“This is holy ground.”

ELCA volunteers, on their feet, belted out the song lyric at worship this morning at the New Orleans Convention Center. Afterward, they took their seats and listened intently to a local ELCA pastor talk about the death and devastation left by Hurricane Katrina four years ago.

“Make no mistake,” Pastor Sean Ewbank of Hosanna Lutheran, Mandeville, La., told them. “You are on holy ground.”

A huge cheer erupted from the 300 ELCA members. They were dressed in T-shirts, shorts and sneakers — a sign that they’d come to the Crescent City to work and to pray. This was their last time to pray together before 37,000 ELCA youths and adults converge on the city Wednesday through Sunday for the 2009 Youth Gathering. (more…)

Volunteers from Holy Comforter Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Kingwood, Texas, are among the 300 people gathering for worship in the New Orleans Convention Center this morning.

The volunteers, known as servant compansion, are spearheading the dozens of projects that ELCA youths are undertaking to help locals with Hurricane Katrina recovery. The overall outreach is known as Servant Life.

Some 37,000 ELCA adults and youths are expected at the Youth Gathering that begins tomorrow evening.

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The praise and worship band of Hosanna Lutheran Church rehearses before this morning’s worship at the New Orleans Convention Center. Three hundred volunteers known as Servant Life volunteers are gathering for worship before the 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering begins tomorrow. The band is from Hosanna Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Mandeville, Louisiana.

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Hundreds of ELCA work project leaders are flooding into the New Orleans Convention Center this morning. They’re worshipping together one last time before the 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering begins tomorrow evening.

Some 37,000 adults and youths are expected at the Youth Gathering. They’ll be devoting much of their time to helping Hurricane Katrina survivors with recovery projects.

The ELCA outreach is known as Servant Life. The youths are reaching out to others as Jesus instructed. Some of the group leaders are known as servant companions. Some will be in charge of the youths riding on busses to the work sites. Other leaders will be in charge at the site itself.

Photo: ELCA Pastor Sean Ewbank meditates as he walks around the worship space. He’s leading worship this morning for the servant leaders. Ewbank is pastor of Hosanna Lutheran Church in Mandeville, Louisiana.

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A group of 18 youths and adults from North Carolina was among the many Lutherans arriving in New Orleans today for this week’s ELCA Youth Gathering. This group, from Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Lincolnton, N.C., was spotted at the Hilton Hotel around noon Tuesday. They’d caught an early  flight into the city, then a shuttle to the hotel.

“Our driver was a Hurricane Katrina survivor,” said Karen Lounsburg, 43, youth group leader. “He was gracious and shared his experience with us. Once he started talking, the entire bus got quiet. The kids were very attentive.”

Once at the hotel, the youths were eager to check into their rooms and head to lunch. The universal refrain: “We’re starving.”

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Red-shirted workers from the Youth Gathering technical communications crew grabbed a quick lunch Monday at a food court near the New Orleans Convention Center. The crew includes volunteers and paid staff.

Photo (left side of table, front to back): Kari Gray, 25, Seattle, field producer; Sarah Culler, 33, Seattle, videographer; Paul Schmidt, 34, Lansing, Mich., media team leader.

(Right side of table, front to back): Josh Miller, 30, Nevada City, Calif., lead photographer; Lisanna Smithheart, 29, Seattle, photographer; Andrew Sielski, 28, Detroit, videographer; Erik Mathre, 49, St. Petersburg, Fla.

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Tired of the hassles that come with a full-sized rental car?

New Orleans has other options for the 37,000 Lutherans arriving in town this week.

These miniature cruisers are for rent outside the Hilton Hotel near the Riverwalk Marketplace.

A New Jersey tourist opted for the mini-car because she was tired of walking in the heat.

Many Lutherans, particularly those from northern climates, are thrilled with the sunshine. A church member from South Dakota called the sun “nature’s Vitamin D.”

“It’s pretty awesome,” she said. “You don’t have to work up a sweat here. You just sweat.”

A discarded bathtub from New Orleans served

as a focal point at worship Sunday at the

Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (MYLE).

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Apu Seyenkulo, 17, of Chicago, rehearses a liturgical dance before worship on Sunday evening.

She’s participating in a three-day ELCA multicultural youth event in New Orleans known as MYLE.

“The worship is more diverse,” Seyenkulo said. “The  people that come — it’s like we share more in common with each other.”

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Talk about a welcome.

The city of New Orleans is displaying street banners along Convention

Center Boulevard that say, “We’re jazzed you’re here!”

Another sign reads: Welcome ELCA Youth. (more…)