– Megan Brandsrud

“In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2). On the last full day of MYLE, participants gathered under the daily theme of “One household, many rooms” and talked about how there is a place for everyone in God’s house.

Part of the discussion took place in affinity groups (African descent, Latino/a, European American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Multiracial/Multiethnic, American Indian/Alaska Native) where participants shared reflections, joys and struggles with each other.

During Discovery Worship, MYLE participants went through a series of stations designed to help them build their personal faith life and learn how they are all connected through their relationship with God. Some of the stations included writing a letter of encouragement to a modern-day social justice activist and walking a labyrinth to focus on personal reflection and centering oneself.

Beyonnie, a MYLE participant from St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Washington, D.C., walked the labyrinth during the Discovery Worship time. “We walked in a circle and reflected on life and getting rid of negativity,” she said. “When you hit the middle, you release negativity and stress, and I only felt filled with positive thoughts and feelings.”

In the afternoon, MYLE participants also chose different skill shops to attend that focused on finding and understanding their place and their path. Workshops ranged from social justice theater, which focused on activities to help break down walls and build bridges, to a simulation where participants pretended aliens came to earth to learn how to help see themselves from the outside and see what values shape their behavior.

Ciara, a MYLE participant from Christ Lutheran Church in Upper Darby, Pa., attended a session called “Preparing for college.”

“I’m going to be a senior and I want to go to college, so I thought it would be good to hear what they had to say,” she said. “It was really helpful in explaining some things I need to know in preparing to apply to schools.”

Many participants said that the music during worship and the morning Jumpstart has been their favorite part of MYLE so far, and that they’re connecting with the theme of “ONE” and feeling like it’s an important message for today.

“It’s very encouraging,” said Joshua, a MYLE participant from Toledo, Ohio. “It’s all about bringing in all different groups and seeing that together we are strong. Today’s theme is all about that, I think. There’s one household and many rooms—just like there’s God’s kingdom and we are all God’s children. It doesn’t matter what ethnicity you are.”

What does it mean to be one in community, but to have a variety of gifts expressed in a group of people? On the second day of MYLE, the theme was “One mission, many gifts,” which explored how to be unified as a people of faith that come a diversity of talent and skill.

The day’s theme was embodied as MYLE participants traveled around Houston for Service Learning projects. Ten sites were selected around the Houston area where participants could not only offer the city their gifts as people of faith, but could also learn about accompaniment and service.

Stephen, 18, of All Peoples Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI, felt energized by Jumpstart (the opening worship service at MYLE). He said it wasn’t just fun and a chance to feel hyped up in the morning, but it was also a wake-up call to start his day of service, which was at The Life Center. MYLE participants at The Life Center worked with residents of the homeless shelter to paint, landscape, and beautify the facility. Stephen was looking forward to what he could do to help the community. His hope for his time at MYLE is to “show equality for what this nation could be and that no matter what race or color, we are as one.”

The day was also filled with intense conversations. Over dinner in the University of Houston dining hall, participants from the East Bay Lutheran Youth Program in Oakland, CA, had very honest conversations on identity, who we are as created in God’s image, and defying stereotypes. They reflected on their Service Learning experience that took place at the Star of Hope, a non-profit organization that works with people experiencing homelessness in Houston. They were joined at dinner from new friends they made from Christ Lutheran Church in Washington, D.C.

After sharing a meal, participants went to worship. Worship was filled with songs of love, justice, prayer, and liberation. Jennifer and Noah from Mediator Lutheran Church in Philadelphia shared their experiences at their Service Learning site, Spring High School. Jennifer talked about making the school’s campus look beautiful through gardening. Noah expressed that it was God’s work through their hands to bring hope to the school’s campus. Rev. Patrick Gahagen spoke at worship, taking about gifts and passions in a life rooted in faith.

The overall theme of ONE continues to resonate strongly at MYLE. The second day was filled with a multitude of gifts and unified as one community.

Follow the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering on social media:

• Facebook for MYLE, the tAble, and the ELCA Youth Gathering;
• Snapchat (elcagathering);
• Instagram; and
• Twitter for MYLE and the ELCA Youth Gathering.

