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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 the deeper layers of what I had just done were only beginning to unfold. I stood up on stage to show others how you can take some of your worst moments such as my terminal diagnosis and use them to help remind others they do not have to feel alone in all of this.

After sharing I was privileged to meet a young woman at the Gathering who had the same diagnosis as myself. She never met anyone with her diagnosis until she heard me speak. That was the rewarding experience that made everything I did worth it. It is a reminder of why I advocate by sharing my story through all the suffering I endure. I get to be that little lighthouse that reminds others to know they are not alone in all of this.

These days I still try to push that sentiment even while things have looked really different. Our world feels as though it is falling apart, there is the pandemic, political unrest, natural disasters, the explosion in Beirut, and other unspeakable tragedies 2020 has brought us.

During these hard times it is easy to focus on the bad, to believe things may never get better, or think that God has abandoned us but, in these moments, we must remember we are not alone in all this. God is with us– always. Once we remember this, we too can be that lighthouse. God’s grace is here for us all as we continue to walk through the difficult storms ahead.

Michaela Shelley is the founder of an online support group for adolescents and young adults with chronic and/or terminal illnesses. Currently, Michaela is working towards a Master’s degree in social work. You can watch her 2018 Mass Gathering talk here.

Community

by: Elizabeth Hood

I spend months and months planning before we leave for a Gathering, after I have thought and prepared and over-planned, I lay awake at night…Will they all get along? Will we bond as a group? Will this be worth it?  

We start out nervous and excited but then at some point in the first few days there is this “magic moment.” It’s hard to describe and it always happens when I least expect it. That moment when we shift, the group finds a rhythm and we create community. My heart swells to even think about it.

I have this snapshot in my head of each time it has happened. It doesn’t just happen once, it happens over and over again. The first night we walk into Mass Gathering and the youth see thousands gathering, they realize that this is their community. When they are singing, arm over shoulder, swaying on the floor of the stadium with new friends: community. When they walk through the streets of an unfamiliar city and high five a youth from another state far away: community.

They are deeply impacted by this mass expansion of their circle of community and that word takes on a whole new meaning. They make new friends in an instant and connections that change the course of their lives forever! Life altering connectedness and community! 

These connections to each other and the larger community are priceless, the changes to the youth, profound. When we return home, we aren’t just people in a group, we are a community, connected to a much larger community than most of them had ever realized. They belong, maybe for the first time in their lives, forever woven into this community and it changes everything.

Elizabeth has served her congregation in California for over 10 years, loves camping and traveling around the world. She also leads the Hospitality Team for the Extravaganza and serves on the planning team for the Western States Youth Gathering.

Meet our Service Learning Project Manager

by: Kris Bjorke

Hi everyone! I’m Kris Bjorke and I am excited to serve as the Service Learning Project Manager for the 2021 ELCA Youth Gathering. The city of Minneapolis, known for its parks and lakes as well as culture through the arts and music, is both a place I know and love and where I have spent my youth ministry career.

The Gathering has been a formative thread throughout my career. I was able to attend two Gatherings as a high school student. From there I had the opportunity while working at Bible Camp to serve as a leader for a busload of small congregations who were attending. Whenever serving in a congregation either settled or in interim, the Gathering was always part of the summer ministry. I also worked as Synod Day Director for the Minneapolis Area Synod twice and in Houston served as the supplies manager for Service Learning. For the Gathering to be hosted in Minneapolis is amazing— to serve alongside this capable team is a dream.

Organization experiences include; being adjunct faculty at Luther Seminary, First Third Minneapolis Area Synod Staff, co-founding InterServe Ministries along with serving as interim Children Youth and Families minister in nine congregations, Youth Leadership and six years at one congregation.

My husband Scott and I recently downsized our house and currently enjoy apartment living. We have two daughters; Julia, who lives in St. Cloud and a manager at Scheels, and Emily, a music industry student at Minnesota State Mankato and member of a local band Last Import. I enjoy all sorts of things; drinking coffee with friends, being outdoors, pets, football and hockey games, travel (with a special affinity for National Parks), being with family and quilting.

I hope you continue to be part of the Gathering in 2021 if that has been your history and if you haven’t taken part in the past, consider dipping your toes into Minneapolis as together we will partner for a deepening faith experience for our young people and ourselves.

