– Don Romsa

As someone involved in Lutheran Campus Ministry, I was asked, “Why a Youth Gathering?”  My answer?

I’ve seen firsthand that the Gathering builds community, deepens faith, inspires service, and even transforms lives.

During my thirty years of working with college and university students in Lutheran Campus Ministry, I have listened to many of those students talk about their personal experiences at a Gathering.  These young adults have often said that the Gathering was a turning point in their life and also in their faith. It was an experience in which Jesus became real and relevant for them, and they were touched by God’s invitation to “change the world.”

I have listened as young adults shared memories and moments of their time at a Gathering – memories and moments like these:

As I sat in the large gatherings with other youth, I felt surrounded by people who had important hopes and dreams – just like me.

I was challenged to think in new ways about how my faith and life are connected.

We didn’t just talk about the need to love others – we went into surrounding neighborhoods and acted on that love.

I was deeply moved by the words and thoughts of the speakers who shared their real-life faith stories.

I was treated as if I was really part of the church – not at some future time, but NOW.

I realized the Lutheran faith community is much larger than I could ever have imagined – it extends all around the world.

I had a chance to talk about things that really matter in my life, and how those things are shaped by my faith.

I felt the presence of a gracious and loving God in my life – it was a transforming event for me.

Almost 45 years ago, I accompanied a group of youth to the 1973 Youth Gathering in Houston.  Not only was their faith deepened and their lives transformed, but mine was, too.  May the 2018 Youth Gathering in Houston be the same kind of gift to all who come!

Pastor Don Romsa is the ELCA Program Director for Campus Ministry.

– Zoe Clark

Hi, I’m Zoe and I’m 19 years old. I had the opportunity to go to two Gatherings and I am so excited to share a little bit about how the Gathering changed young adult life.

In New Orleans, I was one of the youngest participants in my group. I did not know what would await me, but I knew that it would be great. In New Orleans, the Gathering showed me that I was part of a community much larger than myself. It ignited my desire to do service and step up in leadership. When I returned home, I knew that the next time I went to a Gathering, I wanted it to be a different experience.

In Detroit, I was one of the oldest participants. I had a little bit more knowledge going into the event. Because of that, I felt that it was important make the Gathering an inspirational experience for others since I had already had the experience for myself. I reached out to leaders in my community. I was lucky enough to assist in leading Synod Day, where I found myself in a role that made the Gathering so different from the one I attended before.

For Houston, my third Gathering, I am helping to write the Pre-Gathering curriculum. I plan to volunteer at the Gathering as well. I always find my way back to this event, each time in a different role. My involvement with the Gathering is coming full circle, exactly as I had hoped after experiencing New Orleans.

When I first heard, “Why the Gathering?” my answer immediately was, “Why not?” That’s not really an answer, considering that it gives zero insight.

The Gathering sparked something inside me I did not know I had; it made me feel part of something bigger than I knew existed. The Gathering enabled me to grow in my faith, leadership, and service, along with providing me with the ways to do so.

The Gathering theme for Houston, “This Changes Everything,” has never been more accurate in my life and the lives of so many who have gone, served, and experienced. It’s time to see what the Gathering will ignite in you.

– Lisa Jeffreys

Why the Gathering, and why service learning? Because Jesus!

That’s the easy answer, right?

But the answer really is because of Jesus.  Nothing about organizing service learning experiences for the Youth Gathering is easy.  Yet the church places great value on cultivating meaningful service learning experiences at the Gathering.

Jesus calls us into relationship with others: other perspectives, other backgrounds, other everything.  The churchy word for that is accompaniment.  Accompaniment means we value the relationship built in service learning enough to do the really hard work of listening, respecting, inviting, and engaging fully in the experience.  Jesus models this kind of ministry when he invites himself to Zacchaeus’ house for dinner, when he shares a drink with the woman at the well, and when he walks alongside two disciples on the road to Emmaus.  It’s about connecting our stories: my story, your story, God’s story.

Detroit is still buzzing about the Skittles explosion that was created at the 2015 ELCA Youth Gathering.  A few week’s after the event I received this email from one of our neighborhood partners, a resident of the Detroit Osborn neighborhood: 

“We prayed for helping hands but never imagined the most loving hearts that would come along with them! Our team, ‘Pathway from Playfield to Paradise‘ worked on relentlessly to uncover the sidewalk buried for decades (so the children no longer have to walk in the street) and created beautiful planters from the tires that have been dumped (causing horrible mosquito infestation). May God continue to bless you always ELCA. You bring hope for a better future!”

I am excited to see how the Spirit will move through participants and service learning partners in 2018 because, you know, Jesus.

Lisa Jeffreys was the Service Learning Coordinator for the 2015 ELCA Youth Gathering 

– Jason Poole-Xiong

Even after 20 years, I still remember my first ELCA Youth Gathering. The memories are some of the most formative and joyful of my entire life. I remember being nervous and scared to travel and to be with other youth, especially that many other people for a week. However, it was the number of people, the enormous number that I remember most—being with over 35,000 Lutherans—was something I was never expecting to be so unforgettable.

