Pastor Craig - August 2018

 And Also With You!!! Came the reply from 32,000 voices. The Lutheran Youth of the ELCA had arrived. How do you answer the question “How was the Gathering?” How do you put into words what you did and what you felt and what you thought? I know that the young people who attended will share with you their thoughts and their stories so I am trying not to mess up and tell things that they might. For me, it is always the celebration of the church. It is to see the faithfulness and determination of young people throughout the country who believe and proclaim the power of God’s love and the Spirit that flows out of his grace and mercy.

 The Gathering is a time especially for our youth to see that they are part of a large church. You can say the numbers of 9000 plus congregations in the United States, but how do you grasp that knowledge when you in your own area only have 90 in the state of Arizona and Las Vegas. It was important that one of our days at the Gathering is dedicated to meeting with the youth from the Grand Canyon Synod. I believe there were about 330 of us in one of the ballrooms. What struck me this time is how easily our kids mixed with the other kids. Part of it was that we were housed in the same hotel so we were running to each at breakfast each morning, but I think more than that our young people know that they are in a caring place. On a side note, 4 of the final 7 of our Bishop candidates were there with their youth groups.

 I will try not to say too much about the Service Day so the kids can share with you what they did. For me that is the one day that I have no idea what we are going to do. It is always that big question mark about God has instore for us. Other leaders stress about that, I have learned that whatever it is it is exactly what God had planned. Apparently we were scheduled to help at a halfway house. We arrived. The person got off the bus to check in. The contact person was not there nor were they expecting us. She got on the phone with the gathering staff and we were redirected to Betsy Ross Elementary School. We were the 3rd bus. This was on Saturday morning. We found out that on Thursday of that week the principal had tweeted for someone to paint an outdoor gathering space. The tweet was picked up by a woman who was running for Houston City Council who knew we were in town. She tweeted the principal back and said that she could have 50 High School Youth there on Saturday if she could find them something to do. Needless to say she was overjoyed and overwhelmed. The school was built in 1926 with a addition in 1967 and according to another teacher nothing had been touched in the last 9 years. Imagine the facelift 150 energetic people could do to a place. At least 3 classrooms, 3 bathrooms and library were painted. Flowers were planted and yes that outdoor area got fixed up. Two thoughts, I wished I could see the 2 janitors faces when they came on Monday and the kids who were going to be at the school in the Fall, knowing that High School kids did this for them.

 Over the years, I have been asked by other youth leaders “Is It Worth the Cost?” Absolutely!! This time I could not help but think of Syd Bye who was a youth leader who took kids to New Orleans back in 1976. We talked a lot about that gathering, because that was my first gathering. I was 14. I knew that Syd’s Spirit was with us leading guiding and working things out. I want to thank you the congregation for your prayers and for your continued support of the youth at Mount Zion. We are raising an amazing group of kids, who will make a difference.

 The 2021 Youth Gathering will be going to Minneapolis. They must figure if they can host a Super Bowl they can certainly handle a bunch of Lutherans.

In Christ,

Pastor Craig