The Youth Ministry oversees the PF (Pilgrim Fellowship) and Jr. PF groups for high school and middle school aged students from the Church and local area. The PF sponsors social, service and educational events for the youth of our church and community.  One of the largest events being a week long summer trip, alternating between a service trip to Winter Park, Colorado to help with  "Adam's Camp," a special needs Adventure Camp, and a camping/canoe trip to the "Boundary Waters," of Minnesota.

PF Membership Requirements:

PF is an organization sponsored by First Congregational Church, UCC of Des Plaines for the high-schooled aged students of the church and community.

While being faith-based, the group is run as more of a social group that participates in Service projects for our church, Community service projects, Social Gatherings, and some fund raising events. Our practice has been to demonstrate our faith through actions more than discussing scripture.

We are open to anyone who wishes to participate in our activities, and have traditionally had a large contingent of members who are not affiliated with First Congregational Church itself.

PF is a fun way to be yourself and enjoy the company of others, while participating in a variety of fun and meaningful activities. PFers are accepted for who they are, and not who they are "expected" to be.

The PF and it's activities are open to anyone who wants to participate. There are 2 perks to actually being a member of the PF.

1) You are allowed to attend our amazing Summer trips.
2) You will have many opportunities for service/volunteer hours.

Currently the membership comprises:

1) All those who were on the Church PF list and attended at least 4 events during the year.

2) Anyone in the current confirmation class at FCC.

3) Anyone who was active (3+ events) in Junior PF last year, is now in high school, and wishes to continue to be a part of this group.

PF is not a closed group. We encourage everyone to bring friends to events and introduce them to all of us. Visitors will be considered for membership on an individual basis, using the following criteria:

1) They must have attended at least 3 PF events.

2) The PFer who brought them as a visitor/guest must be comfortable with having them in the group.

3) The prospective PFer and his/her parent(s) must meet with the one of the co-youth group leader and be interested and comfortable with joining the PF.

Events

There are a lot of events scheduled throughout the year. Some have dates assigned already, others will be scheduled later. These are split into three major categories: fun activities, service activities, and fund raisers. There is generally no cost associated with service activities and fund raisers, but there is a nominal fee with some of the fun activities. These fees offset the cost actually accrued during the activity, and are set as reasonably low as possible for each one.

We try to play approximately two Senior PF events a month throughout most of the year. Occasionally there will be multiple events in a week, and some times (such as finals or beginning of school) when we won't schedule any PF activities. Some of these events are held jointly, either with Junior PF or the Post-PF (PFers who have graduated from high school in the past 7 years), but most of them are Sr. PF only.

Financial Aid

Please not that there is scholarship money available for ALL activities and trips. The goal is to ensure that any PFer who wishes to participate in any event is able to do so, without worrying about finances unnecessarily. Just speak to Matt Cameron or any other Program Staff at the church. All scholarships is kept confidential.