ELCA Youth Gatherings
In 2018, a group of youth and students attended the ELCA Youth Gathering in Houston. While there, the group participated in worship services with nearly 30,000 others, learned about many ELCA ministries and worked on a service project.
The 20
15 ELCA Youth Gathering in Detroit took place July 15-19. A group of 12 from St. James Lutheran Church and St. Paul's Lutheran "Blue" Church attended the event. The experience was amazing and the group did a wonderful presentation about their trip during a worship service in November. The large work day project our group participated in was to sort and count donated diapers. After many bus loads and hours of work, the group had unloaded, sorted and counted over 1 million diapers!
Our group also met Bishop Eaton in Ford Field!
Painting Murals Meeting Speakers
Ready for our work day
In 2012, a group of 9 youth and 3 leaders from St. James traveled to New Orleans for the 2012 gathering. It was an awesome experience for the entire group!
What happens at the Gathering?
The Gathering is a five-day event that begins on a Wednesday evening and ends with a service of communion the following Sunday morning. The opening night sets the stage for the days ahead in which young people may have an encounter with Jesus that energizes their faith and helps them discover their call to serve in the world — locally and globally.
On the days between Wednesday and Sunday, young people rotate through a variety of service learning experiences in the surrounding community. They explore and strengthen their faith by studying God’s word, serving their neighbor, sharing bread and wine in worship, participating in lively faith discussions and broadening their experience of God’s world and diverse communities through travel.
