“A good time was had by all” is the perfect phrase to describe our youth’s Trivia Night and Silent Auction fundraiser last Sunday. More than 100 congregants, family members, and village residents packed the festive gym at the United Church of Granville to showcase their cerebral prowess in six rounds of trivia. Equally important, they bid boldly and generously on an amazing array of auction items and services donated by local merchants, church members, our youth, Denison, and the greater Granville community.

Peggy and Verne Qualls expertly emceed the game, and as it neared its conclusion, the decibel level continued to rise. Adding to the excitement were creative rule twists to maximize each team’s chances of winning. After a nail-biting final round, the team of Shao-yun Yang; Jennifer and Chuck Wolter; Dan, Robin and Camilla Gibson; and Karen Bovenizer emerged as the victors! Well done, good and faithful friends!

The silent auction was inspired. Guests bid on homemade sweets and savory dishes, handcrafted quilts and shawls, woodworking, artwork, jewelry, children’s party packages, football clinics, and even an “Evening Under the Stars” at a private observatory. Several local restaurateurs donated to the cause, and early favorites included game baskets, golf simulator packages, and gym memberships. Thanks to the remarkable generosity of our bidders, every single auction item found a home. All the bids, along with generous monetary donations, brought the evening’s total to nearly $6,000!

We had a tremendous turnout of youth to work the fundraiser. The Angel Choir marched across the street immediately after choir rehearsal, and the Youth Fellowship group arrived earlier to help set up. And all of our adult volunteers, especially honorary co-chairs April Crum and Katie Belt, were invaluable to the evening’s success. The enthusiasm and teamwork of our volunteers were a gift to us all.

We thank everyone who made our Trivia Night and Silent Auction so rewarding! As our youth embark on their trips this summer, they will be reminded of the support you have shown them and the love that accompanies them on every mile they travel, in every breath-taking vista they behold, and with every person they meet along the way.

With grateful hearts,
Joy and Kristin

Trivia Night Fundraiser for Angel Choir and Senior High Youth Trips

You’ve been asking, and we’re so excited to bring back Trivia Night!!! It’s coming up FAST, so make sure to mark your calendars and get your tickets!

Who: You and everyone you know! ALL are welcome!

What: A super fun night of Trivia and a silent auction benefiting the Angel Choir and the Senior High Youth Group! Angel Choir goes on tour this summer, and Senior Highs are headed to Montreat!

When: March 1, 2026 5:30PM- 7:30PM

Where: Right across the street at the UCG Annex!

How Do I Participate: Get a winning team together and buy a table of 8 for just $100; or join as a single for $10. Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4EA8AE2FA4FBCF8-62143463-trivia#/

Senior High Youth Group 11:15 on Sunday, Feb 8!

Don’t forget! Senior High Youth has moved to 11:15am on Sunday, Feb 8! We’ll meet in the FPC library after the service! Kristin is preaching on Sunday, and selfishly, she’s hoping to see ALL your faces in the pews! Looking forward to a great time of fellowship and discussion on Sunday!

Senior High: Volunteer Hours for Second Presbyterian Polar Express Event

What’s the most festive way to get your national honors society hours? Volunteer at the Second Presbyterian Polar Express Event! We’re excited to help out our friends and have a great time doing it. 6pm to 8pm. Contact Kristin to RSVP.

Hey all! The time is here to register for the youth retreat! AKA: 24 hours of youth group fun and the BEST Way to start your winter break!

We’re leaving from the church parking lot at 4pm, going to Kirkmont retreat center, and we’ll return Saturday by 5pm.

Please pay your $50 contribution here: https://onrealm.org/granpres/-/form/give/now, choose Youth Trip from the drop-down menu.

P.S.if you have not done the youth registration... you need to do it for real for real: www.granpres.org/registration

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Complaints? Talk to Kristin.