Jesus Changes Everything: Day Five of the Gathering

Worship focused on the final daily theme, “Jesus Changes Everything” concluded the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering in Houston. Volunteers gathered in the early hours of the morning at NRG Stadium ready to receive instructions on communing the over 30,000 attending the one final worship service, closing the days of Service Learning, Interactive Learning, Community Life, Synod Day, and Mass Gathering.

Raeann, a member of West Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Osceola, WI, was one of the many volunteers receiving instructions on serving communion. She said she was immersed in the “happiness of everything we took in here. It’s hard to explain. I am grateful to be with my siblings in Christ.” Youth participants from Redeemer Lutheran Church in Gastonia, NC reflected on the mementos, friends, and connections they made in the days of the Gathering. They were also excited to serve communion to fellow participants, something they never imagined they would get to do at the Gathering.

Scripture of the previous days was present in the worship service: God’s call to Moses, Jesus meeting the woman at the well, Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian Eunuch, and the resurrected Christ joining his disciples on the road to Emmaus. These were reminders of the daily themes: God’s call, God’s love, God’s grace, and God’s hope changes everything.

The Gospel lesson for the last gathering of over 30,000 was the fifth chapter of Mark; this lesson was also used in churches around the world that follow the Revised Common Lectionary. Bishop Eaton focused on the hemorrhaging woman and Jarius’ dying daughter, those desperately needing the healing that Jesus could bring. She stated that the powers of this world are good at separating people, the clean from the unclean. Bishop Eaton closed her sermon with that even the midst of the cynical laughter of the world, “Here is the wonderful news: where it looks impossible, remember most of all that Jesus has changed everything.”

Savanna Sullivan, Program Director for Young Adult Ministries, gave a contemporary witness in the worship service. She shared her experience of preparing to leave for Rwanda as a Young Adult in Global Mission, but before her departure, her doctor said her immune system was compromised and recommended she not leave the United States. After a conversation with her father, Sullivan stated, “I’m ready to live for this.”

Sullivan’s words resonated with Carsyn, a member of St. John Lutheran Church in Salsbury, NC. On hearing the contemporary witness and other Gathering speakers, Carsyn said, “The energy in the stadium has been amazing. I am ready to live for God and for everyone.” Sullivan wanted those attending worship to take these words home with them, “If our joy is just for this place and for us, it isn’t God’s joy. God’s joy is for everyone. Everywhere.”

Two questions that came up during closing worship were, “How do you commune over 30,000 people? How long will it take?” It took a dedicated team of volunteers 22 minutes and 43 seconds to commune everyone in NRG Stadium.

Worship closed with the reveal of the 2021 ELCA Youth Gathering: there was a lot of purple, a sneak peak of “Spoonbridge and Cherry” and Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” and pyrotechnics to reveal Minneapolis, MN as the next location.

Even though the Gathering has concluded in Houston, sharing the experiences are far from over. Make sure to check the Gathering Blog for more stories of what happens when the Gathering is lived across the ELCA.

 

 

God’s Hope Changes Everything: Day Four of the Gathering

On the last full day of the ELCA Youth Gathering, the daily theme was “God’s Hope Changes Everything.” Synod Day, Service Learning, Community Life, and Interactive Learning were taking place in various locations around the city of Houston.  

 One of the many Service Learning sites was the Houston Food Bank. More than 900 youth participants were hard at work in the facility. They were busy sorting and packing not just food items, but also toiletries and health products. Trini, 16, of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Houston said that the Gathering will leave a lasting impact in the city she calls home. She said, “The Gathering will make Houston a better place by spreading goodness.”  

 Piny, 16, and Joy, 14, from St. Olaf Lutheran Church in Austin, MN were helping pack food and products at the food bank. With working in the food bank for Service Learning, Piny said she was glad she had the “ability to help others in need. It gives us a chance to stop thinking about ourselves and to help others.”  

 At their Synod Day, youth in the La Crosse Area Synod enjoyed forging relationships, worshiping and connecting in faith under the theme, “God’s hope changes everything.” Sharice, a teen from the synod, shared her faith story, inspiring her peers with a message of hope: “We are the future of this church.”  

 It was also Synod Day for the Delaware-Maryland Synod. Some synod youth groups attended Houston’s “Families Belong Together” rally beforehand to protest the separation of undocumented children and their families. In his opening message Bishop William J. Gohl, Jr., told youth there’s power in coming together for this time of community as a synod and “there’s power in inviting others to come inside (the church).” Throughout the afternoon, youth leaders guided their peers through activities and worship.  

