News story from Detroit!

Here's an article about the Youth Gathering that was published here in Detroit.

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/religion/2015/07/15/lutheran-event-brings-city-youth-gathering/30219053/

We're here and it's Wednesday

WE MADE IT TO DETROIT!
(To view the Dome replay from Wednesday night, scroll down to the bottom)

After a short 3 hour drive from Upper Arlington to Detroit, we are here at the Quality Inn and Suites.  Wait (you say) weren't you supposed to be a the Holiday Inn?  Why, yes you are correct.  So a day or so ago our hotel was changed by the Gathering Staff due to a problem with the plumbing.  The Gathering Staff worked well and quickly to get us a new hotel.  The hotel worked diligently to get us set up with rooms (and cots).

We then went to the Ford Rouge Factory tour.  What an amazing place! We got to tour an actual Ford factory and immerse ourselves in the past, present and future of American automobile manufacturing.  See the factory tour website by clicking here.  We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the plant, but we did take some of the plant, which you can see below.

After exploring the factory we needed to eat before we went to Ford Field.  So we found a Bob Evans and Cam found caffeine...

 After a short 25 minute drive into downtown Detroit, we parked and walked a mile to Ford Field for the Dome program!  What a sight to see over 30,000 Lutherans gathered into one place, praising God and hearing God's Word claimed and proclaimed!

 On our back to the vans to go back to the hotel we took Detroit's "People Mover."  It's an elevated train that was not only a lot of fun, but it's a place for Pastor Aaron to bump into a lot of his friends!

PAL and Pastor Ethan Beiler

PAL and Pastor Russell Crouthamel (Pastor Aaron's former student!)

PAL and Christen (PAL's former student at Capital University)

PAL and Pastor Gary Sandberg (Capital University's Dean of Chapel)

 After a full day of traveling and touring and walking...we were tired.  Once we made our way back to the hotel we met in Matt and PAL's room to do Final 15.  Final 15 is a time to debrief from the day.  To talk about our Joys | Junks | Jesus moments and reflect on the devotionals provided in the Bible we received from the ELCA Youth Gathering when we arrived.  Everyone got in bed around 1 a.m. with a wake up call for breakfast and buses at 6 a.m.

Thursday is Proclaim Justice Day.  It's a day where we will go out and do service projects in and around Detroit...sharing God's love, following Jesus, and if we get the opportunity...make disciples!

Blessings!

Click below for a replay from Wednesday night's Dome experience

And...we're off!!!

Excited...blessed...and ready to roll! We are on our way to Detroit! 

What a great night last night as we hosted two youth groups from Virginia and North Carolina who broke up their trip to have fun with us and prepare for the journey with our one last lesson. 

We enjoyed (in great Lutheran fashion) a potluck of delicious food. We played a game to get to know one another a little better ran by Pastor Aaron. 

  Now we are on our way to Detroit! We loaded up three vans full of people and luggage and away we went! We will be checking into the hotel, take the Rouge Factory tour (where Ford F-150s are made), grab some dinner, then make our way to Ford Field for the big kickoff of the Gathering! 

Lost and Found will be playing the tunes and the Presiding Bishop of the ELCA and Cleveland native Rev. Elizabeth Eaton will be the keynote speaker along with Mikka McCracken, who is a South Korean adoptee and life-long Lutheran, lives in Chicago and serves as a program director for ELCA World Hunger. Mikka believes it’s possible to end poverty and hunger and that the church plays an important role. Mikka has worked with the ELCA Justice for Women program, advocates for gender justice and serves on The Lutheran World Federation International Council. 

Another speaker will be the Rev. Dr. Luke A. Powery, dean of Duke University Chapel and associate professor of the Practice of Homiletics (a big word for preaching) at Duke Divinity School. Named one of the 20 outstanding black ministers under the age of 20 by the African American Pulpit, Luke is a passionate teacher, preacher and writer with degrees in music and theology. He has authored two books, “Spirit Speech: Lament and Celebration in Preaching” and “Dem Dry Bones: Preaching, Death, and Hope.”  In 2014, he was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College for his ethical and spiritual leadership in the academy, church and broader society.

Ways to connect to the Youth Gathering as a whole

To get a bigger picture of what the National Youth Gathering is, stop by these ELCA Gathering sites:
Facebook   facebook.com/youthgathering   
Twitter      @elcagathering
YouTube     youtube.com/elcagathering       
Instagram elcagathering
LiveStream elca youth gathering
Through LiveStream, you can watch the Mass Gathering worship services from Ford Field LIVE (7:00 pm-Wednesday through Saturday;  8:30 am on Sunday).

ELCA Facts

As we get close to departing to Detroit for the ELCA National Youth Gathering, it might be nice to know a little more about our denomination!  So just some FYI...

ELCA facts (taken from http://elca.org/News-and-Events/ELCA-Facts)

As of December 31, 2013, there were 3,863,133 baptized members in the ELCA. There were 9,464 congregations organized in 65 synods in nine geographic regions. 

The ELCA is a diverse church body, becoming more so every day. This church is committed to growing in diversity and strengthening its global, ecumenical and interfaith relationships around the world. 

ELCA congregations are led by gifted men and women who have been called by God to serve their community. The ELCA calls both women and men to serve as pastors and lay rostered leaders. Here are some facts about ELCA leaders: 

As of September 1, 2014, there were 17,777 leaders on the ELCA roster including 981 associates in ministry, 61 deaconesses, 192 diaconal ministers and 16,543 ordained clergy. In 2013, 24 percent of clergy on the ELCA roster were women. In the ELCA’s eight seminaries, the numbers of women and men preparing for ministry are about equal. 

About 86 percent of ordained women and 83 percent of ordained men are actively serving in congregations. 

The ELCA offers opportunities for Lutheran education at every level and considers education as an important part of our calling. We offer quality education at every level through our institutions. In addition to the eight ELCA seminaries and two seminary extension centers, there are 26 colleges and universities, 50 or more lifelong learning programs, 14 high schools, 296 elementary schools, 1,573 early childhood programs, 145 camp and retreat centers serving 450,000 annually. 

The ELCA is committed to making the world a more just and peaceful place to live. Through programs, ministries and partnerships ELCA congregations, synods and the churchwide organization work every day to address inequities in political, economic and social systems and to end conflict and violence all over the world. We are a church that believes God is calling us into the world – together. This is Christ’s church. There is a place for you here.



To stay up to date on ELCA News, click on https://twitter.com/ELCAnews.

Last Minute Packing

First youth gathering?  Second youth gathering?  Have no idea what to pack?  YOU'RE IN LUCK!

Click here for a packing list to help you out!

DON'T FORGET YOUR #RiseUpAdventELC blue shirt!

Commissioning Litany

As the countdown to Detroit is nearing double zeros, those who going on the trip will be taking part of a Commissioning Litany during our regular Sunday morning worship services.  In that part of the service we'll say...

"We send these young people and adults forth on their journey to the Motor City  to experience the body of Christ beyond this place. We pray that they will return to us with a new commitment to serve all God’s people, following the example Jesus,  and with new skills to be able to strive for justice and peace in all the earth."

Then we will ask God to...

"...grant peace and safety to those attending the 2015 ELCA Youth Gathering and bless them, form them by your hand, guide them by your Word, renew them by your Spirit,  protect them as they travel, make their ways safe, and their homecomings joyful."

God has indeed looked with favor on our family of faith at Advent Lutheran Church and God has blessed us through the lives of these young people.  As they have been a blessing to us, so now we send them forth as missionaries to the larger church, and to be a blessing to the people of Detroit, through Jesus Christ, our truth and life. Amen.