Tom Powell (left) and Patrick Allen (right) were of different minds after their work project Friday.

Allen’s disappointment was obvious. His group had spent the day clearing litter and weeds from a neighborhood still recovering from the wrath of Hurricane Katrina four years ago.

The 18-year-old from Richmond., Va., had hoped to work on a project that would change someone’s life, such as repairing a home. Weeds, he said, will grow back.

“I’m the dissenting voice in my group,” said Allen, a member of Christ the King Lutheran Church in Richmond. “I didn’t think it was worth our time and effort. But I’m told that it will help even though it’s just cosmetic.”

Powell, 48, a youth leader, said the day contained an important lesson about community service.

“The youth today come here with high expectations to help the impoverished,” he said. “But those aren’t the only communities affected. God’s plan is for the work of the church to be done everywhere. In these times of reduced government services, this was an important outreach.” (more…)

Brittany Christensen, 19, of Pipestone, Minn., was among the 12,000 ELCA teens sent out on work projects in New Orleans today. Here she’s digging a hole for plants in the front yard of a homeowner in the Lower Ninth Ward. The temperature hit 91 degrees, with humidity at 44 percent.

(more…)

On on the opening night of the 2009 Youth Gathering, Lutherans streamed into the New Orleans Superdome.

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They tried various ways to keep from getting separated.

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ELCA teens love the masks of New Orleans .

(Left) Devin VanBibber, 16, and Austin Bates, 15, are headed to the downtown convention. They’re both members of Grace Lutheran Church, Bandera, Texas.

Oakly Zinc,  16, of Hillsboro, N.D., turned out at Youth Gathering opening event in the Superdome with his horned hat.

Click below to see what they look like unmasked. (more…)

I wanted to know who was doing the dirty work.

The teens that’d volunteered for a July outdoor assignment in New Orleans.

The teens that worked up a sweat because the labor was intense and not simply because the weather was hot.

The teens forced to endure all of Louisiana’s elements.

Those are the teens I wanted to highlight in Youth Gathering stories. If they were going to do all that hard work, the least I could do is watch them. (Tell their story, too!)

Today was the day I met up with Youth Gathering teens an hour south of New Orleans. We drove as far as we could. Then we were taken on a 45-minute ride by other means to the work site. (more…)

Headed to a work project now with youths. Below is a brief summary of ingredients from last night’s Superdome event. More later.

• Big purple cross
• Ten big screens
• Fireworks
• Bathtub bishop
• Cartoon Martin Luther shirtless and wrapped in towel
• Lots of talk about waters of baptism
• “Be the change”
• Community service
• St. Bernard Parish Project
• The wave
• Conga lines
• Avatars
• Jazz
• “When the Saints”
• High-five exercise
• “Stomp.” “Stomp.” “Clap.”
• “Where’s the food?”
• God’s Work. Our Hands. (more…)