On December 20, a group of excited young people gathered in the Fellowship Lodge for the annual youth Christmas celebration. The evening began with a delicious meal of fried chicken, green beans, Caesar salad, corn casserole, mashed potatoes, and homemade biscuits. This was followed by a tasty dessert of peppermint ice cream topped with whipped cream, peppermint flakes, and a chocolate wafer cookie.

Around the time dinner was wrapping up, the youth group participated in a Christmas trivia game where they raced to answer Christmas-related questions. After this concluded, it was time for the Christmas outfit contest. This year’s categories included “Most Festive,” “Least Festive,” “Most Retro,” “Most Outrageous,” and “Best Overall in Show.” Contestants were pulled from the audience and those who received the most votes for each category won gift cards to various locations.

The youth group was then led in singing Christmas carols to the Lambert and Adesope families. Following this, it was time for the highly anticipated fourth season of “The Great Great Great Great Christmas Race.” The young people split into seven teams and were given clues that would help them complete this exciting scavenger hunt. Activities included searching for candy canes, singing Christmas carols, riding the Christmas train, making paper stars, answering trivia questions, performing the Nativity pageant, and solving puzzles.

Once all teams had finished, gourmet hot chocolate was passed out and everyone prepared for the White Elephant gift exchange. Participants opened brightly colored packages of chocolate, gift cards, and other assorted items. It was a fun exchange! After all the gifts had been secured, the youth group gathered outside in front of a Christmas train to take a group photo. Then, Erik Calhoun led them in a prayer and concluded the evening with a few words about the Christmas season. A good time was had by all and everyone who attended left blessed!