The Youth Group is the oldest group associated with St. Thomas Orthodox Church. It has morphed over the years from adolescent hang out to the strong voice of representation that it is toay. When the group was conceived back in 1987, it was brought as an idea in keeping our youth together, something outside Sunday School, with a more open charter. Under the guise of its early leadership the group was responsible for the Church winning awards in cultural shows, to bringing in a large portion to the Churches early building funds with cultural shows and fund raisers.
The Youth Group of our church not only helps benefit our own community, but also our surrounding non-Indian community. Our Youth Group has done many things to benefit our surrounding community. For example, we have donated the profits from multiple canned food and bottle drives throughout the years. To go along with that we have collected children’s books in the past for the needy. The blood drive at our church was also another big event hosted by our Youth Group. All these things have turned out to be successful and we thank God Almighty for constantly being with us and showering us with many blessings.
Our Youth Group consists of many younger kids and it gives them the chance to be able to grow in their faith and become a better Orthodox Christian at a young age. However, the purpose of our youth group is not to just get closer to God, but to also have young kids grow as young leaders of the church and learn to stand firm in their faith. Our Youth Group is a stepping stone that leads towards MGOCSM. We believe if they can be a great youth leader, then they can grown to become a great MGOCSM leader as well. To be a leader, age doesn’t matter because with great faith, hard work, and the grace of God anything can be done. For it says in 1 Timothy 4:12, “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.â€