New Orleans Youth Gathering Recap
Well, I have returned from the great adventure of New Orleans. The Youth Gathering was full of the energy of young people (on our last night, our group sang all the way back to the hotel, filling the streets of New Orleans with music). I think we learned a lot about ourselves and about the state of our church. We saw and experienced things that were life sustaining and life draining. We walked the streets together with 16,000 of our brothers and sisters in Christ. An interesting statistic: every three years when the ELCA Youth Gathering meets, it is the largest gathering of Lutherans worldwide. No other conference or rally, no other meeting or seminar brings this many Lutherans together in one place at one time anywhere in the world. Certainly, then the argument can be made that the youth gathering is not an example of the church of the future but is in fact the church right now.
The youth of this church have a desire to be seen and heard, they need to be about the work of God in the world. Our children, for better or worse, have been taught to question everything. This questioning can lead to many concerns. The questioning can also lead to hurt and suffering as we realize the direction God is calling the church might run counter to how we were raised, or what we were taught. We heard some things at the gathering that were different. We heard about the pain of those who for many years have felt excluded by the church. We heard about loss and suffering. We heard about the scourge of war and the effect that has on children. We heard some things that I agree with and some things that I do not. There were times when God was very present for me, and other times when I wondered where God was and what God was thinking. In the end, it is up to each person to determine for themselves how this gathering impacted their own individual relationship with Jesus Christ, which really is the way it should be.
I am grateful to Ella, Jamie and Morgan for their faithfulness and openness to this event and for allowing themselves to be open and vulnerable to the Holy Spirit; it can be powerful and radical and life transforming. I am grateful to the congregations for their generous support of our trip. We ran into some extra expenses because of the computer shutdown, but we will be working with Delta Airlines to recover some if not all those expenses. I am grateful to the city; the food and people of New Orleans are still very much the same and yet very different. The first time we went there they were recovering from Katrina. The second time we went there the city was coming back but not all the way. This gathering we saw the New Orleans of tomorrow. A city much like our church being transformed by God into what God wants it to be. Are there problems yes, because humans are involved. There are also great opportunities for the city and for our church, as God brings about the world as he wants it, not how just a few think it should be.
We all are children of God. We all are children of God. Black and white, gay and straight, rich and poor, God calls us all to His Font and His Table in the great feast the saints in heaven and the followers of Jesus here on earth. WE are together in this thing called life. Life is messy, complicated and sometimes confusing, but through it all, the constant is Jesus. I am so proud to be your pastor.
Peace,
Pastor Bob
