ELCA Assembly Receives Youth Convocation Report

DENVER (ELCA) -- We are the church of now and we are the church of the future, Sarah Helminski, 18, told the 1999 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Aug. 20. Helminski, Epiphany Lutheran Church, Toledo, Ohio, helped deliver the youth convocation report to the assembly.
The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 16-22 at the Colorado Convention Center. There are more than 2,500 people participating, including 1,038 voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is "Making Christ Known: Hope for a New Century."
More than 55 high-school-age young people from across the United States and Caribbean are participating in the youth convocation in conjunction with the assembly. All 55 stood on stage to deliver the report.
"I didn't realize the full impact youth can have at the assembly," said Helminski. "At the convocation, we worked on determining our spiritual gifts and how our gifts can be used to serve the church." Helminski said the youth convocation highlighted prayer, spiritual gifts and the experience of witnessing the assembly's voting members at work.
"There are different ways to serve but the same Lord to serve," Jake Francis, a member of the ELCA Northeastern Iowa Synod, Waverly, Iowa, told the assembly.
"There are many spiritual gifts we can use to serve the Lord. There are administrative gifts and gifts in artistry, evangelism, knowledge, shepherding and teaching, just to name a few. There is also the gift of leadership, which brought all of us here today to the beautiful city of Denver," said Francis.
"Leadership is a desirable, sought-after role. But there are other spiritual gifts. There is giving, sharing mercy with others, hospitality and prayer that has the same importance. Another way to serve God using our spiritual gifts is by doing community service," Francis said.
Members of the youth convocation "participated in an awesome and spiritually enriching day of service Aug. 19," said Amy Lyon, ELCA Northeastern Ohio Synod in Akron. The group traveled to the St. Francis Center, a homeless center. It is an Episcopal-run ministry, said Lyon.
"We used our spiritual gifts to work for and with the homeless in an attempt to make their world more pleasant, and share with them God's endless love. While painting, gardening, sorting, cleaning and cooking, each of us had the opportunity to strengthen our faith in God, as well as enrich our bond with one another," Lyon told the assembly. "We were humbly reminded of how undeniably fortunate we are and of the many daily blessings that we often take for granted. We've made an impact on the lives of all those at the center."
"Working at the center was a great experience," said Ryan Leonis, 17, Faith Lutheran Church, Castro Valley, Calif. The youth attending the convocation "really bonded by working together at the center. I made a lot of friends and participating at the center was a lot of fun," he said. Leonis help cooked food at the center.
For Colleen Taylor, 15, House of Prayer, Aliquippa, Pa., working at the center was a "good experience. While working, we were singing and it was a good bonding experience for the youth."
"We're part of you, we're part of the church," was the message Taylor, conveyed to the assembly. "We're here as leaders. I've learned also to be a follower and trust other people's decision and feel good about it," she said.
The young people attending the convocation are "very liberal and open in their thinking, but conservative in their decisions," said Chip Borgstadt, a member of the adult support team at the youth convocation. Borgstadt, Omaha, Neb., is director for the youth and family ministry program at Midland College in Freemont, Neb. Midland is a college of the ELCA.
While they have no voting power at the assembly, young people of the convocation have been conducting their own "straw polls" on business of the assembly.
"For many of us, this is the first time we have been given the opportunity to see the political side of the church," said Rafael Malpica, Lake in the Hills, Ill. "During our week in Denver, we have witnessed history in the making with the ELCA proposing full communion with The Episcopal Church, and voting to be in full communion with the Moravian Church in America," said Malpica. "We have also confronted everyday issues, such as homosexuality and social status. By handling these delicate issues in a Christian manner, we have formed a closer relationship with God," he said.
"In our passionate debate on issues, in our selfless service, in our contagious joy and unbinding welcome, we live as prayers to the glory of God," Aaron Werner, ELCA North/West Lower Michigan Synod, Lansing, Mich., told the assembly. Werner ended the youth convocation report quoting one of his favorite hymns: "What a friend we have in Jesus; all our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer."

For information contact:
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