Program Areas
The 2012 ELCA Youth Gathering program is built around three core practices in which participants will be immersed before they come to New Orleans, while they are together in New Orleans, and, hopefully, in the community of their congregations when they return home. The core practices — Discipleship, Peacemaking, and Justice — serve to practically clarify the Greatest Commandment: to love the Lord our God and our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:34-40).
During the Gathering, each congregation will be assigned a rotation to participate in three days of practices on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. On each of those days, a third of the community will practice discipleship, a third will practice peacemaking and a third will practice justice. All three of the days are designed to help young people make real the covenant God made with them in holy baptism to:
- live among God’s faithful people,
- hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper,
- proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed,
- serve all people, following the example of Jesus,
- strive for justice and peace in all the earth (ELW p. 236).
Click below to learn more about each of these days:
Practice Discipleship
Practice Peacemaking
Practice Justice