The Gathering remembers beloved colleague, friend, and child of God, Donna Marie Wiegel.

Donna was born April 14, 1952 in Spencer, IA. She grew up in Des Moines, IA, attended college at both the University of Iowa and Drake University, and attended graduate school at DePaul University in Chicago.

Donna worked with the ELCA for over 25 years. She began with the Women of the ELCA, then worked with the Gathering beginning in 1997. As an event planner, she was instrumental in organizing multiple Gatherings every three years, with some Gatherings reaching an attendance of over 40,000 youth.

When Donna began working with the Gathering, all registrations were handled with paper. Every registration came through the postal service. Donna coordinated the efforts to open the mail, organize registrations, enter the data from the registrations, and process payments. Donna began the system of streamlining to the current online registration system where congregations participating in the Gathering could manage their own accounts. She was a master of logistics and scheduling, performing this ministry with kindness and grace.

Donna knew many of the adult leaders with the Gathering on a first name basis. She was not just a colleague to many these leaders, she was also a beloved friend. Donna was well known for her compassionate heart and her embodied expressions of kindness, joy, and love. She was a passionate advocate for youth and young adults. Donna’s dedication and passion for ministry was not just expressed with her work with the Gathering, but also as a member of Resurrection Lutheran Church.

So many friends have shared their memories and stories of Donna in these days, so numerous that they sadly cannot be contained in a single entry. The themes that come up in these stories and memories are Donna’s capacity for generosity, her immense kindness, her faith in Jesus, her love of justice for all peoples, fighting and caring for the marginalized, and embodying her faith in Christ daily in the world.

When she wasn’t working with the Gathering, Donna enjoyed the simplicities of life. She loved being in the sun, at the beach, and on her bike. She reveled spending time with her daughter, Tatiana, and her beloved granddaughters.

Donna will be missed by so many. She has left a lasting legacy in her dedication to the ministry of the Gathering.

Gathering interviews continue with Joy Emenyonu. Joy attended the 2015 Gathering in Detroit; that experience led her to apply to be one of the Gathering emcees. Get to know Joy before you see her at Mass Gathering.

Tell the Gathering blog readers a little bit about yourself.
Like most people my age, school consumed my life. I always had my hands full with extracurriculars and a rigorous academic schedule. This work has simultaneously destroyed my mental health and built me up as a person I am proud to be today.

Where do you see God most active in your life?
I attribute my academic success to God and God alone. I wouldn’t be here getting ready to take on my bright future if I hadn’t turned to God every step of the way.

What is your favorite thing about your church/ faith community?
My youth group, the place where my relationship with God first took place is probably my favorite thing about my community. It’s a group of beautiful kids with different personalities and aspirations who all just want a deeper understanding of God. It is in my youth group that I expanded my faith and learned about the true love of God.

What are you most excited about being a Gathering emcee?
I originally applied to be an emcee because I had a great experience in Detroit. I learned so much and it was practically life-changing. I had an amazing time and I knew that participating in the Gathering would only further my enjoyment

The theme for the Gathering is “This Changes Everything.” How does this theme and these words connect with you as a member of the church?
The theme “This Changes Everything” to me means that even with the slightest understanding of God’s love, a whole new world of possibilities is opened. With God’s love, there are no boundaries, no borders, no room for prejudice, and no room for racism. Anyone can do anything and simply understanding that changes everything. 

What is your biggest hope for you when you come home from the Gathering?
I hope that this Gathering will allow me to meet more empowering people. People whose faith is stronger than mine in every sense and who I can learn from and aspire to be like. 

With the theme “This Changes Everything” and your hopes and expectations for the Gathering, what is your biggest hope for your church/ faith community when you return from Houston?
I hope that my faith community can grow in wisdom and understanding from this great experience and that we grow closer because of it. 

– Joshua Serrano

My favorite story from scripture is the disciples walking to Emmaus. It was through traveling and breaking bread together that Jesus showed up and is revealed to them.  In my mind, great stories involve taking a long journey that bring about transformation. For instance, I love the movies Lord of the Rings, Stand By Me, and Wild because the principal actors in each movie travel to a destination and are transformed along the way.

