{"id":291185,"date":"2026-09-22T00:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T00:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/291185\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T00:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T00:12:09","slug":"youth-group-brings-together-three-abingtons-area-united-methodist-churches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/291185\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth group brings together three Abingtons-area United Methodist churches"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLARKS SUMMIT \u2014 Giddy laughter and screams filled the fellowship hall at Clarks Summit United Methodist Church on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

A small group of teens and children raced to guess movie titles based on emojis. They sang as popular song titles flashed on a television screen.<\/p>\n

Members of Evolve youth group participate in activities weekly. The growing group is open to children in grades five to 12.<\/p>\n

Members of three United Methodist churches in the Abingtons comprise the group: Clarks Summit United Methodist Church, Countryside Community Church in Newton Twp. and Lake Winola United Methodist Church. A few youth participants are also part of Clarks Green United Methodist Church.\n<\/p>\n

Church leaders see the meetings, which take place at different churches, as a way for the individual congregations to come together to help young people grow in their faith and to have fun.<\/p>\n

Lauren Miller created the group three years ago when she and her husband Rev. Adam Miller came to the region in 2024. Rev. Miller is\u00a0pastor of Clarks Summit United Methodist Church and Clarks Green United Methodist Church.<\/p>\n

Lauren Miller, a youth pastor in the United Methodist Church since 2015, attributes the group\u2019s formation to divine intervention.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a total God thing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Member Zoey Kinney,c 16, of South Abington Twp. came up with the name as a way to represent the members growing in their faith. The logo\u00a0features a green tree.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a mouthful to keep on saying all three churches,\u201d Lauren Miller said. \u201cIt just brings unity and togetherness, which we all agree on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Iva<\/p>\n

Iva Giardinelli, a member of Evolve youth group, gives a thumbs up during a game at a meeting of the group Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Christine Lee\/Staff Photo)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The logo and name of the Evolve youth group is seen on a T-shirt during the group\u2019s meeting Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026.
\n(Christine Lee\/Staff Photo)\n<\/p>\n

\"Evolve<\/p>\n

Evolve leaders Mary Pelkowski, left, a youth group volunteer, and Lauren Miller, community youth director, lead the group in a game during their meeting Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Christine Lee\/Staff Photo)\n<\/p>\n

\"Evolve<\/p>\n

Evolve youth group member Zoey Kinney reacts during a discussion at the group\u2019s meeting Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026.
\n(Christine Lee\/Staff Photo)\n<\/p>\n

\"Evolve<\/p>\n

Evolve member Holly James writes down a response to a question during the group\u2019s meeting Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Christine Lee\/Staff Photo)\n<\/p>\n

\"Members<\/p>\n

Members of the Evolve youth group write on a whiteboard during their meeting Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Christine Lee\/Staff Photo)\n<\/p>\n

\"Evolve<\/p>\n

Evolve members Cameron Kerrigan, left, and Holly James search through their Bibles during the group\u2019s meeting Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Christine Lee\/Staff Photo)\n<\/p>\n

\"Evolve<\/p>\n

Evolve leaders Mary Pelkowski, left, a youth group volunteer, and Lauren Miller, community youth director, respond during a game the group participated in during their meeting Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Christine Lee\/Staff Photo)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

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Iva Giardinelli, a member of Evolve youth group, gives a thumbs up during a game at a meeting of the group Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Christine Lee\/Staff Photo)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

The group meets weekly and participates in events monthly, such as\u00a0pumpkin picking, bowling and volunteering at senior centers and Indraloka Animal Sanctuary. Meetings typically consist of discussions about and reading the Bible and games. Lauren Miller also meets with them at a local restaurant every few months, which she said is a good way to get to know them outside regular meetings. They fundraise for larger outings, such as a trip to Knoebels Amusement Park.\n<\/p>\n

The activities typically draw about 25 children. Recent meetings at Lake Winola and Countryside Community churches had their largest attendance in more than a year, Miller said, with between eight and 10 in attendance at both churches.<\/p>\n

Annalyn Butala of South Abington Twp. came the group two years ago as a way to support her friend, Holly James, who attends Clarks Summit United Methodist Church. She is glad she did so.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really like being here,\u201d said Annalyn, 13. \u201cBeing here with my friends, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

They like how fun the group is, doing different activities every week, having civil discussions and feeling welcome. Zoey sees it as a way for youth like her to grow in their faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour faith makes up who you are, and what you do as a person and how you act to people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Miller said events like pumpkin picking are a good way to get youths to join because they can bring friends. Some youth have come into the group that way.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like activities is what brings the youth in,\u201d Lauren Miller said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t have activities, then they\u2019re not gonna be excited to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lauren Miller loves that the children are engaged and work well together, especially because they attend school together. She enjoys being part of their faith journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, when the three churches come together, you know they\u2019re from the same school district, but in the same breath, it\u2019s really nice to see those relationships being formed as well,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are why I do what I do. They bring light to everything and they\u2019re glowing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller is hopeful the group will not only grow in numbers, but the youth participants will also grow in their faith.<\/p>\n

Adam Miller likes how collaborative the group is.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re sharing that across three congregations, and so it moves it from just one church selfishly holding it to being able to use it as an opportunity for three churches to collaborate and grow together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLARKS SUMMIT \u2014 Giddy laughter and screams filled the fellowship hall at Clarks Summit United Methodist Church on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291186,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[24365,1993,201,182,139,15728,28,178,180,179,181,2943],"class_list":["post-291185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-clarks-green","tag-clarks-summit","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-newton-township","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-stt","tag-wyoming-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}