The feelings of hesitation and not knowing what to expect quickly moved into feeling the awesome power of the Holy Spirit. So many other people in the same room shared my faith and felt that their faith was important enough for them to take a chance to come to the Gathering.

I have had the pleasure to attend seven ELCA Youth Gatherings as a participant, an adult leader, and a volunteer. Each one was unique and each one shares a special place in my faith journey. That is why the opportunity to serve as a Synod Coordinator for the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering was something I couldn’t pass up.

I know that the Gathering is a transformative event and an opportunity in our faith journey to experience God’s presence in a very real way.

We have the privilege to walk with young people who are transformed and will return home to make their faith an integral part of their daily lives.

This is a special double entry from the writers of the theme song for the Gathering! Check out the video for the theme song!

– Judi Tyler

I have been learning to write songs and hymns in the past few years. I often get catchy “ear worms” in my head and I start humming them as I drive to and from my job. I like to take theological thoughts (sometimes even from a sermon!) and put them to music that is pegajoso, sticky in Spanish.

I have been thinking a lot about the 2018 Gathering theme, “This Changes Everything,” and how to put it to music. I had parts of a song, but I knew I needed help. One year ago, I met James Kocian through the Arizona Songwriters Association. James is a song coach and music maker who lives in Wisconsin. When I shared my thoughts with James, I said, “In my head, I hear drums but I cannot play drums at all.” James said, “I am a drummer!” We talked about the Gathering, the theme, who would attend, and their home communities. James worked on the song with his amazing musical and technical skills.

One of my favorite parts of the song is the bridge:

It’s by grace.
We are saved.
We belong to Jesus.

That is what I hold on to when life is overwhelming; belonging to God tells me who I am and whose I am. This belonging changes everything.

Looking forward to making music all together in Houston in 2018!

Judi Tyler is a pediatric medical social worker and is a deaconess from the Lutheran Deaconess Association (LDA) diaconate.

– James Kocian

I’ve been a songwriter and producer for a while. Through a mutual friend in Nashville, I was connected to Judi Tyler to offer song coaching and critique. In one of our sessions, she told me about the theme song contest for the Gathering. I absolutely loved the vision for the Gathering. I thought that the title, “This Changes Everything,” was perfect.

In creating the lyrics, I was thinking about not just my own experiences with God, but also the experiences of teens attending the Gathering. I was thinking about the teenage years and how they are often chaotic.

I hoped to capture God’s unchanging and steady nature, no matter how chaotic and challenging our lives can often be.

I wanted the mood of the song to match the enthusiasm of the moment. For the music and melody, I envisioned a stadium full of energetic and passionate youth singing along to the refrain of the chorus. Adding a lot of “ohs,” “heys,” and other modern responses in a drum and guitar driven arrangement seemed to complete the vision and present the song in the way I had hoped.

I am privileged and honored that the song I wrote with Judi was selected. I look forward to experiencing the amazing Gathering in 2018!

– Aubrey Thonvold

I know firsthand just how magical and life changing the Youth Gathering can be.  I went to my first Gathering back in the 90s when I was a freshman in high school.  It was powerful to be with over 30,000 peers experiencing the life of the church on such a massive scale. It was just as powerful as a youth leader when I brought a youth group ten years later.  However, it is in my current role as the Executive Director of ReconcilingWorks that I look forward to the Gathering with a different level of excitement.

The holy work of ensuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people and their families are named, seen, and cared for in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is transformative.  As a lesbian, there have been times in my life where church did not always feel like a safe place for me.

The role that ReconcilingWorks has at the Gathering is to create a space where LGBTQ youth and adults can be fully themselves and celebrate the beautiful diversity in which we are all made.

I am looking forward to the Gathering in Houston so we can celebrate and affirm the many ways the LGBTQ community helps to make the ELCA its best.   No one should ever wonder if the church is a safe place for them.

Make sure and stop by the ReconcilingWorks booth . . . just look for the rainbows!

– Iain Chester

My first experience of the ELCA Youth Gathering was less than two years ago in Detroit. I learned quickly that a Gathering is unique and that there is nothing quite like worshiping in an NFL stadium filled with 30,000 people. As children’s rights activist Marian Wright Edelman walked out on to the stage during worship, she summed it up perfectly saying, “You are incredible.”

My role at the ELCA Youth Gathering was to help with ELCA World Hunger’s Walk for Water. This interactive experience invites participants to learn more about access to clean water by following the story of someone who does not have easy access to clean water. Participants can feel what it is like to collect water by carrying a five-gallon jug of water (about 41.5 pounds when full).

Looking out at the crowd, Marian Wright Edelman challenged us saying, “With your energy we are going to transform America and make it understand that God did not make two classes of children.”