Don’t forget to follow the hashtag #ELCAYG2018!

Follow instructions to download the ELCA Youth Gathering app here.

What does it mean to truly belong? What does it mean to be a part of the one body of Christ in the midst of the diversity of God’s creation? These questions are a part of the foundations for the tAble and MYLE, the pre-events to the ELCA Youth Gathering. The pre-events embody the full expression of inclusivity within the church.

The theme for the tAble is “You Belong.” With this theme, there are a series of questions for young people who live with a wide range of physical, cognitive and emotional disabilities within our church to ask, “where do I fit in?”, “why am I different than others?”, and “what gifts could I possibly bring?”.

the tAble reminds us that we are all welcome at Christ’s Table and that we all belong in the fullness of who God created us to be. The daily themes, questions will be the areas of wonder to be explored during the pre-event are:

• Who do you belong to?,
• Why do you belong?,
• Your gifts belong at the table. How do you belong?, and
• Who belongs with you?.

MYLE’s theme is “ONE,” with the foundation in Ephesians 2:14-19. What does it mean to be a part of the one body of Christ when God expresses the fullness of God’s diversity in cultures and languages? How is unity in God expressed within the many people around the world who follow Christ in a number of beautiful and meaningful ways?

Each day, MYLE will focus on “ONE” in a number of ways:

• One body, many parts (1 Corinthians 12:14-26);
• One mission, many gifts (1 Corinthians 12: 4-11);
• One household, many rooms (John 14:2); and
• ONE in CHRIST (Ephesians 2:14-19).

MYLE and the tAble express and embody that You Belong at Christ’s Table, and that we are unified as ONE in the beauty and diversity of God’s creation. These are vital pre-events to express the fullness of expression of God’s church, and there is reason to rejoice as these pre-events begin today.

Follow the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering on social media:

• Facebook for MYLE, the tAble, and the ELCA Youth Gathering;
• Snapchat (elcagathering);
• Instagram; and
• Twitter for MYLE and the ELCA Youth Gathering.

Don’t forget to follow the hashtag #ELCAYG2018!

Follow instructions to download the ELCA Youth Gathering app here.

The time has come! The ELCA Youth Gathering is just days away, and MYLE and the tAble begin programming tomorrow.

After bake sales, car washes, crab feed dinners, parent meetings, planning meetings, laughter, maybe some nervousness, definitely a lot of excitement, and time of intensive planning and prayer, it is now the appointed time. Team leaders have been in Houston putting the plans and activities they’ve been working on for the past two to three years to life. Youth are beginning to arrive. The city of Houston is prepared to welcome us.

Make sure to follow us in a number of ways on social media. Find information and follow the faith formation and fun at the following places:

• The ELCA Youth Gathering Blog (updated in the mornings and evenings of event days);
• Facebook for MYLE, the tAble, and the ELCA Youth Gathering;
• Snapchat (elcagathering);
• Instagram; and
• Twitter for MYLE and the ELCA Youth Gathering.

Don’t forget to follow the hashtag #ELCAYG2018 on social media.

You can also follow instructions to download the ELCA Youth Gathering app here.

For those who have offered your prayers, your resources, and of so much more to provide the youth from your faith communities a unique and formative experience, make sure to continue to connect to what is happening in Houston!

– Molly Beck Dean

(Click here to read last week’s entry, Gathering Hopes and Goals, Part I)

The Gathering is an awesome way to meet Lutherans from across the world, but ultimately, we hope this ministry strengthens your congregational group.  You will be with us in Houston for a maximum of eight days and the Holy Spirit will move in powerful ways in that short time.

However, we know that the real “magic” happens back in the young people’s home congregations.

Often the Gathering is used as a spring board for a congregation’s youth ministry as they restart or re-energize. Whether it’s the bus ride to Houston or a meal time at the University of Houston or a late night Final 15, we hope that the various parts of this ministry deepen the connection that youth have to their peers and adults in their home congregation.

