Registration for ELCA's 2009 Youth Gathering opens Sept. 15

by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service

Registration opens online Sept. 15 at 1:01 a.m. (Eastern Time)
for the 2009 Youth Gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA). The ELCA plans churchwide youth gatherings
every three years, and there are some new features to registering
this time, said Heidi Hagstrom, director for youth gathering,
ELCA Vocation and Education. The gathering will be July 22-26,
2009, in New Orleans with a "Jesus, Justice, Jazz" theme. Recent
gatherings were offered twice in consecutive weeks to accommodate
as many as 40,000 high-school-age and adult leaders from the
United States and around the world.

Next year's one-week event will be limited to 36,000 registrants,
Hagstrom said, and registration will be possible only online.
Registration will close Jan. 15 or when the 36,000 limit is
reached, whichever comes first, she said. Registration will
require the congregation's ID number and a non-refundable deposit
of $125 per person. The process will be easier if a draft
worksheet for everyone attending the gathering is on hand. "Bus
transportation is a growing issue for us in light of rising fuel
costs," Hagstrom said. The gathering will rent 200 buses in the
New Orleans area, but there is a need for another 100 buses.
Congregations that are renting buses to transport their youth to
and from the gathering are being asked for information that staff
may need to use to sublease those buses during the gathering
while they're in New Orleans.

A Definitely-Abled Youth Leadership Event and a Multicultural
Youth Leadership Event will be July 19-22, 2009, at the Sheraton
New Orleans Hotel. Registration for those events will be
possible while registering for the gathering, Hagstrom said.