The 2009 Youth Gathering is over, and the ELCA Churchwide Assembly is only days away.

Many teens wondered if the harmony and goodwill generated from their work in New Orleans will be undone by dissension among the church’s adults in Minneapolis.

The denomination’s national assembly is Aug. 17-23 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

Voting members of the ELCA may consider whether to allow gays and lesbians in committed partnerships to serve as clergy. The denomination presently allows for celibate gay and lesbian clergy.

Jenna Goldenne voiced what many teens at the Youth Gathering in New Orleans this week said about the issue.

“People should be able to love who they want,” said the 14-year-old Chicago area teen. “It shouldn’t matter if they are gay or straight. It’s not really an issue for people my age. ” (more…)

Meet Seth Moland-Kovash (standing), a funny and thoughtful pastor from All Saints Lutheran Church in Palatine, Ill. He led a group of youth from the congregation to the 2009 Youth Gathering in New Orleans July 22-26. (more…)

Brittany Mata, 14, of Palatine, Ill., joined her youth group in prayer today at the Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans.

Mata was among the 37,000 youth and adults attending the 2009 Youth Gathering. The event was themed on “Jesus, Jazz and Justice.”

At the airport, Mata’s group prayed for justice and the people of New Orleans as they continue to recover from Hurricane Katrina.

The deadly hurricane struck the city four years ago and killed an estimated 1,100 people.

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Britney Lintner sported her new Youth Gathering headwear at the Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans today.

Lintner, 17, of Albany, N.Y., played cards while waiting for a flight home.

She was among the 37,000 youth and adults in New Orleans for the 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering.

She attends Holy Spirit Lutheran Church in Albany.

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Bishop Mark Hanson was among the last to board an American Airlines flight out of New Orleans that left shortly before 5:30 p.m. today. He rode in coach seating.

Hanson, the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, was mobbed by teens when he arrived at the airport. He posed for photographs with several of them.

The bishop and teens had been in New Orleans for several days for the 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering. Nearly 37,000 youth, leaders and chaperones attended the gathering, which is held every three years.

The bishop’s flight landed at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago a couple of hours later. He was last seen in baggage claim. (more…)

…is an experience to behold.  Lutheran worship is sometimes considered a restrained event.  Not so in New Orleans.  Sunday worship was as energetic an event as any of the evening mass gatherings earlier in the week, with youth arriving several hours early in an attempt to get a seat on the floor level.

One of the outstanding moments was the morning’s Communion.  Communing with 37,000 Lutherans at once is no mean feat, but the youth volunteers at the Superdome carried it off with grace.  Stations were set up throughout the Dome on the floor and in the balconies to guide thousands of youth, leaders, and volunteers through Communion with remarkable efficiency, distributing bread, wine, and the sign of the cross on foreheads.  Taking communion after a whirlwind time of learning and service in a space where so many once took refuge after Katrina was an awe-inspiring and humbing experience.