Seen Around Church – Week of August 30, 2026

What an AMAZING first Big Youth Group (BYG) of the year!! ❤️🎉 We had 44 middle and high school youth together on Sunday evening for SMPC Youth’s August/September BYG, and we could not have asked for a better way to begin! We also had a special guest - Transitional Pastor Sandy Hull!

Throughout this fall, our youth are studying Isaiah 43:19, which says: “See, I am about to do a new thing… do you not perceive it?” On the first BYG of the year, through the story of Hagar in Genesis 16, we discovered that one of the ways we begin to perceive God’s “new thing” is by first recognizing that God sees us. Just as Hagar encountered El Roi, meaning “the God who sees,” we were reminded that God sees, knows, values, and loves each of us, especially those whom the world too often overlooks.

Our youth then created some AMAZING and powerfully worded “Protests of Love” signs, replacing messages of hate and exclusion with proclamations of God’s radical love, grace, welcome, compassion, and justice for ALL people.

And a HUGE thank you to the incredible number of adult leaders who came to play, help, learn, lead small groups and simply be present with our youth. Our youth ministry is stronger because of adults who choose to show up and invest in the lives of our young people!

And, thank you to Rev. Lindsey Odom and Dr. Sandy Hull for their leadership and love for our youth!

44 youth. So much joy. So much love. And God is doing a new thing in our lives, in our communities, and in our world. Hopefully you can perceive it!

Photo credit: Rev. Lindsey Odom