SAN DIEGO (ELCA) -- Efrem Smith, Minneapolis, told youth workers it's "okay" for them to be "hungry" at the fifth annual Youth Ministry Network Extravaganza of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) held here Feb. 9-12.
"It's okay to be hungry. The issue is where are you going to eat," Smith told more than 730 youth workers -- paid and volunteer, pastors and lay people -- at the Extravaganza, which featured speakers, workshops and music. Smith is executive director for the Park Avenue Foundation, Minneapolis. He also serves as a youth pastor at Park Avenue Church, Minneapolis.
Whether ministering in rural or suburban areas, with those of varying ethnicities or economic status, people who work with youth face evil forces, Smith said. "At times in our family life or ministry we have said, 'I know God is real. Where is God?'"
Smith told youth workers to attend to their own intimacy with God. "If you want to be effective in youth ministry, start with an intimacy, a daily meal with God. God is moving in your ministry, but you have to eat," he said.
Smith prescribed the same advice as those who advocate for a healthy food diet. "Start early; eat breakfast. Pace yourself and make time for God; don't eat too fast. Feed your faith in a variety of ways; follow a well-balanced meal," he said.
The Rev. Roland D. Martinson, a professor of pastoral care and the Carrie Olson Baalson professor of children, youth and family ministry, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., and member of the National Council on Family Relations, received the first "Tom Hunstad Award" at the Extravaganza. Hunstad, one of the founders of the ELCA Youth Ministry Network and its first president, told participants at last year's Extravaganza that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. Hunstad died in November 2000, and the Tom Hunstad Award was established. The award will honor those who have made a significant impact on youth ministry in the ELCA. A scholarship award, started by Hunstad but named in memory of him following his death, has also been established to help youth workers attend the Extravaganza and other youth ministry training events.
"Dr. Rollie Martinson wrote the book on youth ministry within the Lutheran church -- literally," said Todd Buegler, president, ELCA Youth Ministry Network. "Martinson has been doing this stuff for so long that I would venture to guess that most of the people in this room were not even born when he began. He speaks all over the country, and I have never walked away from a conversation with Rollie without feeling better about the work that I do."
Other speakers at the Extravaganza were Lorraine Monroe, executive director and founder of the School Leadership Academy at the Center for Education and Innovation, New York; Mike Yaconelli, Yreka, Calif., co-founder and owner of Youth Specialities, an international organization that trains and provides resources for more than 100,000 youth workers worldwide; and Dick Hardel, executive director of the Youth and Family Institute, Augsburg College, Minneapolis. Melissa Maxwell-Doherty, campus pastor, California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, delivered a sermon at closing worship, and Ken Medema, San Francisco, provided music.
Workshop topics ranged from urban youth ministry to "real questions" young people are asking society today.
"This was one of the best youth worker gatherings I've been to, and I've been to a lot of them," said Linda Rambow, Lindstrom, Minn., a youth worker for 17 years. She said Efrem Smith sparked "fire and imagination," and he provided the "spiritual food we needed."
The ELCA Youth Ministry Network was formed eight years ago. The Extravaganza is an annual educational event for Lutheran youth ministry workers. About 250 youth leaders attended the first Extravaganza in Las Vegas in 1997. More than 850 attended last year's event in St. Louis, in anticipation of the ELCA Youth Gathering, a national event that brought together about 45,000 high-school-aged Lutherans.
[*Julie Sevig, Chicago, is editor of the "Congregations and Community"
section of The Lutheran, a magazine of the ELCA.]
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John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
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