L. I. G. H. T.
Living in God's House Together
The L.I.G.H.T. youth group is Evergreen Valley United Methodist Church’s main program for ensuring the healthy spiritual engagement of our youth. Through weekly Sunday meetings, service projects, and community immersion trips, our youth not only learn about the Bible, but also take its message and spread it throughout the world around them. Further yet, L.I.G.H.T. not only gives our youth the capability to grow their spiritual understanding within themselves, they are able to share their profound faith journeys with peers who can help guide them on their way while learning from them as well.
L.I.G.H.T. is currently led by the youth director, Chris Suba, who has a long history of both education children and teens while also pursuing his own education in religious studies. Between 2012 and 2018, Chris has worked with students in a large number of settings, including high school volunteer service programs, elementary school science education programs, non-profit literacy groups, after-school programs, and has currently spent two years developing EVUMC’s youth group. This is coupled with Chris’ nearly four years of religious studies education at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley where he got a Masters of the Arts in Systematics and Philosophical Theology, and he is currently enrolled in their PhD program for the Historical and Cultural Study of Religion with a concentration in Religion and Literature.
"Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity." 1 Timothy 4:12
Hang out with us!
Sundays in the Church Library
Within the youth group, they are currently learning the process of actively engaging with Biblical material through close reading and interpretation of the text that will allow them to use it in their daily lives. For many the Bible is a sacred text, however, it does not progress much further than that. For our youth, we aim to make the Bible a living text—a natural part of their moral and spiritual compass that retains applicability to all aspects of their lives. Through careful study of the Word, our youth are becoming increasingly comfortable with not only reading the stories and messages contained in Scripture, but they are also able to internalize the content of the message and utilize it in such a way that the Bible will become foundational for the way that they live their faith.
Additionally, L.I.G.H.T. has established a praise team led by our assistant to the youth director, Love. In an effort to increase engagement between the congregation and our youth group, L.I.G.H.T. members have decided to provide a gift of music once a month to our church. If you have a teen who is musically talented, this may be the perfect opportunity to find how talent and faith can meaningfully interact!
Finally, L.I.G.H.T. is happy to announce that we are beginning the planning process for confirmation! Many of our youth are currently in the proper age range, level of spiritual maturity, and commitment to the Methodist community to the point that we believe they are ready to begin their coursework towards getting fully confirmed! Confirmation classes will begin in early January and will meet once a week on Sundays from 11:30-12:30, for six months. By summertime they will complete the program and we are optimistic that we will have many fully committed youth to not only our church, but the United Methodist Church at large. Please pray for our youth as they begin this incredible leg of their faith journey!