Today’s post features words of five young people who spent time in Drawn In! Moving Out, the worship interactive learning space at the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering.

Last month on the blog, Annemarie Hartner Cook, pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Maple Shade, New Jersey, shared her perspective on the first ever worship interactive space as part of the ELCA Youth Gathering. Over the course of three days, hundreds of youth came to explore this center in a variety of ways. We hope you enjoy hearing about why the event was meaningful to them in their own words.

Sy Shipman (back row, third from left) worships at St. John Lutheran Church (Windfall) in Cardington, Ohio.

I really enjoyed how it brought us together…The procession we did was fun, familiar, yet also different. I have never seen streamers on poles as part of a procession and it was neat to see that this could be something we could do at worship in our church some time! This experience started some conversation about symbols in worship and will hopefully continue to open our eyes to the depth of what we do in worship.

Taknowledge Andrew Wagner (below) worships at Augsburg Lutheran Church and Christ Beloved Community Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

When my pastor showed me the “dress up as a pastor” section and I listened to the music they were playing, it was so joyful and I stayed there until I left. I fell in love with that section and it was so fun to be there. When I put on the pastor’s robes it made me feel so much like a pastor; that’s when I said I will stay here until I leave the interactive center. When the people told me I looked so good in the robe, I felt Jesus hugging me. But my favorite part is when I walked around the center with a lot of new friends and it was so amazing to feel welcomed by the new friends.

Courtney Ng (right) worships at Holy Trinity in Bellerose, New York.

I went to the interactive center on the fourth day and it was a very exciting place to be for the day with all the activities and booths going on. As a piano player and growing up to have a passion for music, I was extremely delighted listening to other people play and experience the music section of the center. Everyone was open and great to talk to and it was a wonderful experience.

Natalie DiMundo (front row, second from left in green) worships at St. Paul Lutheran in Santa Monica, California.

The worship interaction booth at the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering was one of the most memorable components of the week. The musical area was my favorite, because I love playing music (especially with other people). This interaction booth was so memorable because it helped the group from my church bond and make connections. Because we needed to work together for the “service” or “acolyte olympics” to flow, we were able to become closer friends and fellow worshipers.

McKenna Moritz (left in purple) worships at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Dublin, Ohio.

The worship station was a fun learning experience for everyone who did it. We experienced an acolyte Olympiad and got to dress up like different members of the church community. I also liked the poster board set out to write prayers for different things around our world. Overall it was a great experience.

Thanks be to God for these young people and all who explored this center and attended the ELCA Youth Gathering! How can you continue to nurture the gifts of the young people in your assembly’s worship?

Today’s post is by Annemarie Hartner Cook, Pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Maple Shade, New Jersey. Annemarie served as a staff member for the ELCA Worship Interactive Center at this summer’s Youth Gathering in Houston, TX.

“It’s a worship playground, a lab, a place to explore and have fun!”  

This is how I would describe the “Drawn In! Moving Out!” interactive worship space designed for youth and their leaders at the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering. For the first time in thirty-one years, the ELCA Worship staff had a presence in the interactive learning center during the gathering. In collaboration with the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians and Lutheran Summer Music,the ELCA Worship staff designed a 3,600 square foot space where experimentation, musical collaboration, creativity, and even a little competition could flourish.

An “Acolyte Olympiad” tested the accuracy and speed of acolytes old and new in a relay course complete with candle lighting, processing, and setting the table for communion. The “Vestment Photo Booth” allowed youth to try on albs, stoles, chausibles, dalmatics, and even birettas (hats) so they could envision themselves as worship leaders and take photos together. Anne Edison-Albright of Luther College remarked that, “a group of three young women showed me the photo they took, arms lifted in orans posture. They told me it made them feel like pastors, and we all got a little tear-y. This was a Godly play area for high school youth, and they needed it, and we need them to be able to imagine themselves as leaders in the church! It helped them try on a possible future, and they loved it.”

A collaborative music space was stocked with flutes, trumpets, percussion, piano, and even an organ. Professional church musicians provided leadership for the soundtrack to our conversations, exploration, and joy. Pastor Sami Johnson noted, “My student who has a hard time fitting in found his home in your booth. He gravitated to the trumpet and ended up teaching someone else how to hold the instrument and some basic fingerings, and then he kicked off a jam session. It blew my mind to see him take leadership like that. So, thank you!”

At its heart, this space was dedicated to inviting youth to understand that worship belongs to them as much as it belongs to the rest of the church. In many worshipping communities there are few roles for youth in the planning and work of worship. Often the committees or staff that handle those things invite and expect youth to participate in limited ways that don’t utilize their creativity and unique relationship with their faith. Youth have a passion for worship in its ability to communicate the Good News of Jesus Christ in ways that are both familiar and brand new.

The response to these opportunities was immediate and at times overwhelming. It seemed that in the act of giving permission to explore, touch, and play with items and instruments that they had previously presumed were off limits, there was joy. This worship playground enabled youth to literally see themselves as the leaders of worship and music for the church. They wrote beautiful prayers and asked thoughtful questions about worship and how they can continue to be involved. Our “Dismissal Buttons” gave them a chance to write their own dismissal, giving them a tangible way to be sent from this gathering back to their congregations.

Over the course of the Gathering we continued to have conversations and received inspiring stories from youth and their leaders about the impact that this space had on their vision for worship at home and even their own vocations (See the “Part Two” blog post highlighting the words from the youth themselves). Some youth would come back over and over again, hoping to beat their time in the Acolyte Olympiad, play the organ, or dress in an alb and stole. In the end, what started as permission to play became an opportunity for real discernment into how these youth can have a greater role as worship leaders at home and into the future.

Staff and Volunteers for the Center