Many congregations are just now getting things ready to attend the 2022 Gathering, so if you haven’t started yet– you aren’t behind! Here are 10 things to know as you prepare to bring a congregational group to the 2022 ELCA Youth Gathering.

1. Utilize the Gathering’s promotional materials to get your community excited about this faith formation experience. We have PowerPoint templates, flyer templates, posters, promotional videos and logos for you to download and use. Consider inviting past participants to share a testimony as well!
2. Download the Official Gathering Handbook: Tips & Tricks for Adult Leaders. This resource is jammed-packed with pro-tips, sample covenants, timelines, budgets and more. If you’d like a printed version, you can purchase one from our partners at Old Lutheran.
3. Thinking about raising funds to attend the Gathering can be daunting. However, we know from the testimonies of young people and adult leaders that it’s totally worth it. Depending on your community’s guidelines for COVID-19, you might need to adapt and think creatively on how to raise funds. Early in the pandemic, the Gathering curated a resource of virtual and socially distanced fundraisers.
4. Connect with your Gathering Synod Coordinator (GSC)! These individuals are trained on all things Gathering and are your go-to contact for your synod. You can contact your GSC by sending them an email on the Gathering’s website.
5. Sign up and attend the pre-Gathering webinars. Gathering leadership will share what they are planning for next summer during these monthly webinars. Visit the Gathering’s website to see recordings of past webinars or sign up for future ones.
6. Download the Getting Ready Materials. This curriculum was designed to help introduce your congregational group to the daily themes of the Gathering and start bonding.
7. There is still financial assistance available for young people attending the Gathering. Up to $300 per youth participant may be provided with a max of 10 youth per congregation. The primary adult leader should apply on behalf of the young person via the application.
8. Our team is hard at work making plans to ensure that the 2022 Gathering is a safe for our participants. All youth and adult participants, team members, volunteers, staff, and Interactive Learning partners will be required to submit proof of a full COVID-19 vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 test (likely 72 hours before arriving). More information around how this information will be submitted will come spring 2022.
9. Gathering leadership is continuously monitoring the pandemic and guidance for events of our size, but confident that we will have a safe Gathering next summer in Minneapolis. If we get to a point where we are unable to have a safe event and the Gathering is cancelled, deposits will be refunded, with the option for congregations to donate some or all those funds towards the ministry of the Gathering or to forward their deposit to the 2024 Gathering. Visit our COVID-19 page for FAQs and more info.
10. Don’t do it alone. Invite another trusted adult in your congregation to join you in the planning and logistics!

Know that Gathering leadership is praying for you and your community as you consider attending the 2022 ELCA Youth Gathering. We know that this ministry changes lives and enriches congregational youth ministry, and we hope your congregation will join us.

For more information on the 2022 Gathering, MYLE and the tAble, visit: elca.org/Gathering.

The Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (MYLE) will gather under the theme of “Made Free” in the summer of 2022. Gathering leadership asked a few people to briefly reflect on what it means to be “Made Free” and to live into the scripture verse of “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:17).

Isabelle El-Yateem, Association of Lutherans of Arab and Middle Eastern Heritage

“As an Arab American youth, I think the theme of “Made Free” is awesome. We need to be released from all the things in the world that hold us back from our true potential. We need to be freed to call out for and demand justice and equality for all people, in all places and in all times!”

The Rev. Joann Conroy, ELCA American Indian/Alaska Native Lutheran Association

“Paul in a letter to the Galatians said, “…we should use that Freedom (of Christ) to serve one another in love and live a Spirit-filled life.” As we come to MYLE, we come sharing the freedom that Christ gave to us – love through a Spirit filled life rich in our Lutheran traditions and celebrating all of our Indigenous gifts of culture with the church.”

To learn more about the 2022 Multicultural Youth Leadership Event, visit our website: elca.org/MYLE.

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 the variety of talents and gifts God creates in me to love, support and connect to my neighbors.

When times came that challenged my energy level or my ability level, walking through the week with hundreds of other people who had offered up their own vacation time, jobs, families to create an event for the young people of our church, made me pause and remember how great God is.

Volunteering provided me the opportunity to serve with folks from all walks of life like college students between semesters, parents giving back to the Gathering they attended as youth, pastors on vacation, and others that felt the call to give of their talents as a chance to help others grow. Serving alongside those people, I still recall the goosebumps I got from being on the floor of NRG Stadium as tens of thousands of youth and adults lit up water bottles with glow-sticks, flashlights, and cell phones and swayed to the music in a kaleidoscope of colors and movement.

It’s these types memories and interactions that I stock up on to remind myself that volunteering and giving of myself is so crucial to my spiritual life and my connection to others and God. A comfort zone has its place, but so does setting it aside to help others be in theirs.

