It felt very much like the many youth gatherings I have attended over the years — a large hotel ballroom, chairs set up in rows, a brightly-lit stage at the front. The music starts and people start swaying and clapping. It felt very much the same but with one big difference — there were no youth! This past weekend’s Extravaganza was held in St. Louis, MO. The tagline is “Renew. Educate. Connect.” This is a yearly gathering of people from around the ELCA who work with Children, youth and young adults.
This year there was a deliberate invitation put out to the bishops of the ELCA to come to Extravaganza, to experience what it’s all about, to spend time with the people who are ministering to and with our youth and young adults, and to offer a workshop where we had a chance to listen to what young adults wanted to say to bishops. Our synod was well-represented by over 20 people in attendance. The photo above is from a combined lunch we had with Southeast Michigan Synod.
It was an amazing event — great speakers, excellent worship and music, all sorts of display tables representing ministries, and of course, plenty of time to connect with others. Renew. Educate. Connect. Thank you to all of our leaders in our congregations who made time to travel to St. Louis in order to be better in their ministry! I was thankful to get to know these people who bring such joy and energy to this work! Thank you to the congregations who provided the resources, so that these leaders could be reminded that their work is important and that when we work together, we can be so much better at what we do!
Whether your congregation has a weekly youth group of 20 kids or one third grader in Sunday school, your support of our young people in their life of faith is so needed! Please encourage the people in your congregations who have taken on this ministry — support them with prayer and kind words, support them with what they need to do their work faithfully.
+BJST