Children & Youth

Children

We have a vision of youth ministry in the Church...

Where each young person is called to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and is helped to grow in a dynamic, genuine and meaningful faith
Where young people are involved throughout the church's life and are able to take risks in a supportive community without fear of rejection
Where youth and adults together as partners create a community that celebrates diversity and cherishes each other's gifts
Where youth are challenged and enabled to respond to God's call to wholeness in their lives and in the world
Where young people discover and claim over and over again the Good News of God's redeeming and sustaining love

The Christian Education committee meets the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm.

For more information, please contact Julie Sommers.

Presbyterian Youth Fellowship (PYF)

The Presbyterian Youth Fellowship (PYF) is intended to be a place where Junior and Senior High youth can feel free to be the unique individuals who God intended them to be. We are created in God's own image, an image which has been revealed to us in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. PYF is intended to be an arena where we can practice "Kingdom of God living skills."

Our goal is to create a time and place where we do not need to fear ridicule, and where the pressure to conform is experienced only in our desire to nurture one another to live Christ-like lives. To that end, we encourage one another toward behavior that we refer to as, "PYF appropriate". We monitor one another as we discourage gossip, put-downs, prejudice and intolerance, vulgarity, and clique-ish behavior that is demeaning, not only to the victim but to the person who uses it. We pray for tolerance and peace within our fellowship and seek to see one another as brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ who commanded us to "Love one another."

A typical PYF gathering is structured to include activities which we read about in Acts 2:46 in regard to the early church: "Day after day they met together in the temple. They broke bread together in different homes and shared their food happily and freely, while praising god. Everyone liked them, and each day the Lord added to their group others who were being saved."

In addition to regular Sunday evening meetings, the PYF enjoys annual events such as: Fall Retreat, Ski Trip, Ice Hockey, Pool Parties, Whale Watching, Bike Hikes, Water skiing, visits to Magic Mountain and Water park. A highlight of our year is attending the week-long High School LOGOS Youth Conference held each year at Estes Park, Colorado.

Christ commanded us to, "Love one another" which includes not only those in our fellowship, but all of God's people throughout the world. And so, the PYF is also involved in mission, tithing 10% of everything we earn through fund raising. We donate our tite to organizations which serve the causes of peace and justice. Some of these include: Santa Barbara Food Bank, Santa Barbara Women's Shelter, Neve Shalom Wahat al-Salam (a community of Arabs and Jews living together in peaceful co-existence), RAWA Supporters of Santa Barbara (providing food, education and medical services for women and children of Afghanistan.) We also make a yearly mission to Mexico where we work with Amor Ministries building houses for families who are living in extreme poverty in Tijuana, Mexico.

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