Definitely-Abled Young Lutherans 'Dance' at Leadership Event

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (ELCA) -- "Get ready. We're going to put on our dancing shoes and dance," the Rev. Duane L. Steele, Gladesboro Lutheran Church, Hillsville, Va., told 11 young members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), who had come to Southern Illinois University here for the 2000 Definitely Abled Youth Leadership Event (DAYLE) June 25-28. Each young Lutheran with a disability was accompanied by a parent or other caregiver.
With the theme "Here I am, Lord, with my dancin' shoes on," young people met with representatives of the Lutheran Youth Organization (LYO), the youth organization of the ELCA, for worship, Bible studies, leadership development workshops and time to get acquainted. The adult caregivers attended specialized workshops.
"It just seems that all the participants were bonding a lot faster," said Brenda Auterman, chair of the LYO's Definitely-abled Advisory Committee, West Milwaukee, Wis. This is the fifth DAYLE, which is held every three years.
"The group dynamics were just so wonderful," said Auterman. She said a factor may have been that the adult workshops were separate from those of the teens. "It got the kids to bond with each other and not rely totally on their caregivers."
"For everyone who was here, it seemed like such an eye-opener," said Auterman.
"During our days here at DAYLE, we will meet people who were chosen to dance with God in the face of great challenges and trials - - people like Paul, Jeremiah, Samuel and us," Steele said during the event's opening worship service. Steele, one of a few sightless pastors in the ELCA, served as the event's chaplain.
"We will rediscover that we are called to see God without eyes, to hear God without ears and to dance with God even from our wheelchairs," he said.
"Today, we dance for God despite the parts of our bodies and minds that don't work the way other people think they should. We are broken by sin, and, at the same time, we are whole because God's Holy Spirit is ageless," said Steele.
In each of the event's worship services, Steele referred to biblical accounts of young people and people with disabilities whom God used to speak a message. "You are called on to speak for God," he said, encouraging them to overcome fears of not being taken seriously and to trust God. "All you need to do to answer God's call is to say, 'Here I am, Lord. What do you want me to do?'"
Event participants elected the LYO's Definitely-abled Advisory Committee (DAC): Sarah Flatt, St. Claire Shore, Mich., chair; Joanna Storm, Madison, Wis., liaison to the LYO board; and Michael Davidson, New Orleans, secretary.
"The DAC should be making not only the LYO but the whole ELCA aware of disabled youth and their abilities with their disabilities," Flatt, a 15-year-old member of Bethel Lutheran Church, St. Claire Shore, said in a short address before the vote. "There is so much that youth can do in their church, and the DAC is the best advocate to the ELCA for that," she said.
The elections followed a series of leadership workshops which introduced participants to the LYO and its committee structures and to the disability ministries of the ELCA. Other sessions prepared participants for the ELCA Youth Gathering, June 28-July 2 and July 5- 9, which will bring 40,000 high-school-aged Lutherans to St. Louis.
Meredith Lovell, Ellicott City, Md.; Mandy Radel, Cardington, Ohio; Heather Rose, Milton, Wash.; Megan Smith, Bluffton, Ohio; and Jason Wegner, St. Peter, Minn., described "some helpful things we've learned" during their three years as LYO board members.
There are many different qualities in a good leader, said Wegner. Public speaking is a good leadership quality, but listening is just as important, he said.
The group listed several leadership qualities -- helping, caring, learning, communication, writing, bridging gaps, organization, giving, and openness to other ideas. "I see good leadership qualities in each of you," said Wegner.
The Rev. Lisa T. Cleaver, director for disability ministries and deaf ministry, ELCA Division for Church in Society, led a workshop with Steele, ELCA braille and tape ministry consultant.
Cleaver described her work as a "clearinghouse" to help meet the needs of ELCA members. She will host a consultation on disability ministries and deaf ministries near the end of October which will bring church representatives to Chicago from all across the United States and Caribbean.
Steele encouraged the young people to be assertive and active church members. "If you are a person with a disability, the church does not come looking for you," he said. "Churches are glad to have us, but they do not reach out."
"You are your own best advocate," said Cleaver. "Let people know these needs are here," she said.
"I am impressed by each of you. I encourage you to stay involved. We need you," said Cleaver.
In a general session for participants and caregivers, Cleaver talked about her life -- growing up in Ohio in the '60s with a disability. She said she could either adapt to her environment or ignore her disability and act "normal."
Through her years as a student and as an English teacher, Cleaver was "accepted in spite of my disabilities," she said. When she answered God's call into the ministry and attended Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, she was accepted "not in spite of my disabilities but because of the gifts I brought," she said.
"I gradually came to see my disability as an asset, not a liability," said Cleaver.
"People with disabilities no longer have to settle for what the world will allow them to have," she said. Stereotypes and pity must be overcome, said Cleaver.
"We didn't invite you here just to have a good time ... but to shape the future of the ELCA," Cleaver said. "You do have a voice in the Lutheran Youth Organization, in the ELCA, but it's up to you to make your voice heard."
Participants and caregivers toured the America's Center to acquaint themselves with the facilities before tens of thousands of other teenaged Lutherans arrived for the Youth Gathering.
Larry Olson and Hans Peterson of Dakota Road, one of the musical groups to perform during the Youth Gathering, provided music throughout the DAYLE and prepared participants for much of the music that was to be used at the Youth Gathering. The group is based in Sioux Falls, S.D.
"Their music and their ministry through their music really brought out a lot of wonderful things in the participants," said Auterman. "It made the participants want to become active, stay active and want to interact with everybody," she said.
"Dakota Road definitely made our entire experience so much better because they were so willing to work with us on any aspect when we needed them to," said Auterman. She added that the group filled in whenever there was a lull in the activities and brought an inspiring message to the gathering.
Ken Medema, San Francisco, of Brier Patch Music, Grandville, Mich., performed for and spoke with DAYLE participants. Medema is a sightless keyboardist and composer, and is music director for the Youth Gathering.
Medema related a story of his first experience dancing at the age of 33. A 14-year-old girl refused to hear his excuses at a church dance and dragged him out on the dance floor. A small risk of looking foolish resulted in one of Medema's favorite nights. "Out of the darkness into the light," he sang. "I felt like a misfit. I felt like a blind boy. And you came up beside me."
Several participants shared stories from their lives when they had a sense of "belonging." Medema composed three songs from those stories and performed them on the spot.
Mandy Kent, Manchester, Md., managed the DAYLE and serves as DAC advisor. "She helped us firm up every single little detail th