wfn.org | Lutheran Youth Impress New Orleans

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 4, 1997

LUTHERAN YOUTH IMPRESS NEW ORLEANS
97-25-073-FI

     NEW ORLEANS (ELCA) -- More than 28,400 teen-agers are bound to
make an impression.  The Youth Gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America brought them here July 23-27 along with 6,900
adults.  What seems to have impressed the city the most was the
generosity of young Lutherans.
     "We love you," said Marlin N. Gusman, the city's chief
administrative officer, during opening ceremonies at the Louisiana
Superdome.  "Your energy has already been felt in the city and the
impact of your community service will be felt."
     Thousands of the youth took part in "servant events," working
long hours in Louisiana heat and humidity on three of their five days
in New Orleans.  They took on a variety of cleanup projects in the
city's Desire, Florida and Algiers Point neighborhoods -- sweeping
sidewalks in public housing, shoveling debris from vacant lots,
painting over graffiti, cleared drains and gutters for elderly
residents, digging community gardens and picking up litter around
school buildings.
     "We came here to have a good time, but we also wanted to do
something to help, to put something back into the community we're
visiting," Jessica Minnich, 17, Brogue, Pa., told a reporter from The
Times-Picayune.
     The teens brought 25 tons of non-perishable food items for the
Second Harvest Food Bank, New Orleans, which collects and distributes
food worldwide.  Summer months are slow times for food banks; so the
gifts were designated a "Christmas in July" offering.
     They also dropped more than $325,000 in collection plates to
benefit several ministries: Mwangaza Educational Resource Center in
Tanzania, U.S. Homeless Ministries, ELCA Braille and Tape Services,
Ministry to Street Children in Brazil, Corridor Ministry along the Rio
Grande Valley, Prison Congregations of America, Pastoral Interns for
U.S. Inner Cities, The Amity Foundation of China, ELCA Native American
Ministries, Community Mission and Development Project in Colombia, and
the Ashram Ministry to Women in India.
     The ELCA Youth Gathering is held every three years in a different
city.  The next gathering,  in 2000, will be held in St. Louis for
about 40,000 Lutherans in two groups of 20,000.
     The young Lutherans, 15 to 18 years old, had the good time that
brought them to New Orleans.  There was fellowship, Bible study and
worship.  All 35,000 gathered each day at the Louisiana Superdome for
worship and an inspirational speech.
     "You young baptized ones, the Lord has need of you to bear his
word to the world," the Rev. Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl, bishop of the
ELCA's South Dakota Synod, told the Superdome audience.  "You are
young leaders with vision and compassion and gifts and burning faith
in your hearts."
     "We all have to reach, to risk, to put ourselves on the line,"
said Steve Rohr at the Dome.  "Fear prevented the disciples from
keeping their promise to Jesus.  Fear can keep you from keeping your
promise to Jesus," said the 27-year-old member of St. Francis Lutheran
Church, San Francisco.
     The Rev. Walter Wangerin, Jr., Valparaiso University, Valparaiso,
Ind., spoke to a Superdome audience Friday evening to celebrate the
meaning of Jesus' death.  He said it was indeed a "Good" Friday
because Christians know the good news of Easter is coming.
     "Why are we here, 35,000 of us, listening to the ancient story of
God?" asked the Rev. Gladys G. Moore, Jersey City, N.J.  "Someone
talked about the resurrection of Jesus ... and now we have an
incredible crowd of believers."  Moore is assistant to the bishop of
the ELCA's New Jersey Synod.
     After Moore spoke, 29 young people were baptized into the
Christian faith by their hometown pastors and another 14 affirmed
their baptisms earlier in the year.  The Rev. Paul J. Blom, bishop of
the ELCA's Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, was the presiding
minister.
     "Jesus will be waiting for you when you get home," the Rev. H.
George Anderson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, told the young people
before they left New Orleans at the close of the Youth Gathering.
"You are going home.  Back to the familiar ... after this
once-in-a-lifetime experience.  But you won't be leaving Jesus here."

PRE-GATHERING

     Two specific groups of teens met in pre-gathering events July
20-23.  Young members of ELCA congregations that are not predominantly
white gathered at Tulane University for the Multicultural Youth
Leadership Event (MYLE), and the Definitely Abled Youth Leadership
Event (DAYLE) gave participants with disabilities a chance to get to
know each other and the facilities being used for the ELCA Youth
Gathering before the crowds arrived.
     "Stones in the River" was the MYLE theme for more than 600
"children of color."  MYLE provided leadership opportunities through
elections to three-year terms on the Multicultural Advisory Committee
(MAC) of the Lutheran Youth Organization, the youth organization of
the ELCA.

     The DAYLE included a business session that asked the Lutheran
Youth Organization to create a Definitely Abled Advisory Committee
(DAC).  The LYO Convention approved the resolution establishing the
DAC on July 26.

LYO CONVENTION

     About 500 of the youth were convention delegates of the Lutheran
Youth Organization, the ELCA's youth organization.  The convention
conducts LYO business every three years in conjunction with the ELCA
Youth Gathering.
     Rebecca D. Lawrence, 17, Chicago, was elected LYO president at
the fourth triennial convention here July 24-26.  The convention also
voted to support ecumenism, to oppose capital punishment and to
develop a conference for gay, lesbian and bisexual youth.
     Lawrence will serve a three-year term, succeeding Karris Golden,
20, a communication student at Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa.
Lawrence will attend the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in
the fall.
     Delegates asked the LYO board "to investigate the possibility of
planning and developing a pre-gathering conference for gay, lesbian
and bisexual youth" for the next ELCA Youth Gathering in 2000 in St.
Louis.  They also asked that direct lines of communication be opened
with human rights organizations working for an end to capital
punishment.
     LYO delegates voted to support ecumenical proposals scheduled to
be voted on at the 1997 ELCA Churchwide Assembly to be held Aug. 14-20
in Philadelphia.

TREKS

     The Lutheran Youth Gathering included ten "treks" -- extensive
workshops on life and faith experiences.
     "You must begin by studying the issues and write letters to your
members of Congress," former U.S. Senator Paul Simon told 1,600 young
people attending "Pale Blue Dot" -- a trek on political solutions to
global problems.  Simon talked about confronting poverty and hunger.
"When you write a letter, you save a life," he said.
     Five thousand teens took "Trek 2001: A Technological Odyssey."
They gathered in the Superdome to engage in designing graphic computer
slide shows, videos, web sites and fliers.  Lutheran World Relief gave
technology in developing countries a spotlight.  NASA executives came
to speak with the young people on the technology of space and the
lives of astronauts aboard the spacecraft.
     When it comes to sharing music and dance from various cultures,
young people do it with passion, vigor and pride.  About 1,500 teens
celebrated diversity at "Festival of Cultures" -- a trek about ethnic
communities.  "This trek gave young people the opportunity to learn
about different cultures by meeting international students and
participating in a variety of multicultural activities," said the Rev.
Sherman G. Hicks, First Trinity Lutheran Church, Washington, D.C.

     Young Lutherans got a chance to try writing a song, drawing a
cartoon, cooking a Cajun-style dish or just imagining ways of seeing
things differently.  In a trek called "Creativity Unleashed," 3,500 of
the teens tapped into the arts to express themselves and their faith.
Jerry Evenrud, Edina, Minn., said the idea was to introduce the teens
to a broad spectrum of artists and to give them several chances to
express themselves "in ways that might be new to them."
     About 4,800 teens remembered their Baptism on the Mississippi
River and explored Christ's gifts of hope through activities and
conversations at "Hearts on Fire."  They boarded a river boat in
shifts of 800 and celebrated Holy Communion out on the water.  Back on
shore, they were "empowered to explore issues related to friendship
and peace and how they can make a difference," according to Jason
Reed, youth director at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Springfield, Va.
     The "God Trek" emphasized the three persons of God -- Father,
Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  The setting was a dark room with cosmic
music for a drama depicting God, creation and humans.
     "Mother Earth" focused on measures to preserve the planet.  The
keynote speaker, Melissa Poe, 17, Nashville, Tenn., founded the Kids
For a Clean Environment (Kids FACE) Club.
     "The Living Room" was a place to feel secure and comfortable.
Jim Tuman, Royal Oak, Mich., addressed the importance of valuing life
and ourselves.  In his opinion, too much value is given to material
possessions.
     Kids were welcomed to the "Well Now!" trek by Nora from suburban
Chicago.  She's a survivor of bone cancer.  Workshops covered such
topics as self-esteem, prostitution, date rape, alcohol, drug and
tobacco abuse.
     An "Adult Leadership" trek helped teens and adults discuss ways
the church can be more effective in the lives of young people.  They
addressed effective youth ministries and assessing the needs of young
people.

TUESDAYS

     Imagine a world of fun, friendship, challenge, teamwork and lots
of games, and you have "Tuesdays" -- a playground for 30,000 young
people that filled the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.  Tuesdays
had three major areas: "Market," "Signs of the Times" and "Get a
Life."
     The "Market" theme was fun.  Participants had opportunities to
dunk a peer in a tub of water, design and decorate Mardi Gras floats,
paint their faces, toss beads, race tricycles in the New Orleans Grand
Prix and play games such as boccie or basketball.
     "Signs of the Times" combined play and learning.  The Blue Planet
was their spot for learning about water and how precious it is for our
existence on earth.  One group of kids, after completing a difficult
balancing exercise together, said teamwork was the key to
accomplishing the task.
     "Get a Life" provided opportunities for service and fun.  The
kids hammered nails into a house Habitat for Humanity was building for
a family in the area.  Making bricks to build homes and other
buildings as they do in rural Africa offered a cultural experience.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html