The Guilford Church

30 high-school-aged youth from many different towns around Windham County came together on September 3 and 4 to problem-solve, develop empathy and create positive connections within and across schools. Click "Read More"  for more details and to see photos of the retreat.

July 25 & 26 2009

In a summer specializing in rain, the GCC youth group found themselves in canoes on the Connecticut River on a sunny, hot day. Putting in at Sumner Falls, the ten teens and adult chaperones paddled to Wilgus State Park, stopping en route to swim and perfect techniques of splashing each other. Since they had set up their tents on the way north, camp was ready when they arrived in time for volleyball, supper, and a surprise treat: a show put on nightly by resident flying squirrels.

Photos follow…

Guilford Church Youth Spruce Up Summer Camp

You might expect to find teenagers at a weekend camp sleepover – but not to clean the place up!

About a dozen youth from Guilford Community Church spent the weekend at The Green Mountain Camp for Girls in West Dummerston, from May 1-3 while preparing the facility for its Open House later this month.

The group took on seasonal camp cleanup activities such as raking leaves, sweeping cabins, and replacing mattresses to get ready for summer campers.  In addition, the youth sanded and painted the dining hall floor, painted the ceiling of the kitchen, and painted the floor of the director's cabin.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Teens gathered at 3:30 p.m. to make chili, salad, cornbread and brownies to serve to the homeless at the Overflow Shelter. They watched and debriefed the movie Amistad, and made plans for the spring. They took the food to the shelter at the Baptist Church on Main Street and served it to the people who came there.

Sunday, March 15

Parents met about keeping the energy of the youth group going while teens began watching the movie, "Amistad." The teens also gathered and brainstormed ideas for what they would like to do as a group.

A potluck supper followed with three slide shows of photographs from the group's trip to St. Croix.

On February 20, 2009, a group of 17 teens  and nine chaperones flew to the beautiful island of St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands. They spent the next eight days scraping paint at the Boys & Girls Club in Christiansted (where they also slept on the floor), painting at the Lutheran church, volunteering at an orphanage—and yes, swimming and playing at the beach. They met and worked with local teens and played many games of pick-up basketball. They learned about the history of slavery and its consequences. And they formed bonds of friendship that will not soon be forgotten.

See two articles in the Brattleboro Reformer, one from the day after the group left:

February 21 article

and the other just after they returned:

March 4 article 

Read the emails sent back home by the group and see photos of the trip. 

Satisifaction is all over their faces as the crew from the recent spaghetti dinner pose for the camera. The dinner was put on by the youth as a fund raiser for their upcoming service trip to St. Croix.

Our youth group has also been active. Among other activities, they hosted an event for area youth to meet and learn from the “Lost Boys” of Sudan in July. They also baked cookies for the Welcome Center fundraiser to raise money for their mission trip to St. Croix.

Here are the confirmands of 2008 and 2010.

In May, 2007, Lisa Sparrow, pastor of Guilford Community Church,and Barbro Hanson, pastor of All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, led a group of teens to Mississippi to clean up damaged homes after Hurricane Katrina.

Click on the first photo to view these photos of the group's experience as a slide show.