Practice Discipleship

To date we have highlighted two of the three program components for this Gathering, Practice Justice (July issue) and Practice Peacemaking (August/September issue). This month we will focus on the third program area called Practice Discipleship.

Discipleship is not an activity that we do. It is a life that we lead. Ultimately, it is about following Jesus. You began to practice discipleship the moment you received God’s baptismal promises.

At the ELCA Youth Gathering, we will have the opportunity during one of our days together to practice being a disciple of Jesus Christ, and to learn to take your relationship with Jesus to a deeper level.

You will continue to practice discipleship when you return home to your families, your church, your schools, your community and the world.

The seven faith practices lifted up by the ELCA will be the focus on the Practice Discipleship day at the Gathering:

• Pray
• Study
• Worship
• Invite
• Encourage
• Serve
• Give

Following Jesus is a way of life. When these practices become part of our daily life, we are better equipped to live the life to which Christ has called us. We see more clearly who we are in Christ, we are not afraid to ask questions and wonder about the mysteries of faith, we are excited to share the story of what Christ is doing in our life, and we are open to where the Spirit is calling us.

As you prepare for the Gathering:

Adult leaders: You are invited and encouraged to take part in a variety of youth ministry training opportunities. Each synod has a Gathering coach that has been trained to lead face-to-face trainings in your area on basic youth ministry skills. Free webinars are available to watch live or download later. These webinars cover Lutheran theology, youth ministry theory and practical skills. The 2012 ELCA Youth Ministry Network Extravaganza will offer all of these trainings in one place.

Congregation groups: As you prepare for the Gathering, the Getting Ready materials will be shaped around the seven faith practices and help you apply them to your daily life.

At the Gathering:

There will be three components to your assigned day of Practice Discipleship at the Gathering:

1. Your morning will begin in a hotel ballroom, where you will gather with your synod for Dwelling in the Word. This will be a full liturgy worship with Eucharist, to which your bishop has been invited to preach.

2. Following worship, you will move into small groups for interactive learning in stations around the seven faith practices.

3. Then you will go into the city for an afternoon discipleship lab, putting into practice what you have learned on the streets of New Orleans. You will be given resources for activities and discussion -- a “faith scavenger hunt” of sorts -- around the seven faith practices, and how they apply to your daily life.

After the Gathering:

The real work begins when you return home. How will you continue to deepen your faith through these practices in your daily life? How will you be a witness -- share your story of Christ -- with your friends, your family, your church, your community and into the world? The Gathering will provide resources for adult leaders and youth to support the ongoing faith discovery after the Gathering.

Start growing NOW

At the Gathering, you can donate your hair to be made into wigs for kids who need them. So get everyone, adults and youth, to start growing your hair NOW (or more accurately, stop cutting your hair now because it’s already growing all on its own). You will need to be able to donate at least 8 inches. At the 2009 Gathering, 310 people donated hair and next summer we hope to far surpass this number. After you donate your hair, you will get a quick stylish cut for free. For a further challenge, consider saving the money you would have spent on haircuts for the next 9 months and bring it to the gathering to donate toward the cost of making the wigs.

Bulletin board

• Director's blog -- blogs.elca.org/youthgathering
  Part of the Living Into the Future Together taskforce's report included the call for every ELCA congregation to have a mission strategy by the end of 2012. This resolution was adopted by the 2011 Churchwide Assembly. It is the responsibility of the Congregational and Synodical Mission unit of the ELCA, the churchwide unit in which the Youth Gathering is housed, to fulfill that legislation. I am assuming that the bulk of the work toward completing congregational mission strategies will be carried out in collaboration with the directors for evangelical mission in each synod, whom we hope we also will be at the Youth Gathering, along with the bishop from every synod. (Please make sure your bishop has been invited and encourage your director for evangelical mission to participate as well.) | Read more.»
  
  
• MYLE 2012: We all Dat! Citizens with the Saints,
  July 16 - 18, 2012
  Are you ready for MYLE 2012? The 2012 Multicultural Youth Leadership Event (MYLE) will be held July 16 - 18, 2012, in New Orleans and will have the theme “We all Dat! Citizens with the Saints.”
  
  MYLE is a pre-event to the ELCA Youth Gathering and exists to empower high school students of color and those whose primary language is that other than English to claim their identity and cultivate their gifts for the purpose of becoming transformational leaders in the church and in the world. Congregations who have 20% or more of young people of color are also invited to attend. Registration for MYLE is $150 per person, which includes housing, food and program. Groups register for MYLE through the Gathering registration process which will be available online beginning October 9, 2011.
  
  MYLE 2012 promises to be an invigorating and inspiring time of celebrating culture, forming leaders, claiming identity, deepening faith and having fun! For more information, find and “Like” us on Facebook: ELCA MYLE 2012, follow us on Twitter: @MYLE2012 or go to www.elca.org/MYLE.
  
  
• DAYLE 2012: “Apostles + Prophets: Citizens with the Saints”,
  July 16 - 18, 2012
  The 2012 Definitely Abled Youth Leadership Event (DAYLE) will be held July 16 - 18, 2012 in New Orleans and will have the theme “Apostles + Prophets: citizens with the saints.”
  
  DAYLE is a pre-event to the ELCA Youth Gathering and is a leadership development event designed to bless and empower gifted young people with a wide range of physical, cognitive and emotional differences, so that they might grow as faithful, wise, and courageous witnesses. The event also offers time for participants to acclimate and orient themselves to the city of New Orleans before the Gathering begins. Any teenager going into ninth, tenth eleventh or twelfth grade or having just graduated from high school at the time of the Gathering is eligible to register. Registration for DAYLE is $150 per person, which includes housing, food and program. Groups register for DAYLE through the Gathering registration process which will be available online beginning October 9, 2011. People who serve as a companion for a DAYLE participant receive complimentary registration to the Youth Gathering.
  
  For more information, find and "Like" us on Facebook: ELCA DAYLE 2012, follow us on Twitter: DAYLE2012 or go to www.elca.org/DAYLE.
  
  
• Getting ready
  We're working on Getting Ready materials that will help you prepare your groups, if you have 6 months, 6 weeks, 6 hours or 60 minutes with your participants to prepare.
  
  It's great material, and we hope you have the full six months to really dig into it. However, we have invented some tracks to meet you wherever you are.
  
  In addition, we are putting together the 60-second Gathering, which is a monthly podcast to get you and your groups excited about your adventure.
  
  
• Connecting to the Congregation
  Countdown to Registration: Remember that registration is now open. Click here for all of the registration materials.