However, far more than singing takes place on tours:


• Sleeping on floors in churches that oftentimes aren’t quite


large enough for the number of participants—and making it work just fine


• Overflowing hospitality from people and churches hosting and


feeding us—usually at no cost to us


• Te annual Talent-less Show, where we try to outdo one


another sharing lame talent


• Hours of conversations, movie watching, naps, and laughter


aboard Bieber buses


• Touring the cities we visit and renting pools, gyms, and showers


for fun (and cleanliness!)


All of these things and much more make each tour special and memorable. But for me, perhaps the most powerful thing that occurs on tours is witnessing God’s Spirit in our midst drawing us into relationship with God, one another, and complete strangers. By the fourth day of tour, usually Sunday morning with the choir singing in one or more worship services, exhaustion is beginning to show. Yet the Holy Spirit takes hold of our youth and they sing as though it is the first day of the tour. God’s Spirit permeates them and their singing and flows throughout the worshipping congregation, energizing them as well. Inevitably, after worship we are approached by countless people touched by and grateful for our Youth Choir’s ministry and witness to Jesus Christ.


We have been blessed by all who have sung over the years in our Youth Choir, and they have been a blessing far and wide beyond the corner of Tilghman and Cedar Crest. Tanks be to God!


Opposite page: Youth Choir members pose during a tour of Boston’s Freedom Trail.


Tis page: Stops during the 2017 tour included Acton Congregational Church in Acton, Mass. (top left); the Massachusetts State House, where the choir offered a concert on the grand staircase (top and bottom right); and the city’s Faneuil Hall (bottom left).


MEET OUR SUMMER YOUTH INTERNS


Choir Tour is quickly followed by summer and lots of fun youth activities led by our summer interns. Here are quick facts about this year’s interns:


BRITTNEY DANIEL Grew up in FPCA. Loves the outdoors (rock climbing, hiking), music, and connecting with youth. Volunteers with Wayne Presbyterian Church’s youth program while attending Eastern University in Philadelphia, where she is a rising senior studying missiology and anthropology.


JOSEPH JUMPER From Myrtle Beach, SC. Is a rising junior at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC, where he studies Christian education. Middle child of three brothers. Member of the Presbyterian College Choir, Presbyterian College Men’s Choir, and the PC Ringers. Serves as chaplain of his fraternity, the Zeta Theta Chapter of Sigma Nu.


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