Make Yourself Heard.
Similar to how God brought Jonah to Nineveh, I felt dragged to the 2015 ELCA Youth Gathering in Detroit. I loved church, but doubted whether the ELCA was right for me. I was one of the only young Lutherans...
The week that changed my life.
The 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering is a trip I will forever remember. As I reflect on my experience, the memories fill my mind and joy surrounds me. Participating in worship with over 30,000 young people, gardening a prayer labyrinth,...
Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone
The first thing that comes to mind when I think about volunteering with the Gathering is stepping outside of my comfort zone. It was an unexpected invitation that pulled me out of my day-to-day cycle and reminded me of...
Lighthouse
Walking off of the Mass Gathering stage after speaking at the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering, I don’t think I fully understood the magnitude of what I had just done. It was a life-changing experience that felt so wild but...
Juneteenth: We Will Breathe
by Joe Davis Juneteenth commemorates a day when my ancestors could breath a little more freely. On June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, enslaved Africans were read federal orders that they were freed, even though the Emancipation Proclamation was signed...
Reflections on Volunteering in Minneapolis
It has been 3 weeks since the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the city in which I call home. Unfortunately, the senseless killings perpetuated from racism are not uncommon. The outcry for justice, though, has been very common...