Senior High on a Mission

This past Sunday night, senior high youth met at the YMCA Healthy Kids Network warehouse. Over the course of an hour, teens and adult leaders packed over 500 bags that will go home with Elementary and Intermediate School kids in Licking County that are experiencing food insecurity. At this time, the Healthy Kids Network serves approximately 480 kids each week, but Sarah Bowles (the director of this program) said that that number would more than double if the Licking Heights school district was served. She also said that with the SNAP program benefits set to expire, this program will likely see a large influx of students over the next few months.

Save the Date for Youth Retreat!

You asked, and we’re making it happen! Youth in grades 7-12 are going to have a one-night retreat on Friday, December 19.  Please let Kristin know by October 31 if you are able to attend!  Attendance will determine exact location (Kirkmont or Geneva Hills) and cost (anticipated $50). We will leave the church parking lot at 5:00 PM on Friday and return on Saturday.  We hope that you will come!  This is the perfect way to kick off your winter break!

Senior High Hands-on Mission YMCA Backpack Packing

This Sunday, October 26, senior high youth will be held offsite at the YMCA Healthy Kids Network Warehouse. We will MEET THERE at 6:00 PM, at 51 Swans Road, in Newark. You turn AFTER Swans Rd, BEFORE the train tracks.  Look for warehouse 7.

The YMCA Healthy Kids Network provides meals for students in Licking County. This important mission is something that we can do to make a big difference for kids in our own community, and we’ll have fun doing it.

IF YOU NEED A RIDE, Kristin is happy to take you!  Please reach out by text to confirm your spot in the trusty Tiguan.  After we have packed meals, we’ll head back to the Granville Chipotle to have dinner with anyone that wants to join us.  Please bring $10 for dinner!

Senior High Youth

Sunday, October 5, 6:00 PM, Centenary UMC

The Cowies are bringing dinner, so you know it’s gonna be delicious!  Also, please check your emails for summer planning!

Oh friends, I have MISSED YOU. I’m back from Duke, newly energized and READY.

Let’s hang out. Sunday at 6 pm, but we’ve got new digs this time—we’ll be over at Centenary United Methodist. (It’s the white church across Main Street from our church office.) We are going to have TACOS for dinner. We’ll hang out, chat, do highs and lows, and enjoy being back together. I can’t wait to see you!

Here is the sign-up genius for this year: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4EA8AE2FA4FBCF8-58403855-youth

A Note Regarding Sign-Ups:

Please bring meals ready to serve! I've added an option this year to donate $ instead of bringing a “ready-to-serve meal.” Your $ donation will allow me to order in food! You do not need to donate $ if you will be bringing a meal!

• To bring a meal, choose the "sign up, pay later" option and put in what food you'll bring! 

• To donate money for a meal, choose the "sign up, pay now” option.

Please plan to feed 18. We have one peanut allergy, one gluten allergy, and one vegetarian!

Thank you SO much!

The money raised benefits Senior High Youth Trips and The Angel Choir Trips.

Many of you know that the church is under major construction with the HVAC system. This has affected our entire building, including our parking lot! The parking lot will be closed July 2 and 3 during the day for construction vehicles. The lot will open at 5 PM on those days; and you can SECURE A SPOT for just $25. On July 4th the lot will open for reserved spots ($25) at 9 AM; and on July 5th at 10 AM. The money raised from the parking spots will go to benefit Senior High Youth Trips and The Angel Choir Trips. Snag your spot- and peace of mind, by scanning the QR code on the image above!

The cars were full of teens and adults who spent the week doing Hurricane Helene relief work. Team Yellow went to Marshall, NC, and spent the majority of the week doing demo and moving an estimated 20 TONS of mud. Team Purple began construction on a new office building in Hot Springs, NC, spending a whole lot of the week digging a whole lot of holes. The whole group came together in the evenings in Newport, TN, where we ate, slept, played, and enjoyed being together.

We look forward to sharing about our trip during the church service on June 22. Until then, please enjoy these images previously shared on our Facebook page.

Hey all!

