Youth Group & Camp

A friend you regularly and honestly tell about your struggles, temptations, and goals, who encourages you and asks hard questions — so you're not fighting alone.

A weekend or week away at a camp or conference center for worship, teaching, and community — for youth in summer, for adults on retreat — where a lot of Christians say their faith became real.

A required worship service at a Christian school or college — usually a few times a week — and also a small church or worship room inside a larger building (a hospital, a university, a mansion).

Dating with marriage explicitly in view — often with families involved, boundaries agreed up front, and casual dating avoided — a practice revived in some evangelical circles in the 1990s.

Be careful about emotional and romantic attachment — don't give your heart away too fast or to the wrong person. From Proverbs 4:23, mostly applied to dating.

An intense spiritual high — often at camp, a retreat, or a conference — when God feels close and everything is clear. "The valley" is what comes after.

The 1990s–2000s evangelical movement urging teenagers to pledge abstinence until marriage — with rings, rallies, books, and modesty teaching — and the wider culture it created, which many Christians have since critiqued.

A one-armed hug from the side, keeping bodies apart — once taught in youth groups as the "appropriate" way for boys and girls to hug, and now mostly a joke Christians tell about themselves.

"Unequally yoked" (from 2 Corinthians 6) is the warning against a Christian marrying a non-Christian; "missionary dating" is the tongue-in-cheek name for dating someone in hopes of converting them.

A church's program for teenagers, usually meeting midweek, mixing games, food, a short Bible talk, and time with friends.

The adult on a church's staff in charge of the teen ministry — planning youth group, camps, and trips, teaching, and being a trusted adult to a lot of teenagers.