Youth Ministry

Today’s high schoolers and middle schoolers are in touch with current events and national and global challenges in a way that is different from any generation that has come before. We have a unique opportunity, as the church, to present those events and challenges through the lens of scripture and God’s call in our lives. We offer a safe space to grow, learn, and be yourself, the self God created you to be, the self God loves!

High school and middle school youth have an incredible amount of energy to live, work, play and serve. In church activities, both with the larger church and the youth group on its own, they can be fed and renewed to go out into the world. Through studying scripture, reflecting on personal joys and struggles, fellowship, laughter, spiritual formation, prayer and service the youth of a church can find value in church tradition, in their faith and in themselves. At Saint Mark, we believe that youth are able to rise to the intellectual and educational challenges of wrestling with scripture and their understanding of church tradition and how it shapes their lives.

Middle School (grades 6-8) and Senior High (grades 9-12)

  • Sunday School 9:30 – 10:30 AM
  • Sunday fellowship is from 5:00-7:30. Middle schoolers meet for prayer, study and games from 5:00-6:00. Middle school, high school and advisors eat together from 6:00-6:30. High schoolers meet for prayer, study and games from 6:30-7:30.
    We have many dedicated volunteers who lead the studies, make the food and support our young people! For more questions contact Pastor Shelby, Associate Pastor for Christian Formation and Family Ministry.

Mission Trips

James 2:14-17 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

We believe that our faith is alive and well at Saint Mark, and one of the ways we live that faith is by serving and learning about people whose struggles are different than ours. During the summer, both the high school and middle school groups each take a mission trip to live out our faith in a tangible way.

Each summer the youth participate in a mission trip. Here are a few of our most recent trips:

  • Overlook Farm, a Heifer Service Farm in Rutland, MA
  • Broad Street Ministries in Philadelphia, PA
  • Asheville Youth Mission in Asheville, NC
  • Mission@Masannetta in Harrisonburg, VA
  • Appalachia Service Project, Kentucky
  • The Pilgrimage, service-learning trip, Washington, DC

Montreat Youth Conference

Since 2009, our youth have been participating in the Montreat Youth Conference, Week III.

Purposes of Youth Ministry at Saint Mark

  • To Call young people to discipleship in Jesus Christ.
  • To Respond to the needs and interests of young people.
  • To Work in partnership with young people, their families, youth advisors, and other volunteer leaders.
  • To Connect youth ministry to the whole church, the community, and the world through a balanced program of worship, mission, service, study, and fellowship.
  • To Include all young people, be it Saint Mark youth, their friends, and community youth, reaching out and inviting them, each in their own way, to belong to the community of faith

Saint Mark Presbyterian Church

10701 Old Georgetown Road
North Bethesda, MD 20852
301-530-0600 | Map