Our mission trip is coming up FAST!

I have a few wonderful updates for you! Because our group is so large, we’ll be housed at a church by ourselves for the week. (YAY!) 

Secondly, the church where we’ll be staying has COTS. YOU DO NOT NEED TO BRING AN AIR MATTRESS!!!! *this is awesome news for our packing situation!!!* YOU DO STILL NEED A SLEEPING BAG/ BEDDING.

Our projects haven’t been assigned yet but there’s a lot of debris clean up, flooring, painting, planting and drywall happening down there right now.

Finally, and this is the MOST IMPORTANT PART... I need a parent meeting before we go! I promise it will be quick!!! I’m planning on Wednesday, May 28. 6pm. IF YOU ABSOLUTELY CANNOT MAKE THIS MEETING, please let me know. 

Please please please if you haven’t done this form already, fill this out: https://www.granpres.org/registration

*if your teen is on medication, please send me an email so that I know what needs to be taken when!*

I’m sure I’ll send another email as we get closer! 

Thanks,

Kristin

Hi all!

So many important things to note!

1. Confirmation- the last confirmation class meets this Sunday from 11:30 am-1:30 pm at Second Presbyterian in Newark. CONFIRMATION SUNDAY is May 4.

2. We need youth dinners for the LAST TWO WEEKS OF YOUTH GROUP; this Sunday (April 27) and next Sunday (May 4). Please text or email Kristin at 425.457.6058 if you can host dinner for one of those nights!

3. The last two weeks of our Sunday night youth are here! AHHH! Please plan to come this Sunday (April 27) and next Sunday (May 4). I’ll pull together a summer calendar before May 4 so ya’ll can see the fun we’re planning for summer. 

4. SENIOR BLESSING SUNDAY is May 18. If you have a graduating senior, I would love to have a photo and a short description of future plans.  Just Fyi- I also need to head to Duke on May 18. I’ll be doing the #BlessandRun; the blessing will be in the beginning half of the service, and then I’m getting in the car. My incredible team of youth leaders will hang out to eat cake with everyone after the service. <3

5. MISSION TRIP is coming up super-duper soon. If you haven’t paid your remaining balance, please do so ASAP. As a reminder, each student's cost is $500. You can complete your balance here: www.granpres.org/give and choose senior high trips from the drop-down menu. 

all the love,
Kristin Ream

While this is technically within the radius of where they told me to plan, the loss of infrastructure around this area makes planning to stay in Asheville on Friday night not feasible. 

Here’s a quick video that experience mission has done that shows just a little bit of the devastation of the area: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FecGNSsuWA 

THE NEW PLAN FOR FRIDAY/ FRIDAY NIGHT is that we will head to Gatlinburg, TN. The Gatlinburg Presbyterian Church has a retreat center that we can stay in. We’ll head there in the am, and get ourselves set up for the day/night. My current thought is that we’ll go into the Smoky Mountain National Park for a fun hike/outdoors experience and then have some free time in Gatlinburg in the afternoon. TEENS WILL NEED SPENDING $ for this! :)

Sorry for the confusion, thanks for the flexibility! Pivoting is part of the game!!! 

Looking forward to this time together.

Love, Grace, and Peace,

Kristin

Hi friends!!! 

I'm slowly getting more details figured out. First, if you haven't already PLEASE complete the online registration here: https://experiencemission.org/register/regmemintropost.asp?teamrecord=4201

Our team record number is 4201. 

If you still owe $ for the trip, you can pay that here: www.granpres.org/give and choose senior high trips from the drop-down. The total cost of the trip is $500 per student. Please let me know if you need scholarship money. 

We will leave from the Granville First Pres parking lot on Sunday, June 1, probably at 8 AM. More details on the time to follow. We have rented 4 minivans to travel in, which means we'll have a LITTLE bit of packing space. Please try to pack appropriately!