So it is with our ELCA Youth Gathering.

We travel with young energetic high school students who are sharing their lives with each other and hoping meet Jesus on the way. God moves among them because they must band together and learn how to be a supportive community to each other and serve the world at the same time. Through the miles of walking we do, the learning, the service, and the worship, we have Jesus in our midst calling us to see others as he sees them.

I’ve only attended one Gathering and the groups of kids I attended with had good relationships with each other.  My hopefulness tells me that the kids that I’m bringing this time will see Jesus in a new way and seek to bring God’s Kingdom to earth in the communities in which they are involved.

I’m excited that youth gather together and realize that the community of Lutherans they are part of is not as small as they might think. My favorite thing about the community of God is our willingness to travel with youth on their journeys of faith and grow with them as we travel to Houston this summer.

Rev. Joshua Serrano serves Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in San Carlos, CA (South of San Francisco). He’s loves to read, practice Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and talk to people about their faith.  Two kids keep him occupied all the time and continue to teach him to shut up and love life.

– Molly Beck Dean

“On the Road Again” by Willie Nelson is certainly on the soundtrack of my life as Director of the Gathering. I do a good bit of traveling for the Gathering and my other work with Churchwide faith formation.

As you probably guessed, most of my travel is to the Gathering’s host city to meet with planning teams, hotels, city officials and partners. I also build into my travel schedule trips to different synodical events, continuing education conferences, and time with ministry partners like the ELCA Youth Ministry Network and Lutheran Campus Ministry.

If I’m honest, I have a love/hate relationship with so much travel. I have two kids and a spouse at home and leaving them on a regular basis, sometimes for extended periods of time, is hard. I also try to be fully present with whatever I am doing when I travel, so emails and to do lists back at the office tend to pile up when I’m on the road.

But I love the things I get to do when I travel.  Meeting with the various planning teams gives me such joy as I listen in on their faithful and dedicated dreaming, planning, and problem solving on behalf of the young people of our church.

Gathering staff are also the connectors between the teams.  It’s important that staff are “in the know” so we can share with others what each team is doing. Spending time with youth at synod gatherings and other events feeds my soul in real ways.

I’m a youth minister at heart, so spending time with young people and their journey with Jesus is a must for me in order to be the best Gathering Director I can be.

I also really value being with the people of the ELCA as we plan for and reflect on the Gathering. I want to hear about your Gathering experiences and memories, how we can equip you better for the ministry of the Gathering, and your ideas for the future.

Maybe I’ll be in your neck of the woods when I’m on the road again!

One of the ways to express the values of the Gathering is through giving.

Giving can change everything.

There are multiple ways to give an offering: in-kind, Sunday morning, and a special offering. Get to know the organizations that will be in relationship through the stewardship of the Gathering.

In-Kind Offering: Blast Off for Books
Lifting up literacy in the Houston area will be part of the Service Learning experience. The Houston Independent School District estimates that 74% of the students in the district come from families who struggle to provide books for their children. New or lightly used books from the Amazon Wish List and this flyer will be accepted. Gathering participants can bring books with them, or they can be shipped to:
Faith Lutheran Church
Blast Off for Books
4600 Bellaire Blvd
Bellaire, TX 77401

Sunday Morning Offering: Local, National, and Global
Local: Texas Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod
One third of the Sunday morning offering will go to the hosts of the Gathering, the Texas Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, also hosts to the 2009 and 2012 New Orleans Gatherings.

National: Prison Congregations of America
Another third of the Sunday morning offering will go to Prison Congregations of America, an ecumenical organization that establishes worshiping communities in prisons across the country. The worshiping community is both financially supported by churches on the outside and by visiting the community as worship guests.

Global: Global New Starts
From Houston to around the world, the Lutheran church is bringing people together in faithful community. One third of the Sunday morning offering recognizes that God’s work not only happens in the United States, but also all over the world.

