There’s a saying that prayers are heard around the world, whether someone is religious or not. Prayers also stem from different backgrounds, bringing people together from various religions.

At SJHHS, there are four clubs based on religion: Cookies and Christ, Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), Jews and Juice, and the True North Christian Club.

In the Cookies and Christ Club, as the name suggests, people snack on cookies while a speaker delivers a message. Ashley Hoffman, club president, says, “I’m planning on doing a day outside of school where we could get together and also I always advocate for the Open Door club,” when asked if there are any future planned activities.

“We just do a little bit of prayer,” she adds, stating, “I want everyone to feel loved and I want to share God’s love that he has shown me.”

When asked if the members all go to the same place of worship, Hoffman says, “No, everyone goes to different churches, my church is the Shoreline in San Clemente, but it’s open for everyone.” She includes you do not have to be religious to join, and that everyone is welcomed.

For meetings and cookies, you can visit the club in room D08.

Going on to sport relating, the FCA club president Riley Leivas says, “We have a speaker come and share their testimonies and we hand out free pizza.”

On activities, she reports that there are meetings every other Thursday in the theater conference room. She adds that those within the club do not all attend the same church, and that a member does not have to be religious to join the club.

Leivas says, “Usually what we do is like we’ll start with like a game and then we play a game for like five minutes, and then we introduce the speaker. We try to get athletes from around here to kind of talk to people because they’re like Christian athletes–so then we get an athlete to try and talk about their experience and walk with God.”

On why it’s focused on athletes specifically, she states that the Fellowship of Christian Athletes is an organization, which is how it started, and you don’t have to be an athlete to join.

To hear messages from athletes and get free pizza, the meetings are held Tuesdays in H112, Mr. Ahmer’s classroom.

Along with Christian clubs, SJHHS also has a Jewish club, Jews and Juice at room H103.

“Normally I bring juice every time, and depending if there’s a holiday coming up, we play a few games or teach about the holiday, or we just have a discussion about what we’re doing,” says Sophie Bolotin, club president.

When asked if there will be any activities in the near future, Bolotin stated, “I was maybe thinking about bringing everyone to my temple for a service, just to get a feel for the culture and stuff.”

If it’s near a religious holiday, Bolotin says that they will bring in food, “For Yom Kippur we brought in bagels and cream cheese because that’s what you eat when you break the fast. And I brought in matzah for Passover, so it kind of just depends.”

Most of the club members are not Jewish, and the club is open to anyone who wants to learn about the culture and try new foods.

For people looking for a club built on discussion, there’s the True North Christian Club. The club is based on the Aliso Viejo Compass Bible Church.

“Right now we’re going through the most popular bible verses that we know of,” says President Leia O’brian, adding that they’ll give their opinions on the bible verses and think of God’s thoughts on it.

O’Brian states that the club meets about once a month, with sermons about varying topics and sometimes a free pizza lunch.

“Anyone is welcome to come,” she says. Those who are looking for stimulating conversation and pizza, head to room E16, Mr. Norgren’s room on Tuesdays.
For anyone looking for religious conversation or an experience with different religions, a prayer heard throughout the campus can be found just a club away.