Edgebrook Youth Together 2024 Annual Report
Submitted by: Hailey Bianco
Edgebrook Youth Together had a busy year! Our students engaged in many different activities such as youth group, service projects, fundraisers, excursions, community events, retreats, and a trip to the ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans! We have seen very positive growth this year, especially with the addition of our new middle school youth group. I hope by getting youth more involved in our program prior to their confirmation, it’ll be easier to keep them involved once they reach high school. Having been in this role for a full calendar year now, my hope is that having a consistent presence will help continue to strengthen the foundation and begin to establish a culture of active engagement.
Throughout the past year, the biggest piece of building community has been through youth group. My overall goal with youth group is to create a space where kids can simply be kids. I’m working to establish a strong sense of community, where youth are learning to take care of themselves and each other. Through community, I want them to begin finding their own relationship with God, acknowledging that looks different for each of them.
In the first half of the year, we held a youth group for students grades 8-12 and met from January through May. During this time, we focused on building relationships within our core group of youth which brought them closer together. During the summer months, youth programming continued to meet twice a month. Our summer programming, known as FUSE, invited all youth grades 6-12 for a time of fellowship and fun. Our summer-kick off was one of my favorite events of the year where we played a super fun game of slip and slide kickball followed by ice cream and s'mores!
In September, youth group expanded for the new school year. With this came the introduction of our new middle school youth group. Attendance from our middle schoolers has been consistently positive, which has been really assuring and encouraging. High school youth group also continued to meet for a time of fellowship. Both youth groups meet on a weekly basis on Sunday evenings, building consistency in an effort to continue to create culture.
In addition to the programming aspect I’ve also worked hard to create a space for the youth to truly make their own. Rising Chapel has become the designated high school youth room and with some added color, the space is very welcoming and filled with life. Especially with the help of the mural that the youth and I painted together! Edgebrook Covenant provided us a space to make the designated middle school youth room, which they have also been making their own. We’re currently in the process of giving the room a fresh coat of paint to bring it all together.
As a collaborative youth ministry, one of our goals is to reach the wider Edgebrook neighborhood and involve those who may not be directly involved in our congregations. One of the biggest ways we engaged with the community and built our presence was through our fundraisers. Our two main fundraisers each saw a great response from the surrounding community and also helped us continue to strengthen our congregational partnerships.
Our annual spaghetti dinner fundraiser was bigger and better than ever this year! We had over 125 people in attendance and raised $7,655! While our beloved tradition of Candy Cane Lane brought in a large number of visitors through the doors, bringing in an additional $1,000 in support of our ministry.
Another unique way our ministry was able to reach out to the community was during our Pride Sunday youth led worship service hosted at Edgebrook Community Church. This was my favorite day of the entire year as it truly symbolized everything that I strive for EYT to be. It was a day filled with radical welcome and inclusion, giving a voice to each of our youth, and making space for everyone at the table! It was a beautiful day where we were able to share God’s love with our community, reminding them they are fearfully and wonderfully made.
In addition to engaging in our community here at home, we also strive to provide our youth with unique and new experiences. This summer, that took our group to a new place that none of them had ever been to. In July, 6 youth and 3 adult leaders were given the opportunity to travel to New Orleans to experience the ELCA Youth Gathering with the help of your generous support. It was an amazing week spent together in community with 16,000 Lutherans from all over the country! During the week, they learned who they were “created to be” and how to fully live into that identity through Christ. Each night focused on a different theme of who God made us to be: brave, authentic, free, disruptive, disciples.
Our group explored the city of New Orleans while they engaged in interactive learning opportunities, served at the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) where we helped upkeep the shelter’s facilities and kennels for accompaniment day, explored Mardi Gras World to see first hand where all those magnificent floats are made, participated in a mask making workshop, tried alligator for the first time, and heard from many different speakers at mass gathering each night. We endured major humidity and also got soaked in torrential downpour, but everyone truly had a fantastic time.
Throughout the school year, both the middle schoolers and high schoolers also took a weekend retreat. Taking the youth on retreats is an important part of building community and spiritual formation. It is very difficult to get any of the youth to be fully engaged and present on a given day because they each have so many things going on. Retreats create an intentional set apart space where they are able to unplug and engage more fully without all the extra distractions of their busy lives.
Over President’s Day weekend, a group of our high schoolers traveled up to Covenant Point Bible Camp in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for the One Life Retreat. It was a great weekend filled with fellowship, worship, skiing, and other winter fun! The theme of the retreat was “shalom” where we centered ourselves around finding peace amidst the chaos of the world.
Then, over Indigenous People’s Day weekend, a group of our middle schoolers also traveled up to Covenant Point for the Junior High Fall Retreat. We had a blast playing games, taking a hike through the Ottawa forest, climbing the high ropes course, and worshiping together. The theme of this retreat was “God is Always Trendy” where our chapel time focused on learning different ways to read and interpret the Bible. This was a great time of building relationships and establishing excitement around our new middle school program.
While the year was filled with much fun and excitement, we also remember we are called to be the hands and feet of Christ as we are in accompaniment with our community. When it comes to our service projects, it's important to me that the youth understand the real purpose behind our work and how to actively listen to the needs of the communities they are serving. This year we packed meals at Feed My Starving Children in Libertyville, helped assist Nora and Dennis prepare the Garden of Eatin’ for the harvest season, which supplied fresh produce to the clients at New Hope Community Food Pantry, and hosted an intergenerational project where we sent out 25 care packages to our college students across all 3 congregations.
On top of all the other excitement, we also had several fun excursions to engage with each other in new ways. Including pulling an all-nighter at the Enchanted Castle Lock-in sponsored by the Metropolitan Chicago Synod, taking on high ropes and ziplines at Go Ape outdoor adventure park, spending the day at Six Flags to cap off the summer, and competing in The Great Pumpkin Hunt for the ultimate scavenger hunt competition around the Northwest Suburbs.
As you can tell, it’s been a very eventful time in the life of Edgebrook Youth Together! Every single one of these things, small and big, live into our mission of cultivating a welcoming, loving community that leads and supports youth on their faith journey, energizing youth to extend the love of Jesus to themselves, their communities, and the world. Leading this ministry has been one of the biggest blessings in my life and I’m so honored to have the privilege to continue to grow with these kids! I give God thanks for each of them as they are each so truly special.
