Rev. 7/09/11 FPC's Youth Program is Multi-faceted and Diverse. Join us for: Christian Education Music Theatre Mission Trips Worship Community Service Environmental Activism and FUN!!! ". . . and upon this rock I will build my church."                       - Matthew 16:18 What's Happening?  Click here for upcoming events.  You're invited! Then click here for a look at July 2011's Work Camp. HEY, LOOK US OVER: Christian Education Hour is Sunday morning, 9:30 am. Children and youth meet on the second and third floors in "The  Upper Rooms".  Their grand opening on September 20, 2009, represented the culmination of unparalleled cooperation and volunteerism. Memory on the Mount (Computer Center) Jericho Theater has popcorn too! Sinai Stage Gathering in The Oasis Music for children and youth is available weekly. First Pres offers a youth and children's choir as well as an intergenerational Hand Bell choir.   Be sure to drop by our Music Video page. Our Hand Bell Choir (Jack Holmes, director) delights ears of all ages. Our Children's Choir above left, enthralls the congregation with angelic (sometimes impish) voices. Theatre Productions, both dramatic and musical, are an annual tradition at First Pres., directed by Christy D'Ambrosio. Below is the cast from FPC's 2011 musical production of "The Giving Tree." Mission Trips are also an annual event for First Pres Youth. During the summer of 2009, four youth and two adult leaders set out for New Jersey where they joined other youth from Westminster down the street to spend time in a bilingual inner-city church in Trenton. The youth participated in Vacation Bible School and created a Prayer Pergola in a side yard. Jason and Ekong toting lumber Jason in the pergola rafters Worship: Every Sunday morning at 8:30 and 10:45 there are wonderful opportunities for the youth to participate in worship service. These opportunities include ushering, scripture reading, singing in choir, playing handbells, and lighting advent candles, as Margaret and Elizabeth are doing at right. Community Service: In addition to the work in Trenton, the youth participated in a service project in response to the Haiti earthquake tragedy. Below left, Madeline, along with other youth, collects washcloths and tooth brushes to be bagged and shipped to Haiti. Below right, students gather for prayer in the Fellowship Hall after helping to fill the hygiene kits for Haiti earthquake victims. Environmental Activism The 2009-10 Christian Education Curriculum for senior high youth dealt with "Creation," which inspired the youth to examine the role of the church with respect to our environment. Several projects were generated from this curriculum base. The High School Youth presented an Environmental Impact Statement to the Session. Several of the ideas suggested were adopted by the Session and implemented by the Youth with the guidance of the Property Committee. One of the ideas adopted was to retire the styrofoam cups used during coffee hour in favor of ceramic mugs. A church-wide mug drive was held and now china mugs are being used every Sunday. Another project involved planting a church garden. Phase 1 was begun in the spring of 2010. The youth intend to harvest their crops and donate a portion of the harvest or proceeds to a food bank or soup kitchen, and possibly start a neighborhood Farmer's Market. What have we here? Yes, everything is organic! Good clean fun for all ages! And Then There's Fun! No matter where we are or what we're doing, we have a great deal of FUN. Some of our special events this past year included a swim party and BBQ; Lock-In Sleepover in the Church; creation of a youth room--complete with foosball table and wide-screen TV, Albany Presbytery - sponsored Gospel According to Harry Potter weekend at Christ the King Center in Greenwich, and a trip to the UN in New York City, as part of the Northeast Synod-sponsored annual youth field trip.  While in NYC our group enjoyed a night on the town, which included dinner at Sardi's and a Broadway show, "Phantom of the Opera." We also enjoyed a ski weekend at Stratton Mountain in Vermont.. Nineteen youth and four lucky adults attended. We did some snowboarding; downhill and cross country skiing, sledding, swimming, and hot tubbing!              Snowball Fight All the boys relax in the hot tub. COME JOIN US. The Water's Fine!