Since the Gathering, many congregations, youth groups, and high schools across the ELCA have hosted their own localized versions of ELCA World Hunger’s Walk for Water. I believe that this experience, taken home by so many who came to the Gathering, has been a small part of the transformation Wright Edelman spoke about.

Congregations and youth groups have also been part of transformation through giving. Many who attended the 2015 ELCA Youth Gathering brought gifts to support ELCA World Hunger’s Walk for Water. To date, over $1 million has been raised to support ELCA World Hunger water-related projects. This transformation all began at the Gathering and will continue to provide clean drinking water like spring boxes and boreholes, support for irrigation systems, education about sanitation in rural villages, and so much more.

God did not make two classes of children, some with access to clean water and others without.

As we look toward Houston and the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering, I am excited to see the ways in which God will transform us, our world, and our understanding of one another.

– Tom Hoegel

My name is Tom Hoegel and I have the privilege and honor of serving youth and families at Bethel Lutheran Church in Cupertino, CA.  Over 30 years ago, I took my Bethel youth to the Denver National Youth Gathering and began my journey serving on the Mass Gathering Team. In St. Louis in 2000, I formed the Tech & Talent Team to coordinate talent for the event, as well as to act as the connector between volunteers and hired techs.  It has been a delight serving God through this work at the Gatherings

One of my greatest passions has always been to lift up youth musicians.  In 2009, we saw that seed begin to germinate with two talented college age bands that help launch our Immersion Day events.  In 2012 and 2015, that desire blossomed into over 60 youth bands leading Synod Day events throughout the Gathering.

Houston promises to build on this great momentum as youth really are the church of today!

When I’m not serving the Gathering, I enjoy spending time with my grown daughters, attending concerts, working out, playing bass, tearing down and building stuff, and motorcycle and convertible rides in the California hills.  I look forward to seeing you in Houston. 🙂

– Tony Acompando

I am Tony Acompanado, a member of the Mass Gathering Team for the 2018 Youth Gathering in Houston. I am humbled and super excited for the opportunity to be returning for a third cycle to serve on this amazing team.

I attended my first Youth Gathering in 2006 in San Antonio as a youth director and participant; I still recall so many wonderful moments that my youth and I experienced throughout that Gathering.

In Detroit in 2015, I had the incredible opportunity to speak on the main stage, and this once in a lifetime experience offered me a truly unique perspective of the Gathering.

Being invited to share God’s message of hope and redemption within the larger Gathering community continues to be an amazing and unforgettable experience that has impacted my life in so many different ways.

That same year, I also watched my eldest daughter experience her first Gathering. Seeing the work of the Holy Spirit in her life because of the Gathering has been so incredible.

As I look ahead to 2018 in Houston, I am filled with excitement because my eldest son will be attending his first Gathering, and I can’t help but wonder about all the amazing people he will meet, the transformative experiences of God’s love that he will encounter, and the sense of mission that will return home with him.

It has been an amazing gift to experience the Gathering through these diverse perspectives with each one offering me a unique encounter of many ways the Gathering impacts people’s lives. As you look ahead to Houston next summer, I pray that you are filled with tremendous wonder and excitement for all the ways that you may encounter God while you experience all that the Gathering has to offer.  It is my hope that you will immerse yourselves in new experiences and share in the stories of the amazing people you will meet along your journey. I trust that you will experience God’s transformative love throughout the Gathering, no matter where you find yourself.  I cannot wait to see you in Houston!

– Julie Stecker

As our world worried about what would happen when the calendar changed from 1999 to 2000, I was smack dab in the middle of my junior high experience, worrying about what role I’d get in the school play, whether my outfit was cute enough, and if I’d accumulated enough gel pens for the popular girls to deem me a valuable asset to their friend group. I was always worried about what I could do to make people like me more, to have greater worth in the eyes of my peers.

This deeply affected the way I viewed my relationship with God. It must be transactional, I thought, since this was how I understood relationships. If I was “good,” then God would bless me with friends, good grades, and the cool stuff I wanted. If I was “bad,” God would take all of that away as punishment. I tried to be the best at everything, just so I wouldn’t chance falling out of God’s favor. This was exhausting. And, I learned along the way, that’s not how God’s love works.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” You have been saved. This is not your own doing. This is the good news that changes everything, friends. Long, long ago, before we were even thought of, God saved us. We didn’t (and still don’t!) have to do anything to earn it. Yes, we “do” things like serving our neighbors and trying to live a compassionate, grace-filled life in response to this great gift. But just as surely as we will mess up, God will be there with grace, love, and mercy, reminding us that Jesus has already done the work of saving us. Nothing can change that, but God’s love can absolutely change us – from people who work to earn God’s love to people who work to show God’s love. I can’t wait to see how we show God’s love in Houston in 2018!

Julie Stecker is currently the Director of Communications at the Delaware-Maryland Synod.