February 26th was an amazing day here at Covenant. If you were not here you missed our annual Youth Sunday, where the middle and high school students of the church run the entire service. We had students leading worship, preaching the Word, dancing, acting, and so much more.
This year’s theme was Relentless. We looked at 3 main areas of this theme, our relentless pursuit for things of the word, God’s relentless love for us, and our response to God’s relentless love. These themes were brought to life through a retelling of the Prodigal son story and the messages by seniors Carrie Ragland and Philip Searcy.
Youth Sunday is an amazing collaborative effort between our students, our youth leaders, parents, and others in the congregation. We were at work planning and preparing for this service for several months. This dedication is what made Youth Sunday: Relentless a success. I would like to take some time to thank many of the people involved.
Our Youth Sunday Team: This is a sub-set of our Student Leadership council, who helped flesh out ideas and bring youth Sunday to life. These students are Michael Ottman, Carrie Ragland, John Ragland, and Philip Searcy. These students developed the theme, led the youth band, assisted with the dance, preached the sermon, and so much more.
Our Youth Worship Band: This team was hard at work starting in January selecting songs and rehearsing. This was an entirely student-led group, under the direction of freshman John Ragland. The Band consisted of Natalia Dobrowski, Cody Fee, Ty McElroy, Matthew Ottman, Michael Ottman, John Ragland, and Philip Searcy.
Our Main Actors: The Relentless Father drama really embraced this year’s theme. Our four main actors Emily Griffin, Lily Mowery, Parker Rowley, and Allyssa Schafer worked hard to memorize their lines and embrace the character they were portraying. I need to also thank Jeremy Strumbaugh for directing these actors and helping it come to life. I do need to give a special shout-out to Parker who held out his hands for the entire length of the song You Won’t Relent…unbelievable! I would also like to thank our supporting cast for helping us bring this drama to life, Katy Bowen, Skyler Eastin, Gillian Godard, Erin Huttula, Drew Hoyt, Kyle Hoyt, Brandon Ivey, Gabe Menchaca, Jess Savage, Jasmine Parker, Chris Pendergrass, Drew Pendergrass, Jasmin Price, Izzy Robinson, and Sammy White.
Our Dancers: Ending the service with a dance to David Crowder Band’s Never Let Go beautifully wrapped up the theme of Relentless. I would love to thank Jean Oakley for all the hard work and effort she put into choreographing and directing with dance. Knowing she cannot do it alone she was assisted by Carrie Ragland, Jessica Savage, and Allyssa Schafer. Of course it would not have been a success if not for the dedication of all our dancers, Katy Bowen, Cacky Cape, Jesse Cape, Emily Griffin, Erin Huttula, Emma McNeely, Jasmine Parker, Jasmin Price, Carrie Ragland, Izzy Robinson, Allyssa Schafer, Camryn Shores, Sammy White, and Diana Zorzon.
Our Puppet Show: First I need to thank the band Journey for their great song, Don’t Stop Believing. But seriously, our puppeteers worked hard bringing the story of the Relentless Widow to life. Thank you Cacky Cape, Skyler Eastin, Drew Hoyt, Kyle Hoyt, Erin Huttula, Brandon Ivey, Gabe Menchaca, Daniel Mowery, Jasmin Price, Jess Savage, and James Thornton. I also need to thank our voice talent for helping bring the words to life: Emily Griffin, Drew Hoyt, Brandon Ivey, Paul McNeely, and Gabe Menchaca. I would especially like to thank Philip Searcy who recorded the alternate version of Don’t Stop Believing 2 times, YOU ROCK!
Behind the scenes: There were a lot of people who were working tirelessly to bring Youth Sunday to life. Our Audio/Visual team – Kevin Cardno, Scott Cardno, Darrin Gieger and Art Woodling. Without you nothing would have been seen or heard. Hugh Comfort and Dave Weible organized and trained our ushers and greeters. Lunch and Breakfast crew – these parents helped provide and prepare lunch for our Saturday rehearsal as well as breakfast Sunday during the Sunday School hour – Beth Griffin, Ashley Huttula, and Esther Thornton. If I miss any one I am sorry. Many of our youth leaders played critical roles behind the scenes helping to keep students motivated and on task. Thank you, Jeff Baker, Dawn Reiss, Ray Rowley, Don and Alice Searcy, Jeff Strouse and Marian Woerner for all your unseen help.
Finally, I would like to thank those who helped with our BBQ fundraiser. We raised over $1500 to help with the cost of our summer trips. Betsy Estopinal coordinated this event, with the assistance of Rebecca Brooks. They also had a group of volunteers who helped prepare, serve and clean-up. Thank you, Alex Brooks, Lily Brooks, Vicki Cape, Noel Estopinal, Susan & Tom Pendergrass, Steve Sucic, Beth Vest, and Dave Weible.
Are you looking forward to another youth-filled service? May 20th is our Senior/Confirmation recognition service. It will feature music by the Youth Worship Band, Senior Testimonies, highlights from out 2011-2012 Confirmation class, and much more.