In late June into July 2026, 7 students and 5 leaders are getting ready to attend a weeklong trip to Orlando, Florida called the “Community Live-In.” For those that haven’t heard about these trips over the past few years, the CLI trips are formational trips that focus on teaching what it means to live, serve, and play in Christian community together. We’ll once again be living in a very LARGE house down in Orlando and serving alongside our sister church, Audubon Park Covenant Church, as we learn from various ministries and community-based service projects that their church is already partnering with.

Personally speaking, this trip has become one of my favorite things that we do as a youth group. The path for building healthy community requires a combination of time, proximity, investment and openness, all of which are at the core of what this experience is meant to be. And every time we have gone on one, it has been such a joy to watch the growth and faith formation that happens within all of us, not just the students and leaders but even how it affects our church community as a whole!

But, to do such a trip takes a lot of prep work and fundraising. In the fall, we had a very successful soup luncheon and dessert auction, which means that we feel that if our final few fundraisers are successful, we’ll be able to raise all the funds we need for this trip. And before I share what those are, I just want to remind you that while we DO take a day or two on these CLI trips to go do fun things like the theme parks, any cost for the “fun” days and park tickets are all include in the out-of-pocket costs for every student and leader. We only raise funds for what is needed for the flights, housing, food, transportation and anything needed for the service project days.