Special Offering: Global Farm Challenge
The Gathering will be partnering with ELCA World Hunger for the Global Farm Challenge. Many youth groups will raise funds before the Gathering in June and many will bring their offerings when they get to Houston. This offering is so special that at the Interactive Learning Space in the NRG Center, youth and young adult leaders can engage in an experience that will immerse them in the experience of what it’s like to be a farmer in different parts of the world.

Thank you in advance for all that you do and for all that you will bring to the Gathering!

As the Gathering is just over 100 days away, the blog editor thought this would be a great chance to interview those who have attended previous Gatherings, those who are looking forward to the upcoming Gathering in Houston, and those who will be serving in different ways at Mass Gathering. Keep reading the blog–more interviews are to come!

Meet Christopher Bautista. He attends Emanuel Lutheran Church in Dallas, TX. Christopher went to MYLE and the Gathering in Detroit in 2015 and will be at MYLE and the Gathering in Houston in 2018.

Tell the Gathering blog readers a little bit about yourself.
I am a junior in high school. I play football and I also play clarinet in band.

Where do you see God most active in your life?
I see God most in my life when I play football. It is a group of people working together, being on a team, and working for a common goal.

What is your favorite thing about your church/ faith community?
My favorite thing about my church is how we always come together, serve others around the church and in the community, and have fun together.

What are you most looking forward to at MYLE?
I’m looking forward to getting to know people from different parts of the country. There will be people there with different experiences than me and we can learn from each other.

The theme for MYLE is “One.” How does this theme and this word connect with you as a member of the church? 
We’re all here for each other and work together to be one. Even though everyone is their own person, nobody is alone.

What is your biggest hope for you when you come home from MYLE?
I hope to share with others what I learned from my experiences at MYLE.

With the theme “One” and your hopes and expectations for MYLE, what is your biggest hope for your church/ faith community when you return from Houston?
My hope for us going to MYLE is that we can come back more like family as well as friends and bring that home to our church.

– Ryan P. Cumming

In a world that seems unchanging with so many challenges, it can be hard to believe that change is possible. But “We are a church founded on change.”

We are a church committed to sharing in the work that God is doing to transform our world. All those who hunger can be fed. Everyone living in poverty can one day have enough.

This year, youth across the ELCA have the chance to be part of that change through the ELCA World Hunger’s Global Farm Challenge—a challenge to raise $500,000 to support communities around the world and here at home through gifts given at and ahead of the ELCA Youth Gathering.

At the Gathering in Houston, youth and adults will have a chance to experience for themselves God’s grace at work through ELCA World Hunger’s exhibit in the Interactive Learning space. Here, they will learn about Paul, a farmer from Central African Republic, who was given a scholarship to learn about sustainable farming in Japan and brought his education back to serve his community at home. They will learn about Lince, a mother of five children, who found a way to afford their education and meet their needs by raising pigs given to her by ELCA World Hunger’s partner in Indonesia.

They will hear about refugees in the United States, indigenous families in Malaysia, and so many other farmers whose lives have been changed because “a church founded on change” accompanied them.

To learn more about how you can be part of this change, take a look at ELCA World Hunger’s Global Farm Challenge brochure. Our church will be working throughout 2018 to raise the gifts needed to support this work. I hope you can be part of it, and I hope to see you in Houston this year!

Ryan P. Cumming, Ph.D., is Program Director for Hunger Education with ELCA World Hunger.

– Shelbe Kukowski

I’m pretty new to this whole “youth leader” thing. In fact, I ended up winning an award at the most recent Youth Ministry Network Extravaganza for working with youth the least amount of time (only three months). This newness is why it was so important for me to attend the Extravaganza in Houston—it not only served as a learning and equipping workshop weekend for me, but it also allowed me to enroll in the “How to have a Great Gathering” Intensive Care Course (ICC).

The ICC was a two-day course led by very knowledgeable teachers (who happen to sit on the planning committee for the Gathering!) that went through the history of the Gathering, what to expect, how to prepare youth for attending such a life-changing event, and hosted a panel of speakers so we could see, hear, and ask questions directly to the Gathering staff.