To learn more about our volunteer opportunities, please visit our website. 

Joshua Lotz is a 30-something partner and father of 2 young children. He has worked in youth ministry for 11 years and accompanied youth to the 2012 and the 2015 Gathering. Joshua has served as a volunteer in Houston and is a member of the Volunteers team for the 2022 Gathering in Minneapolis. 

by: Erin Strybis

I went to the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering to tell their story. 

I didn’t anticipate how they’d change my story, too.

When my editor and I discussed my assignment – to shadow a youth group at the Gathering for Living Lutheran – my stomach flipped with excitement. I believe this event for youth is one of the best things this church does. Not only does it inspire Lutheran teens in their faith journeys, the Gathering also affects adult participants and community members.

Walking into Houston’s NRG Stadium for opening night with my reporter’s notebook in hand, however, I felt timid. Would they accept me? Would they open up? I settled into my seat beside youth from Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Laurel, Md., and let a wave of cheers and music wash over me.

In her opening message, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton urged Gathering participants to watch for God to “show up in places we least expect.” OK Bishop, I thought, observing the sea of Lutherans surrounding me, I’ll keep watch. 

I turned on my tape recorder, started asking questions, and sure enough…

          God showed up as youth served with their hands and opened their hearts to seniors at a local YMCA.

          God showed up in Interactive Learning, where I met teens who’d found acceptance at the Reconciling Works booth.

          God showed up in the stories of speakers who shared myriad challenges and gospel hope.

          God showed up in the blare of bands and synod gatherings and holy conversations.

After Friday’s Mass Gathering, Holy Trinity youth were bouncing with excitement as they exited the stadium. We pulled off to the path’s edge and I found myself surrounded, each jumping for a turn to speak into the recorder. As I watched their faces light up, I thought, Yes! This electric faith, this community, this growth is why the Gathering matters.

God showed up in the clear, honest testimonies of these 12 young people – Alicia, Caroline, C.J., Jenna, Jordan, Lewis, Madison, Michael, Peter, Samantha, Tyler and Will.

I came into their group an outsider; I left with 12 friends in Christ.

Erin Strybis (middle) is a lifelong Lutheran, mother of one and voracious reader who believes in the healing power of stories. Find more of her stories at erinstry.com or on Instagram (@erinstry).

Lutheran youth have been gathering for more than 100 years. Yep, more than one hundred years. The predecessor church bodies that made up the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (American Lutheran Church – ALC and the Lutheran Church in America – LCA) had a rich tradition of gathering young people and their adult leaders every three years to experience the love of Christ and an opportunity to grow within their faith. Congregational youth groups would spend several days focused on worship, workshops, music, and fellowship.

Before 1988, ALC and LCA Youth Gatherings occurred in cities such as Denver, CO; Calgary, Alberta, Canada; New York City, NY; Seattle, WA; and Miami, FL with various themes such as We Are a Peculiar People and Christ is Lord. Probably one of the most notable keynote speakers was the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, who preached in front of 20,000 youth at the 1961 ALC Luther League convention in Miami, FL. You could say that Youth Gatherings have always been on the cutting edge, challenging young people to do God’s most righteous work.

After the birth of the ELCA, Gatherings have been held in cities that could accommodate thousands of participants, while providing facilities for experiential learning along with a venue that could hold everybody at the same time for worship and other programming. Here is a list of the ELCA Youth Gatherings, with their themes:

• 1988: San Antonio, Rejoice in the Lord Always
• 1991: Dallas, Called to Freedom
• 1994: Atlanta, 2 Be Alive
• 1997: New Orleans, Rive of Hope
• 2000: St. Louis, Dancing at the Crossroads (40,000 participants)
• 2003: Atlanta, Ubuntu: I am because we are. We are because Christ is. (38,000 participants)
• 2006: San Antonio, Cruzando: Journey with Jesus (37,000 participants)
• 2009: New Orleans, Jesus, Justice, Jazz (36,000 participants)
• 2012: New Orleans, Citizens with the Saints (33,000 participants)
• 2015: Detroit, Rise up Together (30,000 participants)
• 2018: Houston, This Changes Everything (32,000 participants)

In 2000, 2003, and 2006 the Gathering was a two-week, back to back, identical event. This way, the Gathering would be less crowded and more intimate. However, it ended up being not financially sustainable, so in 2009 there was a switch back to a one-week, one event model.

Our demographics have changed, and the overall shrinking of mainline denominations may play a role in decreasing numbers of participants, but the ELCA Youth Gathering continues to capture the hearts and ignite faith in tens of thousands of people every three years. The Gathering has also helped young people discern calls into the Church or in fields of service, where they can carry out God’s work with their hands.

We hope that you will join us in being a part of the Gathering history in 2021!