Youth Group Friendships

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Youth Group Friendships

Friends are important for people to get through life. They can help with personal problems and are good company. Friends make people feel calmer, more relaxed, and can help take the focus off of stressful tasks. A nice place to find good friends is a youth group. I started attending a youth group of an upscale church in southeast Michigan on a regular basis after finishing my freshman year of high school. I had been going to that church on Sunday mornings since Kindergarten. I wanted to get closer to my friends and God. After my sophomore year, I stopped attending because of my demanding schoolwork. Last summer, I returned and attended on an almost weekly basis, however, when I started college it was a little too much for me. This fall, I returned to youth group and took field notes, or observations, and interviews four times. I found that the culture of youth group is one that serves not only a religious purpose but also the purpose to meet people and develop friendships as well.

Youth group meetings are held every Wednesday evening at 7:30 PM in the church auditorium. The auditorium is clean place. It's in an addition that was completed in 1999. It has about 500 gray movie theater seats. There are three sections - the left, middle, and right. The middle section is the widest section. Most people sit there. The younger teens generally sit near the front; where as the older members tend to sit closer to the back. Some of the youth workers sit on near the back of the right section. The left section is usually empty. The carpet is gray and black. The sidewalls are brick from floor to ceiling. They each have four lighting fixtures. The stage is wooden in the front and has a blac...

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...the group do not associate with each other. Of course, there are exceptions to this like Jessica. Starting this January, the group will be creating new committees that will most likely help recruit new members and bring different social groups together, but I do not have much information about them right now.

The youth group is an overall good place to find strong friendships. By joining a youth group, one can expand his or her horizons and meet unique and interesting people that he or she might not have otherwise met. It may take some people longer than others, but it is worth it. If it doesn’t work out in one group, a person can always try another one. These friendships can last for a lifetime.

Work Cited

Shephard, Karen. "Popular Girls." The Atlantic Monthly. October 2001. 26 October 2001 <http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2001/10/shepard.htm>.

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