Youth Group

St. James’ youth participate in an ecumenical program called MERCY Youth:

MERCY youth group is a joint ministry of St. James’ Episcopal, Potomac; St. Francis Episcopal, Potomac; and Christ Episcopal Church, Rockville. We strive to offer middle and high school students a place to thrive spiritually and emotionally, to learn about their faith, and to give back in service to their community.

For more information or to be added to our MERCY email list, contact St. James’ Youth Director Maddie Weber, [email protected], or Pastor Allison Michael, [email protected]. Locations are sometimes subject to change, so join the email list for updates.

Youth Group is a casual but structured gathering in which the youth reflect on what’s going on in their lives and in our communities, and where the two meet. Organized around themes, a typical night includes some kind of discussion, speaker or film, a service project in the community, some silly fun, and prayer. We meet on Sunday evenings from 6:30 p.m – 8:30 p.m. virtually, outdoors, or in the parish hall. Everyone in grades 6-12 is welcome.

Each summer, the Youth Group participates in WorkCamp—spending a week putting their faith into action by repairing homes of people in need.

At St. James’ our desire is that each young person knows they were created by a God who loves them unconditionally, delights in their unique gifts and differences, and has an open heart to serve the Lord through worship, spiritual formation, and service. We believe these are key to living a purposeful and grateful life.

In keeping with our broad parish goals, our youth participate in the following ways:

• Continue formal and informal opportunities that support worship for youth…
  We will seek opportunities to worship in an informal setting, by spending a portion of each youth gathering reviewing the scripture and message from that morning’s service. Additionally, we will discuss the relation to previous week’s gospel readings.
• Increase biblical literacy…
  We will achieve this by dedicating a portion of each youth group meeting to reading and discussing the gospel or another reading for that week’s worship service. We will then take the opportunity to relate this reading to our own lives. Games like Bible Jeopardy remain a fun and popular way to expand our biblical knowledge.
• Create connections between Christian Education and Daily life…
  We will achieve this by continuing to participate in monthly service projects to help deepen the relationship with Christ through service to those in need within the community. Continuity of our annual mission trip and regular service at Shepherd’s Table, Becky’s House, Manna Food Center and other projects are all part our suggested action plan.