-Donna Wiegel

My name is Donna Wiegel, and I’ve been part of the Youth Gathering staff since 1997. Heidi Hagstrom, the former Gathering director, and I came on board together, when the Gathering moved from Minneapolis to become part of the ELCA churchwide organization’s ministry. Prior to working for the Gathering, I worked with Women of the ELCA for 5 years in a similar capacity – registration and housing.

My 19-year tenure with the Gathering has brought me tremendous joy. Not only am I on a first name basis with many of our adult leaders, but I can count so many of you as friends. Each Gathering cycle, I am energized when we get to the point where registration opens, and we really start to communicate with congregations. Youth workers are the heroes in my story of the Gathering!

It is also amazing to think that when I first started with the Gathering, nothing was digitized, and all registrations were on paper, mailed to the office on opening day. We had bins and bins and bins full of mail, with a lot of helping hands to sort, open, and date-stamp each batch. Then we got organized for data entry and processed payments, and at the end of the day, everything balanced.

I took my calling seriously enough to begin to streamline where I could. It took two Gathering cycles to move to a completely online registration system, with congregational accounts that churches could manage on their own.

In the end, serving the people of this wonderful church is my vocation and helping this ministry come to life every three years is the work of the Spirit.

Donna is a member of Resurrection in the Wrigleyville neighborhood of Chicago. She lives for summer weather to be out on her bike and with her granddaughter and dogs.

-Rachel Kurtz

I was ruminating on the theme of the Gathering while rocking my daughter to sleep and thought about the fact that every parent wants their children to have a good life, be safe and secure. No matter what “group” you are in, we want good things for our children…when children are tucked in at night, parents dream of peace and light, of love, hope, freedom, and a future. 

I put her to bed, went downstairs, and listened to the song on repeat, writing almost all the verses in a matter of an hour. I am convinced that I was assisted in writing by the Holy Spirit. The next morning I wrote the final verse at breakfast. In the end, I only changed a couple words and half a phrase I didn’t care for.

Fast forward to 35,000 people in the Superdome. As soon as I sang the first chorus, everyone joined me in singing. As the song went on, the singing was glorious; as the balloons, ballet dancers, and mass choir entered, it became more and more heavenly and majestic. I believe the Spirit of God is always present, but there are moments in our lives where heaven meets earth, and the feeling of God’s presence is palpable. I tried not to cry with everyone else as I sang and thought about my son (who I was a month from having) and about myself as a little girl, just hoping someone would notice me, thinking I would never be one of the cool kids.

All the times in junior and senior high school that I dreamed of singing for people and all the beautiful doors God has opened for me since then. I never ever dreamed in my most hopeful imaginings that I would ever write music or play an instrument or sing songs with thousands of people. The Gathering to me is a faith gathering where young people get to renew their faith, sing together, play together, and I am certain there are people at each Gathering that will, in the future, lead it in ways they could never dare to dream they will!

Rachel Kurtz is a singer, songwriter, and speaker.

-Amelia Dowling

We all have our doubts, especially when it comes to our faith. It’s natural and any Christian you talk to will admit to doubting their own relationship with God. Our doubts help us grow in our faith and lead us to new avenues, where we can go deeper in our faith. Our doubts make our roots grow stronger because it stirs up in us a need to learn more and question more. By doing this, we discover just how deep God’s love, grace, and forgiveness for us is.

There is nothing more reassuring than standing in Ford Field, singing “Amazing Grace” with 30,000 other youth, who believe the same things as you do. Your body is shaking and vibrating, your heart feels the vibrations from the base, and for about 20 minutes after you leave, everyone’s still screaming because no one can hear after listening to 30,000 people sing at the top of their lungs.

You sit there looking around and think, “Huh. Ya know, every single time that I’ve ever had a doubt, I bet you every other person in this room has had the same doubt. I bet you every other person in this room has had struggles, maybe different than mine, but still hardships that they continued to believe throughout and after. I bet you every person in this room recognizes the sacrifice God made for us, cannot imagine doing the same, and is completely in awe from the love we receive.”

I felt these very feelings sitting in Ford Field; you don’t feel alone. You feel like you have a family – a large, extended, crazy family – but a family, nonetheless, because that is exactly what we are. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Amelia is a recent high school graduate from Maryland.

-Molly Beck Dean

Hi! My name is Molly and I serve as the Program Director for the ELCA Youth Gathering or Gathering Director for short. I began as director in January 2015 and accompanied former director, Heidi Hagstrom, and the other 2015 leadership in the months leading up to the Gathering.

So while I’m still relatively new on staff, my passion for and involvement in the Gathering started many years ago. In July of 1997, I boarded a bus in North Dakota and headed to New Orleans for the Gathering. That week was transformative for me. I experienced God in a new way. I saw how huge the ELCA was, and I was delighted in knowing tens of thousands of other teens shared in the Lutheran faith with me. I made lifelong friends, experienced an exciting city, and learned how important an adult youth worker can be in your life.

I am also fairly certain that the Gathering cemented God’s calling for my life. I returned home fired up about youth ministry, dove deeply into leadership within my synod, and rededicated myself to ministry in my congregation. I went on to serve as Director of Youth & Family Ministry at St. John in Fargo and as assistant program staff for the Northwestern Minnesota Synod and the ELCA Youth Ministry Network. For two summers, I was on staff with Lutheran Outdoor Ministries of Florida. In 2002, the Holy Spirit called me to Philadelphia where I joined the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod as their Youth Ministry Specialist for almost thirteen years.

Youth ministry is my calling. Showing young people the magnitude of God and God’s church is my passion. Walking alongside young leaders is my honor. Creating a community of support for adult youth workers is my delight. I love God and feel blessed to be doing this work in the ELCA.

My first love is my family! My husband and two children are on this crazy journey alongside me. We are making our new home in Illinois, and I am so grateful for their love and support.

Blessings!