Come mid-July, two local teenagers will get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to mingle with 6,000 other teens from around the world when they attend the Presbyterian Youth Triennium in Indiana.
Amanda Cotterill, 15, and Shaunna Cuthbertson, 16, two youth members of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church here, will attend the one-week conference slated July 21-26 at Purdue University.
Cotterill and Cuthbertson, part of a Canadian contingent of 1,500 teens at the youth triennium, will be travelling to Indiana with 14 other church youths and two leaders from the Thunder Bay area.
“I can’t wait and I look forward to meeting lots of others my age,” enthused Cuthbertson, a grade 11 student at Fort High. “[The agenda] looks really interesting, too.”
“It’s something new for me. It’ll be fun stuff,” added Cotterill, who is in grade nine.
The youth triennium will involve the students in various aspects of Christian research, including the musical and written aspects of the Presbyterian Church.
“This will be a very exciting week for these kids,” enthused Rev. Mary Whitson of St. Andrew’s, who spearheaded the chance for the girls to attend the conference.
“They will be doing a lot of great stuff, like working with contemporary [church] music and worship as well as crafts, activities, workshops, and trips to see things,” she added.
Rev. Whitson said she chose the two girls not only because they met the age requirements for registration but because of their dedication to the church.
“I chose them because they are the oldest of those who attend on a regular basis. Very rarely do they miss a Sunday,” she noted.
But as she added, even though the girls were interested in the church aspect of the conference, they were a little reserved about going until they were sure it wasn’t all work.
“They asked ‘Would we spend the whole week with a Bible in our hand?’” recalled Rev. Whitson, chuckling. “Once they knew that they wouldn’t have their noses to the grindstone for the whole week, they became very excited to go.”
The $500 registration fee required for each to attend the conference has been covered by the Presbytery of Superior, with travel expenses of roughly $350 each to be raised through St. Andrew’s.
A pancake breakfast was held at the church Sunday morning.
Rev. Whitson said the girls will be asked to give a report on the youth triennium to the local congregation upon their return, with a similar request being asked of them from a sister church in Virginia, Mn.
“They will be spreading themselves around quite a bit,” she predicted.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
