl of Caring Sunday service , which is Sunday, February 5 (Super Bowl Sunday, for us football fans). The youth group will continue the tradition (this will be the third year!) of designing and carrying out all aspects of the church service. We will take a special collection that day for the Souper Bowl of Caring, a nationwide youth effort to fight hunger. Monies collected will go to the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. We will also collect non perishable food items - look for boxes at the back of the church during the month of January.

In our first meeting January 7 we will finish planning the service. Our second meeting of January will be rehearsal (most likely Sunday, January 29, time to be announced). More info about this exciting event will follow!

On December 18, ten youth group carolers (including adults) visited five homes, followed by a Yankee Swap party at the Dixon House and food.

Note: Many thanks to the hardy, hearty singers!

December 2011
Looking ahead to December, we will meet at the Dixon House on Sunday, December 6. (We will confirm the time in advance) with a light supper (pizza most likely) provided, and then we will plan to do a community service project also in December. We expect to carol the seniors and homebound of our church community, followed by a Christmas party with refreshments and Yankee Swap back at the Dixon House on Sunday, December 20, times to be announced.

Contact us:
The Youth Group is open to middle and high school youth. If you have any questions, please contact Carrie Burke, quadcarrie@aol.com, or Amy Rice, fielder1771@hotmail.com.

—— Carrie Burke, Amy Rice