What Is SRE?

For those of you who didn't know or are just visting this blog:


This blog for the most part is about our trip to New Orleans. SRE or Student Relief Effort is a partnership between Garnet Valley High School students and Concord Liberty Presbyterian Church (CLPC) located in Concord Township Pennsylvania.

After Hurricane Katrina, students from Garnet Valley High School who also happened to be members of CLPC felt God calling them to start a ministry/relief effort for New Orleans where high school students could go to help rebuild. A group of students from the high school, students from CLPC youth group and adult leaders from the church responded to the call and went to New Orleans during spring break 2006. The effort was a success, so it continues to this day. Each year since 2006 students from the high school, students from CLPC, and adult leaders mostly from CLPC went to New Orleans during spring break to help those in need. We don’t know what God’s plan is for the future of this effort, whether it will continue or move into some other type of outreach, but whatever His plan is, I am sure people will be blessed and lives changed.

Even though CLPC sponsors these trips each year, we understand and respect the fact that this is a partnership with the community and the high school not just a church event. That said, even though some of the adult leaders may offer opportunities for students to participate in a prayer time, devotional time and music, it is each student’s choice as to whether they join in or not choose not to. Each decision will be respected. It is neither our intent nor our focus to either evangelize or proselytize the students. However, we must be realistic when kids of different faiths or no faith based life style come together. Dynamic things happen as they learn, see and experience the faith others exhibit as well as the modeling of values portrayed by adult leaders. We as leaders are there to love, support, encourage, teach and chaperone the students with whom we have been entrusted to care for.