As far as I can tell, just about everyone is home from the Youth Gathering by now, but that doesn’t mean the experience is over.  For one thing, the ELCA’s Gathering website makes it easy to catch up on everything that happened in New Orleans, as pictures and videos from JJJ09 are still being added.

Speaking of which, the window of opportunity is still open for you to add your own pictures and videos to the ELCA’s official JJJ09 online media collection.  If you’ve got pictures you’d like to add to the greater good, send them in an email to gathering@email.smugmug.com with the subject line “jjj09” and they’ll be added to the collection!

One further note: the Gathering is over, but the Jesus, Justice, Jazz musical tour is still ahead.  Agape, Lost and Found, and Rachel Kurtz will be touring the country from September through February, so take a look at the list of locations to see which one is nearest to you!

Courtesy of LutherTube by Brett Nelson and Zack Stoudemayer:

Scenes from the Opening of the 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering from the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. 37,000 youth from near and far have come to worship God and serve in the community and to have fun while doing both.

This is the first in a series of previews on the artists and/or speakers that will be a part of Youth Gathering ’09, and I’d like to take the time to highlight a particular favorite of many veteran Youth Gatherers.  (Gatheringers? Gatherites?  Gatherificators?  People who’ve been at Youth Gatherings.  You make up a name for them.)  I’m referring, of course, to a group named Lost and Found. 

You may be wondering, “Who on Earth are these people?  I’ve never heard of them in my life.”  I’ll be honest–unlike most of the other groups performing in New Orleans, I’d never heard of Lost and Found before I set out to write some previews for you fine blog-type folks (although I had heard one of their songs, but we’ll get to that later).  Lost and Found is a guitar/piano duo that has won many hearts with a musical style that they call speedwood.  This, of course, is “a sub-genre of Heavy Wood,” or so I’m told by their website.

They’ve got a unique sound, warm and familiar and small-coffeeshop folksy, and like all truly fun things in life, they don’t take themselves too seriously.  Lost and Found is definitely worth a listen, with tracks ranging from original material to an energetic rendition of the hymn Holy Holy Holy.  I can only describe that track as the definitive speedwood version, but you’ll have to hear it to know what I mean.

If you want an audible preview, I highly recommend taking 3 minutes and 33 seconds to enjoy Lost and Found’s “The Lutheran Song” on YouTube.  You can also find them online at speedwood.com.

I’ll dip deeper into the list of speakers and performers for next time; until then, enjoy your daily dose of speedwood.