What’s some of the stuff we learned? How about the most common reasons youth end up in the medical tent?

1. Hurt toes: make sure youth wear closed toed shoes.
2. Dehydration: make sure youth are drinking water at least every hour…you too.
3. Upset GI: if someone needs privacy to poop in a hotel room, get their roommates out the door!

I know, I know. You’re laughing, but as a newbie I needed all of that veteran advice. The ICC teachers were very serious when informing us of the “troublesome three.”

Not all of the ICC was classroom work, though! We took buses around the city and listened to local guides tell the history of Houston.

Did you know Houston is the most diverse city and fourth most populous city in the United States? Or that there is an underground pedestrian tunnel system? Or that all of us going to the Gathering will book up almost every single hotel room in the city? Neither did I.

We drove through The Galleria, stopped by NRG Park, rode the METRORail, and saw many of the beautiful art murals found throughout the city.

Overall, I entered the ICC as a Gathering newbie and left the course prepared to lead youth to Houston this summer.

Shelbe Kukowski  is a newbie youth adult leader in Seattle, WA and is super excited to attend the Gathering with youth from Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church. 

– Nicolle Layman

The Youth Gathering has always held a special place in my life. My first Gathering was in 2006 in San Antonio, TX. I still remember standing in the stadium and feeling overcome with emotion, surrounded by 36,000 others worshiping God. I never experienced anything like it. Little did I know that God was planting seeds in my heart, which began to be cultivated over the next few years.

Flash forward to 2009 in the Superdome in New Orleans. I just graduated high school and was planning to attend a Christian university in the fall to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Youth Ministries. I was absolutely terrified by this call, questioning if I could make any impact at all. Looking around at my fellow Christians in the stadium, the Holy Spirit stirred in me once again and gave me the courage to continue pursuing God’s call to ministry. 

I am now preparing to attend my fifth Gathering in Houston in 2018. It will be my second time as a Primary Leader. I would have never guessed that back in 2006 in San Antonio that I’d be returning to Texas 12 years later to provide this life-changing experience to more of the incredible youth I serve. There is nothing like the Gathering and the impact it continues to have in my life, and now the lives of my youth. It is a beautiful ripple effect that God has orchestrated, and it is what I’m looking most forward to in Houston—seeing God’s work in the hearts of my youth and the youth of the ELCA. 

Nicolle Layman has served as the Director of Family and Youth Ministries at Calvary Lutheran Church for the past five years and is currently pursuing her Masters in Clinical Counseling at Cairn University.

– Chris Heavner 

I love coming to the Gatherings and staying in a hotel!  My family didn’t stay in hotels that much (even now, I snatch all the tiny shampoo bottles for my kids).  This luxury would probably not be so thrilling if my stay only reminded me that I lack a permanent place to sleep.  For too many families, “home” is a couch in the home of a friend or relative.  For too many of God’s children, it is a dream to have a thermostat which controls the temperature and a bathroom with running water. 

“This Changes Everything” about the way we understand our stay in the hotels in Houston. Those of us staying in the hotels will “change everything” about the lives of three Houston families. 

Three Habitat for Humanity Houses will be constructed in the Interaction Center. Youth will swing the hammers that will frame the walls for bedrooms, kitchens, and living rooms.  I love coming to the Gathering knowing that a part of me and my heart will stay in the hosting city when I am gone.  

This is the fourth Gathering at which such a project has been one of the Interaction Center offerings.  The leadership is provided by Lutheran Campus Ministry and Lutheran Disaster Response. Twelve college students for whom Lutheran Campus Ministry has become an avenue for civic and community engagement will be serving as crew leaders. In addition to the work completed in Houston, we will tell you how you can organize similar projects in the places you call home. 

I love coming to the Youth Gatherings and meeting folks from across our country and our Church.  And I love working with you to change so many things in the city which serves as our host. 

Chris Heavner is campus pastor at Clemson University in South Carolina. This will be his eighth Gathering. He also serves as the faculty advisor for Clemson’s Habitat for Humanity, with whom he as built thirty-three homes.