Back in the NRG Arena, youth were having fun playing with inflatables, singing karaoke, dancing, and relaxing. Ojulu Cham, 18, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Austin, MN, especially liked playing games and meeting new friends in Community Life after a morning spent wrapping and packing beans at the Houston Food Bank.  

Live Bible study at Community Life were “idle tales”; Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber, Rev. Jodi Hogue, Rozella Haydée White, and Rachel Kurtz sat down to have a discussion on God’s hope and the Road to Emmaus in Luke’s Gospel. The conversation between these four powerful women today focused on women being the first witnesses to the resurrection, and how the hope of women is how the resurrection came to be known today.  

Mass Gathering was an expression of how God’s hope changes everything. The speakers tonight covered intense topics that need to be discussed thoughtfully and honestly within our faith communities.  

Stephen Bouman, executive director for ELCA Domestic Mission, opened up the final evening of the Gathering with a heartfelt speech on current issues facing the US and this church, including gun violence in our schools, racism, and the ongoing demonization of refugees and immigrants. Bouman shared how he has seen signs of hope in the work of his church, the ELCA, in its advocacy work, fighting hunger in the US and beyond, building peace globally, and accompanying migrant families and children through its AMMPARO initiative. Kelby Anderson, 16, from Zion Lutheran Church, Iowa City, IA, said he appreciated Bouman’s timely message of hope and how he connected it to current events. 

Youth were moved when Jamie Bruesehoff and her 11-year-old daughter, Rebekah, shared their story. Rebekah is transgender. “When I was younger, I was worried and confused. Why did I have to go through all of this?” Rebekah shared. “I’ve come to learn that God does not make mistakes. I was created in the image of God to be me.” 

Since claiming her gender identity, Rebekah has went on to speak to lawmakers and others, advocating on behalf of the LGBTQIA+ community, particularly those who are transgender. “Transgender kids are just like other kids,” she said. “We need to be loved and supported.” 

 As she wrapped up her speech, Rebekah called on youth to make a difference in their own communities and congregations and show others hope. “I hope for a church and world where people are not only welcomed but they are celebrated,” Rebekah said. “Go out. Start something. Help somebody struggling in their community. Cheer them on. Throw them a party. Paint a giant rainbow flag outside. That’s what I want my church to do.” 

Faye, 15, Atonement Lutheran Church, Rochester, NY, said, “I really liked (Rebekah’s) message no matter how old you are you can make an impact on someone’s life.” 

Maria Rose Belding, executive director of MEANS Database, spoke about her journey to create a national nonprofit database connecting people and organizations with extra food to donate it to nearby hunger nonprofits. She opened up to youth about her anxiety and depression in high school while she was working to create MEANS.  

Belding also discussed her sexuality and past trauma. When she came out to her mentor as queer, he raped her. “What happened to me what not my fault, and if this happened to you, it wasn’t yours either,” Belding said. “God’s hope and love and grace are enough for every queer rape survivor, and every hungry person who has been told to just be more responsible, and everybody in recovery from something, and every child and parent torn apart at our border.” 

Belding’s message deeply resonated with Katie, from St. Philip Lutheran Church, Raleigh, NC. “Being a woman and knowing those types of experiences and being able to hear (Belding) talk and claim that she knew it wasn’t her fault was really powerful to me,” Davidson said.   

Joe Davis, a poet, musician and recent ELCA seminary graduate, inspired youth with a message of hope amid adversity.  “I am a Black man and I am speaking in front of one of the whitest church denominations. My very body is the hope of my ancestors, my very presence is a prayer,” he said. “In a world that speaks death to me … my existence is resistance. I am here for a purpose and a reason.” 

Davis told you they were here for a purpose and reason, and he encouraged them be bold in their faith. “You may have been told to shut up and sit down but I wanna tell you to stand up and speak out,” he said. “We’re no longer in a church building but we are building church.” 

After his talk, Joe Davis said he wanted Gathering participants to remember to “have more reasons to hope than despair. We have to practice hope like a discipline, and it is best practiced in community.”  

Ten Avenue North closed out the evening with a spirited performance of songs that touched on God’s love, grace, and hope. Youth were energized and inspired, and many said the concert was their favorite moment of the evening. Isabel, 18, New Creation Lutheran Church, San Jose, CA, appreciated that lead singer, Mike Doney, “was so in touch with the crowd and brought his view of God into it and explained it and it really made sense.” 

 ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton expressed that she wanted participants to find a way to not just take the hope expressed at Mass Gathering from this one night. Behind the stage, she said she hoped participants would take the entirety of the Gathering experience home with them with them when they depart Houston. Her hope was for participants to maintain the sense of community as they return to their homes across the ELCA.  


Follow the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering on social media:

Don’t forget to follow the hashtag #ELCAYG2018!

Follow instructions to download the ELCA Youth Gathering app here.

God’s Grace Changes Everything: Day Three of the Gathering

“God’s grace changes everything” set the tone for the second full day of the ELCA Youth Gathering. Youth and adult leaders dispersed to Synod Day, Interactive Learning, Community Life and Service Learning sites around Houston.

Seminarian Kelsey Brown, vicar at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Santa Monica, Calif., was extremely moved to serve with her youth at Freedmen’s Town for Service Learning. Brown believes the Holy Spirit worked through the founders of Freedmen’s Town, in the lives of freed people making a difference. She felt the presence of the Spirit today, as the people of the neighborhood still occupy this rich history, and that such a difference will continue to live on.

Logan, a youth participant from Incarnation Lutheran Church in San Diego, felt the significant history of this Service Learning location. “The history of this place is beautiful, empowering, and strong. This was built from being enslaved and being treated in a way no human ever should be. They went from being in slave houses to being able to build their own city.” Jon, from Lutheran Incarnation Church of Poway, CA was inspired that ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton participated in Service Learning at Freedmen’s Town. He said, “It was pretty great to see the head of the Lutheran church out here with the youth groups.”

In the Interactive Learning at NRG Center, Katie Hrybyk from St. John’s Lutheran Church, MD, visited the Women of the ELCA exhibit on human trafficking. She was surprised to learn how many people become victims of human trafficking but was glad to discover her church is working to end it. “The more people that know about (human trafficking) and are aware of it, the more we can do about it,”Hrybyk said.

In the “God adores you!” space sponsored by Reconciling Works, Aiden, 17, and Z. (name changed for privacy) were writing cards of encouragement for people in the LGBTQIA+ community. “I learned (here) that I can be more comfortable about my sexuality around other faith and other Lutherans and… it really hits me in the heart,” Aiden said. “It’s really difficult hiding who I am.”

Z. has also hidden her sexuality from her parents. “I now know it’s okay to be who you are; God still loves you,” she said.When asked if she’s had any uplifting moments at the Gathering, Z. remarked, “Literally right now—I actually got one of these (God adores you!) cards. One of them actually said, ‘Add me on Snapchat’ and they added me and said, ‘I would love to meet you.’”

At the “People on the move: A migrant and refugee experience” exhibit, sponsored by Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, Lutheran Disaster Response, and the ELCA’s AMMPARO initiative, participants walked through a simulation reflecting the journeys of people who are migrants and refugees.

Marta Vuola from Christ the King Lutheran, Snohomish, WA, followed the long, dangerous, and traumatic path of the Rohingya, an ethnic group fleeing persecution in Myanmar. Vuola was shocked by the experience. “I am so privileged, why do other people go through this? … It’s hard to think of it,” she said. “(This) gave me more empathy for others.”

ELCA missionary Chandran Martin spoke with groups about the ways Lutheran Disaster Response is supporting refugees in Bangladesh and worldwide. Upon learning this, Masame Fletcher, also from Christ the King, said, “It’s really amazing, we’re contributing to a big thing, and I feel proud to be part of it.”

Youth also enjoyed interacting with the ELCA World Hunger Global Farm Challenge, checking out ELCA colleges and universities, playing sports and more.

Grace was the primary focus of Mass Gathering.

Elizabeth Peter opened the evening by examining the Biblical story of the Ethiopian Eunuch, who was stigmatized and stereotyped. “Maybe you’ve been stereotyped, too,” she said, later adding: “There are times where I feel like I’m not always included. I don’t always feel welcomed in the church. Because of my skin, my gender, my youth, my hair, the way I talk and dress.”

She asked the over 30,000 participants in NRG Stadium if they knew how they judged and excluded others in the church and in the world. Peter reminded everyone they are a vehicle for God’s grace, and grace can show up not just in unexpected places, but also unexpected people. She wanted everyone present to know and remember after tonight, “You are indeed in the limitlessness of God’s grace.”

God’s limitless grace was reflected again and again as others took the stage to share their stories, including Michaela Shelley, who has been fighting mitochondria disease since she was a teenager. For a long time, she was angry at God and at everyone.

