Youth Events

Lock-In's Ooccasionally, our Church sponsors a Lock-In. They include devotions, Christian music, movies, games, and lots of food. The youth spend the night in the Fellowship Hall with several adult chaperones. Breakfast is served the next day before the Lock-In is official over.

Youth Conferences Our Youth Group participates in different Youth Conferences throughout the year. We attend Girls of Grace whenever it is offered in our area. The conference we love the best is the Cross Trainers Spiritual Retreat at the Methodist Youth Camp in Leesburg, Florida. This is a 3-day event with activities consisting of powerful speakers, worship, concerts, giant blow-up games, and the beloved Path of Silence. No talking is requested while the youth walk through the woods on the Path of Silence. The path ends up at the lakeshore where a wooden cross stands.

The highlight for the youth during the Cross Trainers Retreat is walking the Prayer Labyrinth. It is the ultimate spiritual experience - the icing on the cake – that helps create a strong connection with God and each other. It has become a tradition for us to walk the Prayer Labyrinth at night, which is surrounded by beautiful landscaping and lighting. This is the last activity of the conference.

Coffee House & Oakra Pond Show Another summer tradition involves a "Coffee House" and the "Oakra Pond Show." The "Coffee House" gives everyone a chance to share a story, poem, or song with the rest of the group. The youth get the opportunity to relate to different Bible characters in today's culture with our "Oakra Pond Show." It's presented in a talk show format that is a combination of Oprah and Ricky Lake. The host might ask Mary how she felt when the angel appeared or Joseph if he thought to himself, "girlfriend what is going on?" It gets interesting!

Camping Trips Camping trips are a big part of our summer fun. Tubing at various Florida springs has become a tradition of ours. Once each summer we camp at Oscar Scherer State Park. This campout always involves a theme, such as, “The Seven Plaques,” “The Amazing Race,” or “Fear Factor” but with a Biblical twist. We also enjoy camping at Ft. Wilderness in Orlando, FL.

The Youth Group meets weekly at Nokomis Beach during the summer for devotions, Bible Study, and swimming in the beautiful Gulf of Mexico.

Wacky Day We celebrate the end of summer with our unusual "Wacky Day" celebration. This event involves lots of shaving cream, water, and wacky games. Be prepared for clean, messy fun!

Annual Baseball Game Each year a couple from VNUMC treats the Youth Group to a Red Sox baseball game at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida. The game always ends with a fireworks display and it signifies the end of our summer program. Go Red Sox’s!

Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt The Youth Group stuff and hide the Easter eggs used for the annual Easter Egg Hunt we provide for our congregation and those in our community. In 2003, our Youth Director decided it was time to return the favor and rounded up several adult volunteers to hide eggs for the Youth Group to find. The egg hunt was done at night using flashlights. The person who finds the most eggs wins a Christian CD of their choice. This new tradition is a blast and the youth demolish a ton of candy!

Hanging of the Green’s Worship Service We LOVE to help with this unique worship service. Our youth actively participate and their enthusiasm and dedication is greatly to be admired. The service ends with the lighting of our Chrismon tree by one of our youth.

Graduation Dinner At the end of each school year we sponsor a special dinner for the high school and college graduates. The dinner is catered and the dress code is semi-formal. Each graduate is recognized and receives a gift in honor of their accomplishment.

Fundraiser’s To help defray the costs of all the different events, the Youth Group sponsor several fundraisers throughout the year which includes selling inspirational calendars and note cards, bookmarkers of the Church, and special discount coupons for local restaurants. We also offer a delicious Chicken BBQ dinner that is guaranteed to make your taste buds happy. The dinner is prepared by Blackburn Barbecue on the Church grounds, and served in the Fellowship Hall. The BBQ dinners are held once in the spring and fall.

Our God is an AWESOME God!