ELCA Convenes Summit on Youth and Young Adults

ATLANTA (ELCA) -- Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), who are committed to supporting and nurturing the Christian faith lives of children and young adults, gathered for the third annual "ELCA Summit on Youth" here Feb. 5-8.
The summit brought together 770 young people, professional youth workers, clergy and leaders from camps, colleges, seminaries and social service agencies under the theme "Strengthening Our Church for the 21st Century." Board members of the ELCA Lutheran Youth Organization and the ELCA Council of Synod Lutheran Youth Organization Presidents also took part in the summit.
"You are the fulfillment of a dream that started two years ago, when the ELCA decided that one of the seven most important things for it to do right now was to connect with youth and young adults," said the Rev. H. George Anderson, presiding bishop of the ELCA. Anderson was the summit moderator.
"This youth summit has been designed 'to create the space' where the body of Jesus Christ will come together, where we can celebrate what we are doing well, where we can integrate what we are doing so that each of our ministries can strengthen everyone else's, and where we can activate the involvement of every young person in the life of the church," he said.
The greatest achievement of the summit, Anderson said, was to develop some simple, practical ways to keep young people involved in the church as they move through their high school years into adulthood.
"We will lose half of our [young people] who are already in [the church] by the time they are 25 years old, and we could certainly do better with those who do not yet know that Jesus loves them," he said.
"Connecting with Youth and Young Adults" is one of seven ELCA "Initiatives for a New Century." The Initiatives represent significant areas of the church's ministry.
Terry L. Bowes, Longmont, Colo., led Bible studies at the summit. Bowes coordinates the ELCA's "Help the Children" Initiative team.
"Lutheran young people are not the future of the church. They are the church in the present, the now," said Bowes. "God loves and needs young people."
The summit featured keynote presenters, music, workshops, caucuses and worship. Workshop topics ranged from faith formation in the youth culture to family ministries.
Amy Hartman, a resource staff member of "Alliance for Speaking Truths on Prostitution" (A-STOP), led a workshop on youth and the sex industry.
"The average age of entry into prostitution is 14," said Hartman. "Prostitution is about the recruitment of people by clever adults. It is about abuse, violence and exploitation. It is one person's body being sold for the gratification of another."
"Wise as Serpents," a video resource for developing street-smart children, was featured in the workshop.
A-STOP is an organization that "speaks out about the exploitation of the sex industry in the Minneapolis area and other parts of the nation," said Hartman. The organization was founded in 1990 by the Rev. Alvin S. Erickson, an ELCA pastor from Minneapolis. Erickson is director for A-STOP.
Keynote presenters included the Rev. Roland D. Martinson, professor of pastoral care and ministry at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn.; the Rev. Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl, bishop of the South Dakota Synod, Sioux Falls, S.D.; and the Rev. Dennis "Tiger" McLuen, executive director of the Youth Ministry Leadership Center for Youth and Family Ministry, Minneapolis.
"About 15,000 kids came to my courthouse last year. That is an unacceptable number," said Chief Presiding Judge Glenda Hatchett, Juvenile Court of Fulton County, Georgia. "We have got to figure out what faith has given us and put that into action in our communities." Hatchett was a keynote presenter.
"We have got to be in the business of reclamation -- calling our children 'sons and daughters' and claiming them as our children. We not only have to be in the business of reclamation but in the important business of keeping promises to this generation of children," she said.
"We have to ask leaders of this country hard questions, such as: How do we keep semi-automatic guns out of the hands of children and fools. We need to get this insidious poison outside of our communities," Hatchett said.
"Agape is the love of God operating in the human heart," said 22- year-old David Scherer, a senior at Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn.
Scherer is a communications major and speaks fluent Spanish. He blends his studies and cross-cultural experience to create a 'hip-hop' music ministry.
"Hip-hop music is the voice of young people. It is our conversation," he said. Throughout his keynote presentation, Scherer took Bible verses and set them to "Hip hop" rhythms and dance.
A focal point of the summit highlighted the annual meetings of the ELCA Youth Ministry Network -- an organization that brings together youth ministry professionals from ELCA congregations -- and the ELCA Council of Synod Lutheran Youth Organization Presidents (CSLYOPS).
"The church is made up of all different kinds of people with one goal -- Jesus Christ," said Rafael Malpica, Living Waters Lutheran Church, Lake in the Hills, Ill. "The family of God is for everyone and young people must communicate that message. If not, who is?" Malpica, a junior in high school, is president of the Lutheran Youth Organization (LYO) for the ELCA's Northern Illinois Synod.
Members of CSLYOPS developed a list of concerns about ELCA youth ministries.
"In our congregations adults are not always supportive of youth activities," said Natalie Frollick, Kinsman Lutheran Church, Spring, Texas. "We feel that is condescending and limits our abilities to be creative." Frollick is LYO president of the ELCA's Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, Houston.
CSLYOPS cited their disappointment with stereotypes and discrimination of youth, lack of communication and respect, being a Christian in a non-Christian world and the lack of participation and excitement about church from other young people. Members of CSLYOPS plan to share their concerns "with adults in their task of empowering youth."
Peter Benson, director for the Search Institute, Minneapolis, closed the summit with a focus on the critical significance of "assets" for the ministry of the church and the faith formation of young people. The Search Institute is an independent, nonprofit organization that contributes to the knowledge base of youth development and translates research on children into practical ideas, services and resources for families, churches and other communities.
Most people recognize that influences such as caring, families, educational commitments, social skills and other assets are important for healthy development. Yet our society doesn't seem to know how to make sure young people experience and develop these things, he said.
"This is a society where the developmental structure is eroding for young people," said Benson.
The summit was organized by the ELCA Youth Ministry Network and youth ministries of the ELCA's Division for Congregational Ministries. The network's purpose is to "promote and encourage the ministry and well-being of ELCA youth workers." The Rev. Thomas A. Hunstad, Westwood Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, serves as president of the network.
Youth Ministries of the ELCA's Division for Congregational Ministries works in alliance with the ELCA's 65 synods and 11,000 congregations to provide resources and programs "so that youth might be empowered to live out their Christian faith as leaders."
The summit was funded in part by Lutheran Brotherhood, a fraternal benefit society, Minneapolis.
The fourth annual summit on youth will take place Feb. 3-7, 2000, in St. Louis.
The national ELCA Youth Gathering will take place June 28-July