Then she started connecting with other teenagers with mitochondria disease, eventually creating an online support group for teens like her that has now connected 500 people from 20 countries. “No matter how many times you curse God, he still loves you no matter what,” Shelley said. “God’s grace is not only about forgiveness but about the way you can become the person you are meant to become.”

From her powerful testimony on God’s grace, Michaela Shelley wanted people to remember that even in the midst of her honest words on life and death, that children living in similar situations could still be a normal kid.

Singer Tauren Wells brought the crowd to their feet with upbeat, thoughtful songs expressing God’s deep love for us. “It’s hard truth and ridiculous grace to be known fully known and loved by you,” he sang. “I’m fully known and loved by you.”

Will Starkweather, an ELCA pastor, shared his experience with cutting during his teenage and young adult years. In college, when he revealed his secret to his pastor, that pastor told Starkweather he was going to hell. Starkweather left the church, dropped out of school and fell into a deep depression—and he cut.

Eventually he began to rebuild his life. He found a new church, then divulged his secret to the pastor. “Pastor Carla listened and then she also said four words: There’s grace for that,” Starkweather said. “Y’all, those words changed my life.”

He learned cutting is a coping mechanism for stress and began to start sharing his story with others so they’d know they were not alone. Starkweather went on to become an ELCA pastor. Acknowledging the hurt and pain that resides in each of us, Starkweather told all who were gathered, “We are all recovering from something—and there is grace for that.”

After concluding a powerful testimony to a standing ovation, Starkweather greeted friends behind the stage. From his talk, he wanted people to take home with them that there is “no such thing as ‘too broken.’ Our broken places are where God brings out beauty.”

“One of my best friends at school is cutting,” said Julia Novak, 15, Evangelical Lutheran Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church, Fredrick, Md. “When one of your friends is cutting it impacts all of your friends.” Seeing Starkweather talk helped her see “people aren’t alone in what they’re doing and you can always get through it.”

Cassie Cole, 17, from a church in Florida, agreed: “We have a member in our group who used to self-harm. … I think (the speech) was really powerful to her.”

Nadia Bolz-Weber, an ELCA pastor and best-selling author, gave the final talk of the evening. She told youth that when she was a teen, she struggled with an autoimmune disease that made her eyes bulge out. “My daily reality at your age was name calling and social isolation,” she said. “If I was a kid at the Gathering (today), I would be the kid who refused to stand up when everyone else stands up.”

Bolz-Weber said it was difficult to write in her book about the pain and alienation of her youth, which led her to substance abuse.  She proclaimed to youth: “If your life totally sucks right now, if you struggle with having friends or feeling like and outsider, just know that your current reality is not your ultimate reality.

“There’s a word for when our tears turn to joy. There’s a word for when our pain is a home for those who also hurt,” Bolz-Weber said. “And that, my Lutheran friends, is grace.” She said she wishes someone had told her 15-year-old self what grace was. That’s why Bolz-Weber writes and preaches so honestly about her life experiences, because “the jagged edges of our humanity are what connect us to God and to each other.”

God isn’t waiting for you to be thinner, smarter or more spiritual, she preached. “You are magnificently imperfect. The self God loves is your actual self, not your ideal self. And there’s a word for this: grace.”

The implications of God’s radical grace mean that God’s grace is also for our enemies, she said. The uncomfortable truth is this: “salvation of my enemy is also wrapped up in my own salvation,” Bolz-Weber said.

In closing out her speech, Bolz-Weber called on all who were gathered to renounce the devil in his many manifestations—in our racism, sexism, classism, ableism, heterosexism and other forms of hatefulness.

She asked: “Do you renounce the lies that tell you grace isn’t real, that there’s anything grace can’t redeem?”

The crowd responded, “I renounce them.”

“Well, me too,” she said. “Amen.”

Jamie Jimenz, 18, Augusta, GA, loved how honest Bolz-Weber was about her past and her flaws. She related to Bolz-Weber’s experiences with bullying, and will remember “how (hardships) make you feel now is not the way you’re going to feel for the rest of your life.”

“I liked Nadia and how she used her story to show that god shows his grace to everyone and doesn’t discriminate,” said Olivia Sullivan, also from Evangelical Lutheran, MD.

For Sullivan, the most powerful moments of the night were when she and youth around her were singing and swaying together to music. Following Bolz-Weber’s speech, youth with “Loved” shirts flooded the stage and floor as the House Band performed its final song.

“Words can’t really explain it, but there was this power and you could really feel God’s love in the arena,” Sullivan said.