Focus on Youth
Grove Youth Ministries (GYM) welcomes youth Grades 6-12 to engage in community service, social gatherings, youth choir, and faith formation. We strive to be intentional, inclusive, and open to youth at all stages of their faith walk.
Contact Mike Hardie, Director of Youth Ministries
GYM Culture
Grove Youth Ministries (GYM) recognizes the importance of a safe, inclusive environment for all youth. Participants come from varying degrees of belief and doubt.
We welcome youth where they are on their journey of faith: insights, questions, and silence on the topic alike. We value the uniqueness of each youth and strive to find common ground where it exists. Friends are always welcome – even friends of friends.
There is no expectation that all youth will attend all youth events, we expect that youth will find the level of involvement that makes sense for them, and we’ll continue to offer options.
GYM is a place of affirmation and exploration as youth decide who they are, who they want to be, what they believe, and what they want to do next. We empower youth to have a voice not only in the ministries that start with “youth” but also in the ministries of the whole church.
We strive to build healthy relationships with our youth and encourage them to build healthy relationships with one another.
Because we value the safety of our youth, all youth ministries are following the Safe Sanctuaries policies and all youth leaders have appropriate clearances.
Events and Outreach
- Youth have a voice in determining events and content. For upcoming events, check out our calendar or look at the “What’s Happening” section of the Home page.
- Some of the youth favorites throughout the recent years include:
- Games of all kinds
- Social Gatherings: bonfires, pool parties, and lock-ins
- Themed Kickoff Events & Murder Mystery Dinners
- Youth Sunday: an annual fully youth-led worship service – from greeters to dismissal and all the parts in between
- Rallies & Retreats
- Candle Time Conversations and Faith Formation
- Small Group studies and conversations
Youth Community Outreach
Grove Youth particularly value serving their community.
Ongoing Youth Community Outreach (6th-12 grades)
Grove Youth Ministries (GYM) offers age-appropriate rotating service opportunities throughout the year. While the exact projects may change, the opportunities for youth to actively express their faith through love of neighbor is consistent. No specific skill sets are needed as youth will be trained as needed. In previous years youth have:
- Cleaned and stocked apartments for families experiencing homelessness
- Prepared meals for young mothers
- Built shelves to house baby supplies
- Delivered pillows and cards created by teams of congregants and inmates to senior living facilities
- Organized inspirational snack bags and Biblical bookmarks for youth in the juvenile justice system and youth escaping domestic violence
- Prepared care packages for college students
- Packed hygiene, layette, and school kits for distribution by the United Methodist Committee on Relief.
Youth are also invited and encouraged to participate in the outreach and mission opportunities offered to the church at large.
Mission Blitz (completed 6th-8th grades)
Mission Blitz is a week-long local mission trip for youth who have completed 6th-8th grades. Each day the youth volunteer at Chester County non-profit organizations where they get hands-on opportunities to meet the needs in our community.
We call it a “blitz” because over the week youth may work with up to 10 organizations. On recent service trips, organizations have asked our youth to build, repair, organize, clean, paint, cook, glean, weed, make blankets, create hygiene baskets, serve food to the hungry and play games with senior citizens.
In the evening, youth can stay overnight and participate in recreational activities such as a pool party, bonfire, and scavenger hunt.
Appalachia Service Project (completed 9th grade and beyond)
Appalachia Service Project (ASP) is a relationship ministry that repairs homes on the side. ASP builds relationships between volunteers, local professionals, and homeowners while making homes warmer, safer, and drier.
Grove has participated in over 30 ASP trips.
Our teams include youth who have completed 9th-12th grades, young adults, and adult leaders. Common projects include roofing, drywall, siding, flooring, foundations, porches, and ramps.
Participants spend most of the week in direct service at the homes, experiencing the culture of the region, and fellow-shipping with other volunteers.
Grove has worked in the Appalachian regions of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. ASP is a transforming experience for volunteers and homeowners alike.
Mission of Peace (completed 9th-12 grades)
Several Grove high school juniors and seniors were chosen to participate in the Mission of Peace (MOP) sponsored by the Northeast Jurisdictional Council on Youth Ministries of the United Methodist Church.
MOP is a 20-day immersive spiritual experience where students journey to discover how other cultures practice Christianity and seek the path of Shalom. Grove youth have traveled to India, the Republic of Cuba, and the Philippines.
To learn more about Mission of Peace, check out the NEJ Council on Youth Ministries webpage.
Youth Choir
Youth Choir
Grove Youth Choir (GYC) brings many voices together for a lot of fun and music. No stressful auditions! Come one and all!
Do you love to sing and have lots of fun doing so? Youth in grades 6-12 do this from September to June at Grove.
Sing during our contemporary service as well as concerts in the community and an annual Choir Tour trip. Christmas programs at local nursing homes are a favorite.
To learn more, reach out to our Youth Choir Director, Mike Hardie, at Youth@GroveChurch.org.
Choir Tour
WHAT IS YOUTH CHOIR TOUR? It is fun, work, travel, practice, tie dyed t-shirts, being tired, practice, solos, service work on the road, practice, a different place every night, making new friends, singing and much much more.
Choir Tour involves performing a handpicked program of songs for churches on the road and sharing the joy of their faith with others. This is a highlight for the youth, as well as for all those who get to hear them perform.
Starting with a kickoff concert at Grove, this one-week journey takes the group of singing youth and volunteer chaperones from church to church to perform their music. All songs are choreographed to be fun, entertaining and spread the word of God.
Travel is on a chartered tour bus; sleep is on the couches and/or beds in the homes of host families or on the floors of fellowship halls in churches. A round trip may cover 1400 miles.
For more information, please contact our Youth Choir Director, Mike Hardie at Youth@GroveChurch.org.
