Our church offers a Youth Group for middle and high schoolers! This new Youth Group formed in 2024 and is currently meeting one Sunday a month from 12-2pm, with hopes to expand.
MPC has a long history of providing dedicated spaces for youth to gather, find community, and explore their spirituality together in a progressive Christian context. Like many churches, we have experienced demographic shifts that have impacted what vital and sustainable youth ministry looks like. We see this as an opportunity for collaboration and innovation rather than a deficit, and that’s how we have approached rebuilding our Youth Group.
Our new Youth Group is a collaboration between three progressive, LGBTQ-affirming churches in Oakland from different Christian denominations. MPC partners with St. John’s Episcopal Church and Lake Merritt United Methodist Church so that our youth can come together in a shared group.
Some Benefits of Our Collaboration:
- Youth at MPC get to experience having a larger cohort of peers
- Youth at MPC are introduced to other progressive Christian communities, helping to foster a shared sense of spiritual identity and belonging that extends beyond MPC
- Youth at MPC have an opportunity to learn from both commonality and difference in exploring their spirituality, as they build relationships with youth from other churches that share our core values while having their own unique denominational traditions
- Shared resources mean more resources are available to our youth in the form of more staffing and mentorship, more social and service opportunities, and more funding for programs
Katie Kilby coordinates MPC’s involvement in the Youth Group. For more information and to get connected, you can contact her at katiek@mpcfamily.org.