Our team will finish with the Experience Mission work on Friday, June 6th, at 9 AM. We'll spend the day going to visit Sliding Rock in the Pisgah National Forest: https://www.visitnc.com/listing/9ETy/sliding-rock. We'll go out to dinner in Asheville, NC, and then we're spending Friday night at First Presbyterian Church of Asheville. We'll be up bright and early on Saturday and head home, returning late afternoon on Saturday, June 7th.

Here is a tentative Packing List. PLEASE NOTE: AIR MATTRESS. You'll want one of these for sure, we will be sleeping on floors. Also note that you'll want long pants for work days, even if it's hot, we're going to be in construction areas. 

Packing List - Hurricane Helene Flood Relief

Clothing for 7 days  

• 4 pair of work clothes that can get dirty or ruined. (Long pants are recommended and may be required at certain worksites, so pack at least one pair)

• 1 pair of sturdy work shoes - tennis shoes or boots for the worksite

• 1 hat (baseball cap or similar for sun shade)

• Safety Glasses

• Sunglasses

• Work Gloves

• After work relaxing clothes 

• Pajamas

• Light jacket or sweatshirt (temps may drop in the evening)

• Bathing suit

*Clothing Note:  It is important to remain sensitive to others by dressing in a conservative manner. Please keep this in mind when choosing what to wear. We appreciate your intentionality with this.

Please wear longer shorts - preferably mid-thigh or below. NO short shorts. Leggings are okay only if worn with a tunic-length shirt that comes to the upper to mid-thigh. No tank tops or crop tops for girls or guys This applies to clothing at all times throughout the day. 

• Towel and washcloth

• Flip flops or sandals for the shower

• Bedding - You will be sleeping on the floor 

  • Blow-up mattress or sleeping pad

  • Sheets and light bedding or sleeping bag.

  • Pillow (optional, but it sure feels good at night!)

• Toiletries (shampoo, soap, toothbrush, lip balm etc…)

• Insect repellent

• Advil, Tylenol, or other personal medications you might need (Please inform your Team Leader of any prescription medications you will be bringing.)

• Sunscreen 

• Bible, notebook, and pens

• Refillable water bottle

• Anti-bacterial hand sanitizer

• Wet wipes

• Flashlight or headlamp

• Spending money 

• Day Pack to carry personal items to the worksite etc...

Hey friends!

Happy Spring Break! I hope it is safe and fun for all and I cant wait to hear what all you guys are going to do! NO YOUTH GROUP THIS SUNDAY, but we WILL meet on Sunday March 23!!!

See you March 23 at 6pm! P.S. anyone want to bring a meal? https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4EA8AE2FA4FBCF8-51103068-youth#/ 

Thanks,

Kristin

Just a reminder that the confirmation class meets after church on Sunday! 11:30am to 1:30pm! Light lunch provided! We’re learning about Wisdom and Justice! We’ll meet in the CLASS AND CRAFT ROOM, (the classroom right across from the chapel in the hallway under the sanctuary!) See you there!

Hey Friends!

Happy Valentines Day!

A reminder that this Sunday we will meet at our normal time (6 pm) in Heritage Hall, but since there’s NO SCHOOL ON MONDAY, we’ll do a Late Night hang. Let’s play games and run around until 11 pm. Many thanks to the Moyer family for providing dinner!
See ya here!

The moment is here ...it’s officially official.

I gotta commit to the work trip this summer. We’re going to the NC/TN area to help with Hurricane Helene relief. The date is June 1-7. The cost will be $500/person (don’t let $ be the reason you don’t go—scholarships are available!)

Please TEXT Kristin with your interest (and the number of teens) by TODAY, Friday 1/17. I have to reserve the number of spaces that we’ll need, and reserving space costs $. We’ll do a $100 deposit also due on Friday, 1/17, and then the rest of the money will be due at the end of April. Again, if $ is an issue, let me know and we’ll figure it out!

You can make your deposit here: www.granpres.org/give and select Senior High Trips from the drop-down menu.

Love and peace,
Kristin