ELCA News Blog
July 7, 2006
ELCA Youth Gathering features Bible study
by Katherine R. Hinck*, ELCA News Service
Each morning during the 2006 Youth Gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), more than 15,000 high-school- age youth gather at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, for a Bible study led by the Rev. Stephen Bond, a recent graduate of Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio. Trinity is one of eight ELCA seminaries. The first Bible study took place July 6 and featured speaker Dr. San Juana Mendoza Bruce, a charity doctor who serves the poor of Anapra and Juarez, Mexico; praise and worship time with musician Peter Mayer and the House Band; Agape (David Scherer), a Christian hip-hop artist; and a multimedia presentation that includes dance, music and video.
Bond spoke to participants on the parable of the Good Samaritan from the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament, encouraging youth to open their eyes to those who are suffering. "Jesus refuses to let us settle for the fear that keeps our eyes shut," Bond said. "Jesus refuses to let the people at the side of the road remain faceless. Our God refuses to rest until there is no one left at the side of the road."
Mendoza echoed the theme of the Good Samaritan parable, sharing her own experience with poverty. "Sometimes it seems like God is silent, but we have to remember that God gave us free will ... to love our neighbor and to seek peace and justice," she told participants. About 40,000 high-school-age and adult Lutherans from the United States and around the world are attending the ELCA Youth Gathering. The gathering is taking place in two back- to-back events -- July 5-9 and July 12-16 -- at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and Alamodome in San Antonio.
*Katherine R. Hinck is a senior journalism and religion major at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D. This summer she is an intern with the ELCA News Service.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog