The Lutheran church has long held tri-annual gatherings for high school youth.
It is a tradition that dates back at least to the 1960’s. It is a conference
for young Lutherans—but it’s not like any conference you’ve
ever attended as an adult. There are two multi-day events back-to-back that
draw roughly 20,000 youth each. It is an amazing gathering of creativity, energy,
inspiration, and information—all aimed at youth completing the 9th through
12th grade.
Some of the elements include:
• Key Note speakers (like Maya Angelou, current national teacher of the year, our Churchwide Presiding Bishop, and other nationally acclaimed leaders)
• Servant opportunities such as building Habitat for Humanity houses or doing neighborhood clean-ups
• Bible studies in small groups
• Dozens of workshops on everything from choosing a college to dealing with date rape
• Bands playing youth-appropriate music
• Hotel socials such as pizza parties, dances, talent nights
• An interactive center with basketball, ping-pong, wall climbing, art centers
• Tours of local attractions
• Opportunities to meet youth from other states, cultures, and countries.
This year the gatherings are being held in San Antonio, so transportation costs are minimal. Our youth have been working hard to earn the money to defray the costs of attendance. The youth group will pay a portion of the costs, the families of attendees will pay a portion, and our church budget will pay a portion. Our congregation has already shown great support for the youth’s fundraisers, such as the Valentine’s dinner and the brats sale, and there will be more opportunities to support them in the near future.
As a pastor who’s taken youth to the event, a mother who sent two teens to events, and a volunteer who twice served on hotel life teams at the event, I stongly encourage you to support this effort.