Title: ELCA Youth Gathering Offers Life-Changing Experiences ELCA NEWS SERVICE
July 11, 2006
ELCA Youth Gathering Offers Life-Changing Experiences 06-098-MRC/KH*
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS (ELCA) -- Throughout the 2006 Youth Gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), high-school-age participants have had a variety of life-changing experiences, said Heidi Hagstrom, director of the ELCA Youth Gathering. More than 15,000 youth and adults gathered July 5-9 to participate in events at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas. From July 12-16, 24,000 more youth, volunteers and chaperones are attending the Youth Gathering here.
The gathering was particularly meaningful for four youth participants from Central Lutheran Church, Eugene, Ore, who attended the first gathering.
"I've never been to anything this large," said Erik Brauer, Central Lutheran Church. Brauer said he found the topics of conversation during the mass gathering at the Alamodome "interesting" because "there were different viewpoints of God. Rather than God as an omnipotent being, God was talked about as a father figure, a parent figure, which makes a lot (more) sense to me."
"There's a bunch of other people here who feel the same way I do about faith, and I've never felt that before," said Peter Herrmann, Central Lutheran Church. "Scripture was interpreted" in a way that was "easy to understand, and I could connect it to what happens in my life," he said.
"There are so many Lutherans here. We're not alone in the world," said Erik Jenson, Central Lutheran Church. "When my friends at school ask me what religion I am, I tell them Lutheran, and they don't know what a Lutheran is," he said.
For Alexander Caisse, Central Lutheran Church, "It's great just knowing that there are so many people worshiping God. I loved singing, clapping hands and praising God."
Each day of the Gathering began and ended with stage productions at the Alamodome. Morning gatherings included technology-enhanced Bible study. Both morning and evening gatherings featured guest speakers, music, dance, drama, video and special effects, storytelling, audience participation and worship. Participants chose from a variety of activities between mass gatherings, such as community volunteer opportunities -- known as servant events -- in and around San Antonio, interactive workshops, and fun and games at the Interaction Center in the Gonzalez Convention Center.
Youth also participated in servant events at the Gonzalez Convention Center. Michael Stepp, Good Samaritan Lutheran Church, Lexington Park, Md., made "Happy Hats" with his group. Located in the Interaction Center, youth decorated hats for local children with leukemia. "It was great, just knowing that you're doing it for the good of others, to make someone else happy," he said.
Happy Hats was one of three "way-of-life" service opportunities available to participants in the Interaction Center, which also included assembling school and health kits. Every day about 2,000 youth participated in off-site volunteer opportunities in the city that varied from painting and cleaning parks and recreation centers to playing with and reading to children at the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Antonio.
Stepp also said that the ELCA Youth Gathering's keynote speakers helped give him a greater understanding of immigration issues. "I used to be completely against" illegal immigration, he said, "but now I see why they do it."
Keynote speakers were featured during the morning and evening gatherings at the Alamodome. Authors, advocates and athletes spoke to Lutheran youth about faith and global issues.
"It's been a real eye-opener to what problems in the world we have yet to solve, and how we are the future generation to help out the world," said Heather Badder, Peace Lutheran Church, Charlotte, Mich. "It just really opens up your eyes to the faith and hope we need to spread throughout the world."
Badder said she especially enjoyed the concerts by the Newsboys on July 7, a Christian band from Australia, and Canadian band Hawk Nelson on July 5.
Rachel Delaney, St. Luke Lutheran Church, Cold Spring, Ky., said she was amazed by the number of Lutheran teenagers at the gathering. "The fellowship has been really cool," she said. "Just getting to know a bunch of different people and seeing how many Lutherans there are around the world that are teenagers" has been a life-changing experience.
Delaney also attended the workshop, "Children of War, Children of Peace," one of nearly 40 learning experiences offered in the Gonzalez Convention Center. The workshop addressed life in war-torn Bosnia through the stories of Christian and Muslim teens who suffered in their homeland and from U.S. Lutherans who visited Bosnia. "It was really good," Delaney said. "They talked about their real-life experiences, and I learned a lot from them."
Other workshops featured dance, music and interactive games. Tanya Fromm, Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, Granite Bay, Calif., attended "Banana Republic," a workshop that discussed how purchasing decisions can affect people around the world. "The workshop was interesting," Fromm said. "They did a game so you could feel like you were actually experiencing what is going on" in clothing factories.
The gathering also offered Lutheran youth the opportunity to participate in a variety of stewardship programs.
"As a church youth group, we're into world hunger" ministries, said Holly Carey, Trinity Lutheran Church, Ann Arbor, Mich. Carey, accompanied by other youth and adult leaders from Trinity, deposited several $10 bills in the "Hamiltons for Hunger" booth located at the Gonzalez Convention Center.
Under the "Hamiltons for Hunger" effort, every participant was asked to bring $30 or "three Hamiltons" to raise $1 million for the ELCA World Hunger Appeal. The Lutheran Youth Organization (LYO) issued the $1 million challenge. The LYO represents the high-school-age members of the ELCA. Another 24,000 youth and adults are expected to contribute to the effort during the second week of the gathering, July 12-16.
Carey said her church's youth group has raised funds in their home town to support local food-collecting organizations. "It's an important cause for us as a youth group."
Youth also donated gift cards as an "in-kind offering" to benefit four San Antonio organizations that support families and children. The Sunday offering will benefit domestic and international ministries.
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More information about the 2006 ELCA Youth Gathering is available at http://www.ELCA.org/gathering on the ELCA Web site.
*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