wfn.org | ELCA Assembly Receives Youth Convocation Report

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 21, 1999

ELCA ASSEMBLY RECEIVES YOUTH CONVOCATION REPORT
99-CWA-45-MR

     DENVER (ELCA) --  We are the church of now and we are the church
of the future, Sarah Helminski, 18, told the 1999 Churchwide Assembly of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Aug. 20.  Helminski,
Epiphany Lutheran Church, Toledo, Ohio, helped deliver the youth
convocation report to the assembly.
     The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the
ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 16-22 at the Colorado Convention Center.
There are more than 2,500 people participating, including 1,038 voting
members.  The theme for the biennial assembly is "Making Christ Known:
Hope for a New Century."
     More than 55 high-school-age young people from across the United
States and Caribbean are participating in the youth convocation in
conjunction with the assembly.  All 55 stood on stage to deliver the
report.
     "I didn't realize the full impact youth can have at the assembly,"
said Helminski.  "At the convocation, we worked on determining our
spiritual gifts and how our gifts can be used to serve the church."
Helminski said the youth convocation highlighted prayer, spiritual gifts
and the experience of witnessing the assembly's voting members at work.
     "There are different ways to serve but the same Lord to serve,"
Jake Francis, a member of the ELCA Northeastern Iowa Synod, Waverly,
Iowa, told the assembly.
     "There are many spiritual gifts we can use to serve the Lord.
There are administrative gifts and gifts in artistry, evangelism,
knowledge, shepherding and teaching, just to name a few.  There is also
the gift of leadership, which brought all of us here today to the
beautiful city of Denver," said Francis.
     "Leadership is a desirable, sought-after role.  But there are
other spiritual gifts. There is giving, sharing mercy with others,
hospitality and prayer that has the same importance.  Another way to
serve God using our spiritual gifts is by doing community service,"
Francis said.
     Members of the youth convocation "participated in an awesome and
spiritually enriching day of service Aug. 19," said Amy Lyon, ELCA
Northeastern Ohio Synod in Akron.  The group traveled to the St. Francis
Center, a homeless center.  It is an Episcopal-run ministry, said Lyon.
     "We used our spiritual gifts to work for and with the homeless in
an attempt to make their world more pleasant, and share with them God's
endless love.  While painting, gardening, sorting, cleaning and cooking,
each of us had the opportunity to strengthen our faith in God, as well
as enrich our bond with one another," Lyon told the assembly.  "We were
humbly reminded of how undeniably fortunate we are and of the many daily
blessings that we often take for granted.  We've made an impact on the
lives of all those at the center."
     "Working at the center was a great experience," said Ryan Leonis,
17, Faith Lutheran Church, Castro Valley, Calif. The youth attending the
convocation "really bonded by working together at the center.  I made a
lot of friends and participating at the center was a lot of fun," he
said.  Leonis help cooked food at the center.
     For Colleen Taylor, 15, House of Prayer, Aliquippa, Pa., working
at the center was a "good experience.  While working, we were singing
and it was a good bonding experience for the youth."
     "We're part of you, we're part of the church," was the message
Taylor, conveyed to the assembly.  "We're here as leaders.  I've learned
also to be a follower and trust other people's decision and feel good
about it," she said.
     The young people attending the convocation are "very liberal and
open in their thinking, but conservative in their decisions," said Chip
Borgstadt, a member of the adult support team at the youth convocation.
Borgstadt, Omaha, Neb., is director for the youth and family ministry
program at Midland College in Freemont, Neb.  Midland is a college of
the ELCA.
     While they have no voting power at the assembly, young people of
the convocation have been conducting their own "straw polls" on business
of the assembly.
     "For many of us, this is the first time we have been given the
opportunity to see the political side of the church," said Rafael
Malpica, Lake in the Hills, Ill.  "During our week in Denver, we have
witnessed history in the making with the ELCA proposing full communion
with The Episcopal Church, and voting to be in full communion with the
Moravian Church in America," said Malpica.  "We have also confronted
everyday issues, such as homosexuality and social status.  By handling
these delicate issues in a Christian manner, we have formed a closer
relationship with God," he said.
     "In our passionate debate on issues, in our selfless service, in
our contagious joy and unbinding welcome, we live as prayers to the
glory of God," Aaron Werner, ELCA North/West Lower Michigan Synod,
Lansing, Mich., told the assembly.  Werner ended the youth convocation
report quoting one of his favorite hymns: "What a friend we have in
Jesus; all our sins and griefs to bear.  What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer."

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