The final goal of the Gathering is that young people learn about the ELCA. Some will come to Houston and realize for the first time that they are part of something bigger than their congregation. Others may have strong connections with their synodical ministry, but not be fully aware of what we do throughout our country as a Church.  And most young people (and adults) have a lot to learn when it comes to how the ELCA is present with our global Lutheran siblings and doing ministry across the world. I hope that young people meet ministry partners in the hall of NRG Center and are amazed at the many and creative ways we are Church together. I hope they hear and see that there are opportunities for young leaders to be engaged right now in many parts of the ELCA’s call to be Christ in the world.

And finally, I hope they go home and share with those in their home congregation about the ELCA and the ways they are most passionate about engaging. 

Perhaps I should have opened with this, but maybe you are thinking, “why are these five things Molly’s hopes and goals for participants?” The answer is actually quite simple – because it’s what I have experienced each time I’m a part of this ministry.  My first Gathering was as a high schooler in 1997. I journeyed on a bus from small town North Dakota to New Orleans.  It was my first urban experience, the first time I realized my Church was so huge, the first time I saw people of color who were Lutheran. I think it was at the Gathering that God solidified my heart as a youth minister. Several of the other youth who journeyed with me at the Gathering are still my best friends because we grew in our relationship with God and each other that week in ways that are hard to put into words.  

And each time I return to MYLE, the tAble and the Gathering, I am challenged and affirmed in new ways as a Christian, as a leader, as a woman, as a mom, and as a friend.  My eyes are opened and my heart breaks. Every time I’m a part of this ministry, I am brought to tears because of the incredible beauty and the haunting darkness in people’s stories and in our world.  Even though I’ve been a legit ELCA church nerd since high school, each cycle I learn something new about what our Church is doing with and for God’s people across the world and I am proud to be part of the ELCA. 

This is a powerful and transformational ministry if you are brave enough to let your guard down long enough for the Spirit to enter in, if you can be quiet long enough to listen to someone different than yourself, if your prayer is to be open to what God is calling you to, if you realize the strong roots of a community will ground you no matter the strength of life’s storms, and if you imagine yourself as part of something bigger than you. 

– Molly Beck Dean

Faith formation in teens is the mission of the ministry of the Gathering.  It is the hub from which all things come for the tAble, MYLE, and the Gathering. We strive to create environments and opportunities for faith formation through worship, Interactive Learning, Bible study, Service Learning, and fellowship. Some of the faith formation experiences at the Gathering can be replicated – you can bring them to your home, congregation, or synod and create the same experience for others there. Some are unique to this ministry because of its size and scope.

There are also several hopes or goals that I have for those who come to the Gathering, especially the youth participants.

The first is that they are both affirmed and challenged in their faith. I hope that at least once during their time with us that each young person feels the undeniable presence of God and is affirmed in their beliefs. Likewise, I also hope that each participant has a moment where something troubles their heart or their mind enough to challenge their faith. Maybe they have to rethink what they have been taught about God. Maybe their heart breaks over a story they hear and they have to wonder why God would let such a thing happen? Our faith is deepened on the mountaintops and in the valleys.  It is my hope that participants can be vulnerable enough to let both happen while they are at the Gathering, surrounded by caring adults and peers.

MYLE, the tAble, and the Gathering are opportunities to experience new perspectives. It is my hope that youth and adults will open their minds and hearts to let in those perspectives. For some, that will happen in NRG Stadium through a speaker’s story that is different or even contradictory to their own story. For others, the new perspective is being in a large city. Others will experience a new perspective by learning the story of the organization and people they serve with on their Service Learning day. No one is trying to change another person’s mind on an issue or invalidate one story in exchange for another, but rather we seek to expose our participants to stories, sensations, and situations that are new and encourage growth.

Intentionally, and often completely unintentionally, we know that the Gathering is a place for young people to ponder who God is calling them to be. Vocation is how we live our baptism out in daily life, how we are the hands and feet of Jesus in our corner of the world. The Church needs to have a stake in the development and understanding of our young peoples’ vocation. Gathering leadership hopes and plans for moments of “aha!” as our young people meet inspirational people, hear their stories, and then listen to the nudges of the Holy Spirit calling them to something similar in their lives. Almost every time I’m at an event representing the Gathering, someone will tell me that the Gathering helped them realize they were meant to be a social worker or a volunteer or a youth director or an advocate and on and on.