Young Adults and Youth in Prairie to Pine
The Young Adult And Youth (YAAY) Committee encourages all youth to participate in activities in their home congregations, in events in the area and in regional gatherings. Youth are also given many opportunities for leadership at youth events and by filling positions on the YAAY Committee. (Click here to learn more about this important committee and who serves on it.)
What is YAAY?
This community and program provides opportunities for young adults and youth to connect with other people who share similar values as their own. This is done through semi-annual young adult-led youth retreats, area-based travelling youth groups, young adult gatherings, and other events. Read on for more details!
Connect with us!
Instagram: @prairie2pine_yaay
Facebook: Prairie to Pine United Church Young Adults and Youth
Have an event that you want to advertise on YAAY social media? Email a poster to p2pyaay@gmail.com
Young adults and youth news
Events For Youth And Young Adults This Holiday Season
As the holiday season approaches, our community is gearing up for a series of exciting youth and young adult events designed to celebrate the spirit of the season. From festive gatherings to skill-building workshops, this year’s lineup offers...
Traveling Youth Group (TYG) Opportunities
Would your United Church in the Prairie to Pine Region like to host a Traveling Youth Group (TYG)? Learn more about the activities, benefits, and more! TYG stands for Traveling Youth Group. These are monthly, 2-hour youth events hosted by different...
New YAAY Member Presents His Most Recent Retreat Experience
Hi! My name is Nicholas and I recently became a member of the YAAY committee! In this position I will be posting updates and stories on events, retreats and traveling youth groups. Here is my experience of ALF 2024! I attended...
Prairie to Pine at Winnipeg Pride Parade
On Sunday, June 1st, a vibrant and joyful group of 70–100 United Church walkers of all ages joined the Winnipeg Pride Parade, representing the Prairie to Pine Regional Council. Throughout the route, our numbers grew and shifted, but the energy...
Neechi Camp 2025 Seeks Campers and Donations
Neechi Camp will take place this year, August 17 to 21, 2025 in Ochekwi Sipi Cree Nation, also named Fisher River, MB. We will set up camp on the beautiful grassy area beside Fisher River United Church. We will use the church as our home base and...
What is a Youth Retreat?
A youth retreat is… well, it’s a lot of things! Mostly, it’s a great opportunity to meet lots of people and make new friends from all over our Prairie to Pine Region (Manitoba and North Western Ontario). It’s a time to laugh, learn, worship, dance, sing, talk, and more. It’s a chance to explore and deepen our faith in God in new and exciting ways. It’s a safe, warm, welcoming, and friendly environment where you can just be yourself! Everybody is accepted, and nobody is judged.
Our Two Retreats
Two region wide youth retreats are held each year for youth grade 7 to 12. The Zeebu Retreat is held on the February long weekend of Family Day (ON)/Louis Riel Day (MB). The Alf retreat is held in October, two weekends after Thanksgiving.
Why the names ALF and Zeebu?
The theme of the first ALF in 1987 was Adolescents Learning about Families (ALF). The second year was Adolescents Learning about Friends. Now the theme strays from the acronym, but the over-arching purpose of the retreat continues to be Adolescents Learning about Faith.
The Zeebu retreat was started by a group of youth in Russell, MB in 1994 and did not have a name the first year. Legend states that there was a stuffed animal named “Zeebu” present at that retreat and the retreat from then on took on the name “Zeebu.”
Letter: Inclusive dorm model
Health Form – alternate to one in online registration
Upcoming Retreat:
ALF 2026
October 23rd – 25th 2026
Minnedosa, MB
Home Groups
Worship
Music
Theme Time
Social Time
For more info, click here to email Twila
Events
The Prairie to Pine YAAY committee organizes and collaborates on events for youth and young adults of all interests to come together in community, whether locally or nationally or in between.
If you are interested or have any questions about our youth events, contact Twila by email at TMacNair@united-church.ca
Events in our region
- Regional retreats, Alf and Zeebu are both overnight retreats that include 2 full days of activities and fun for grades 7-12. For more detail look at the “Our Two Retreats” section above.
- Neechi Camp is a 4 or 5 day summer camp where Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth build friendships while learning from Indigenous elders and other community members about their way of life and their spirituality. This is done through hands-on experiences on the land. These experiences vary from year to year, but may include fishing, making hand drums, rattles, or ribbon skirts, cooking, learning dances and ceremonial drum songs, taking part in a sweat lodge ceremony, language learning, story telling, campfires, and games. As organizers, our hope is that the friendships made, teachings learned, and new activities tried will make a difference in the campers’ lives and in our journey as a community working towards reconciliation! To learn more and/or read a campers story see: Bradley’s Neechi Camp Experience
- Travelling Youth Group (TYG) is a still evolving opportunity for youth and leaders from different churches in and around Winnipeg to plan a youth group “evening” in their own church, to which they invite other youth. This allows small groups, even churches with one youth, to feel their planning effort is more worthwhile because they can plan for a larger group and know that other groups will reciprocate and plan something to which they can then take their youth. This significantly cuts down the work-load of one youth leader while introducing their youth to a wider circle of United Church peers. “Travelling Youth Group” events have typically been held on a Friday from 7 to 9 pm for grades 6 and up, but aren’t limited to this. For Planning, see: Resources and Ideas for Travelling Youth Group and Template for a 2 Hour Youth Group. The template is a tool, not a required format.
- YARG (Ages 18-30) or Young Adult Recreational Gatherings, are events put on by the Prairie to Pine YAAY committee. They aim to bring young adults together to grow friendships, and strengthen the young adult community in the United Church. Past events include potlucks, karaoke or games nights, and volunteering events.
National Opportunities
- Collective, is a spirit-filled gathering for youth, young adults, and their leaders, offering participants a space to grow in faith, build community, and reflect on shared experiences. The gathering includes three dedicated streams (youth, young adults, leaders), with programming that will encourage participants to wrestle with big ideas, engage in thought-provoking discussions, build confidence, and develop their leadership skills.
-
Youth Forum (Ages 15 to 19) takes place in the year of a General Council (GC) meeting. Youth Forum gives young people the chance to gather with youth representatives from other regions while learning about how decisions are made in the United Church of Canada. Youth also have time to discuss issues they feel are affecting them.
