St. Marks Youth Ministry

06/25/2026

Today we wrapped up our ministry projects! We started at the Northside Common Ministries where they serve as transitional housing for men along with a food bank. They also provide wrap around services including a free store for clothes, toiletries, and professional wear for job interviews, ESL & GED classes, and resume writing help. We helped distribute food to all who came to the pantry today, organized their storage shelves, sorted so many donated clothes for the free store and had so many wonderful interactions with the volunteers at that ministry and those who benefit from their services.

Part of our group also got to serve at Light of Life Rescue Mission in the donations center assembling hygiene kits and organizing more supplies to be distributed in the community.
This ministry is a vital hub of support for so many non-profit organizations in Pittsburgh, some of which we got to work with this week. So it was great to be able to connect the dots in how the whole city works together to support the unhoused and at risk population.

We finished our day by taking a ride on the Duquesne Incline to a scenic overlook to pray over the city and debrief our time together this week and the ministries we got to be a part of.

Then it was dinner out at Eat’n Park and back to the church to debrief with the other team from Clarkston UMC, play games and enjoy our last night together in Pittsburgh.

We are so thankful for Praying Pelican Missions, St. Marks UMC, our group leaders, our teens, the city of Pittsburgh, the people we encountered and the ways we got to experience God work this week.

We’ll enjoy a recreation day at the zoo tomorrow and head back home to Findlay!

06/24/2026

What a great day! We started out serving at The Red Door- a Catholic Church ministry in downtown Pittsburgh that serves the unhoused population. We cleaned, sorted clothing and hygiene items, prepared and served lunch, made coffee to order and served it with a lot of love and smiles, and served as personal shoppers for any clothing or hygiene items any of the guests requested in the donation rooms we sorted and organized earlier in the day. Our team served with kindness, compassion and showed a lot of love to everyone who walked through The Red Door.

One quote that stuck out from a guest at the mission named Tony - “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”

Tony’s profound wisdom goes right along with what we’ve been studying in our devotional time all week about Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

After our morning project, we enjoyed a picturesque picnic lunch downtown at Point State Park taking in the sights and history of Pittsburgh.

In the afternoon, we combined forces with the team from Clarkston UMC to do some much needed clean up of one of the oldest cemeteries in Pittsburgh on the property of Greenstone UMC. They only have one trustee and no one has been able to maintain it for years. Multiple mowers, w**d whackers, and pairs of gloves to pick up sticks and branches and we were able to bring beauty back to this space for those graves known and unknown that date back to as early as the War of 1812.

We finished the night with some ice cream, a group debrief and an early bed time!

06/23/2026

We had a full first day of ministry projects here in Pittsburgh! From prepping and delivering meals through Meals on Wheels, cleaning and polishing all of the woodwork and pews in the sanctuary and church, prepping and putting on VBS and packing more than 15,000 diapers and menstrual kits for distribution in the city, our youth shined the light of Jesus to so many today and the people we encountered left an impact on us, as well! Looking forward to what God will do the rest of the week!

06/21/2026

We arrived in Pittsburgh safely last night, met the other team from Clarkston UMC and our Praying Pelicans Leaders who we’ll be serving with all week, played a lot of games and set up camp at Christ Community Church.

This morning, we joined Christ Community for morning worship and then headed to the Strip District to explore and take in the historical side of Pittsburgh.

Tomorrow begins our mission projects! Excited to get started!

05/30/2026

We had a great day at Cedar Point!!

04/30/2026

Last youth group of the year! Fun times shopping with some friendly competition to buy non-perishables for Super Service Saturday and finished with ice cream!

04/29/2026

Tonight (4/29) is our final regular Wednesday night youth group! Join us!! We’ll be taking a trip to Wal-Mart for a fun non-perishable food team challenge to benefit our Super Service a Saturday project of filling the Little Free Pantries around town. Ice cream will be included! Bring your friends and don’t miss it!

Sunday morning Youth Fellowship will continue as long as attendance continues. Join us Sunday mornings at 10 am for donuts, devotions and fellowship!

Then, mark your calendar for our fun summer series! Registration and more information is available at www.stmarksfindlay.org/events

04/26/2026

Special blessings on our confirmands today and congrats for completing Confirmation this year! And, a special thanks to Beth Fulk for co-teaching with Holly this year!

04/18/2026

Our youth mission trip fundraiser is still going strong! Help us get to Pittsburgh this summer to serve with Praying Pelican Mission June 20-25!

You can click the link and purchase BOGO pizza cards from Dominos Pizza OR make a donation in person at church or by designating your gift for “youth mission trip fund” and placing it in the church offering or mail.

Thank you for supporting our youth!

Please help St. Marks Youth group and St. Marks UMC Youth Group! We need help raising money towards our summer mission trips and our big trip to Pittsburgh, PA! Your support is greatly appreciated!

04/13/2026

Support our youth summer mission trip and enjoy some free pizza, too!

Purchase your BOGO free pizza card from Domino’s! Sale is only good for 2 weeks! Buy yours today!

Please help St. Marks Youth group and St. Marks UMC Youth Group! We need help raising money towards our summer mission trips and our big trip to Pittsburgh, PA! Your support is greatly appreciated!