Opportunities for Youth & Family Fellowship
For families with children who aren’t yet teenagers, we offer regular Family Friday events. A casual dinner, usually held at the Rectory, with a seasonal activity. We press cider, bake bread, decorate the church for Christmas and plant flowers for the spring garden.
The Cold Springers – a youth group for teenagers – also meets regularly. We gather in Bleecker Hall on Sunday evening for fellowship, food and fun. We have Church Olympics and a Scavenger Hunt. We’ll bake “make-your-own” pizzas or cookies for the homeless and hungry. We will also take part in relief drives, for winter clothing or bicycles.
In addition to our formal Christian education and our regular fellowship gatherings, St. John’s offers many one-off opportunities year-round. Annual events include picnics and BBQ’s, a kayak trip, camp-out and movies. We have an annual Christmas pageant, a Stone Soup luncheon, and Mardi Gras Pancake Party on Fat Tuesday. Many of these events give young people the chance to earn service hours and partake in the party.
Service Opportunities for Youth & Families
The outreach service efforts at St. John’s focus on two primary areas: hunger relief and ecological stewardship. Young people and their families are encouraged (and in the case of Confirmation Class, expected) join us by helping as often as possible. We distribute food in Hempstead on some Sundays, work in our Grow-to-Give Garden, or serve with Huntington Interfaith Homeless Initiative (HIHI). We clean local beaches, help restore Eel-Grass habitats and grow oysters in Cold Spring Harbor. Reference the Volunteer page for upcoming opportunities.
St. John’s is also thrilled to offer an overnight service trip each year, usually in February. Previous trips have taken students to New Mexico, California, and Washington DC.
Once our young parishioners have completed Confirmation Class they are also eligible to serve the church on Sunday mornings as either Acolytes or Lectors. Acolytes assist the clergy during the 10:00 am service, while lectors are trained to read the scripture at church services.
