Don’t get me wrong, when the summer before my senior year of high school began, I was super excited for school to be out, for summer weather, and for free time to spend with friends. But, I was most excited to finally be going to the Theological Foundations for Youth (TFY) program! Witnessing my older sister and my older church friends go to TFY and come back radiating the theology they learned and the love of Christ they experienced made me so excited for my turn to go.

The TFY program annually guides about 30 rising high school seniors from North America in a rigorous, challenging, and exhaustive curriculum on the distinctives of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America. This program takes place mostly at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, Pa., over three intense, but amazing, weeks of the summer.

Personally, I was excited for TFY’s academic emphasis. Having grown up mostly in the RP Church, I was quite confident that I had a good understanding of what the RP Church believes. However, I was looking forward to comprehensive and exhaustive teaching on the specific topics of the denomination’s distinctives. I was not disappointed.

When I sat down in my chair the first day of classes, little did I know that I would learn so much, do so much, and love so much with these fellow Christians. I cannot stress too much how encouraging it was to get to know 29 Christian peers, 3 amazing counselors, all the lecturers, and the RPTS staff.

Throughout the first week, we heard lectures on topics such as, “The Christian in a Digital Age,” “The Regulative Principle of Worship,” “RP Church History,” and others. I especially liked Rev. David Whitla’s lecture on RP church history. Hearing how our church ancestors faced such strong persecution in order to worship in the way they believed God had called them to worship encouraged us to stick up for God in our lives in the small degrees of persecution that we face.

Each morning of that first week, we had times set aside for group and personal devotions. These times were notably special to me; it was so meaningful to see every single one of your new best friends scatter throughout the seminary to find their special spot to do their devotions.

That initial week was a lot of fun too: we got to visit the RP Home and Geneva College, have a pancake party, have an Irish barn dance, and play a lot of ping pong. We heard quite a few lectures that week, but even in our free time we had many opportunities to discuss topics on our minds with our counselors, friends, or Pastor Whitla.

By the time the second week came, we were mentally exhausted but excited. In that week, the students are split up into smaller groups of about five and go out to spend the week with nearby RP congregations. The groups served in their respective congregations in many ways. Some groups helped with vacation Bible school, yard work, and door-to-door ministry. Some groups heard lectures from their congregations.

When it was time to return to the seminary, we were mentally, and now physically, exhausted, but we were happy to see all of the other TFYers. The third week was another week of intense lectures and apologetics workshops. We were tired but ready to learn more. When that sad final day of TFY came, we wrapped up and said goodbye with tears in our eyes. We had made special, long-lasting friendships.

TFY was an experience I will never forget. I learned so much, grew so much, and made so many great friends. TFY has been useful to me as well; I have referred to my TFY notebook many times in discussing church doctrine with others. If you’re thinking about going to TFY in the future, I cannot over-recommend it to you. It will be an experience you will be glad you had.

Caleb Leong is a senior in high school. He lives in Colorado Springs, Colo., and is a member of Springs Reformed Church.

Photo credits: Taylor Dymond and Troy Uehling