Newsletter June 2013

2013 is the 25th anniversary year of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and so it is also the anniversary year of the Lutheran Youth Organization (LYO). Over the years the LYO has been one of the bright spots in the life of the ELCA.

The whole concept of “youth” is a relatively new one in human history. For millennia children went straight from childhood to adulthood and from playing in the yard with grandparents to full time work beside adults. Even childhood could be a time of hard work for the family, which was OK in an agrarian society but became an exploitative situation during the Industrial Revolution. Charles Dickens in the mid 19th century was among those who shined a light on the dark corners of life for young people in those days, especially for orphans and the poor. Gradually the church responded, first with the Sunday School movement and then with youth organizations. Youth organizations, such as the YMCA and Luther League, were to encourage faith in Jesus Christ and moral living among those who were not children anymore but not quite adults either. Many have written about how the age of “youth” as a time of physical maturity but not adult responsibility has become longer through the 20th century. Now in the 21st century one of the buzz words is “extended adolescence” as some people wait even longer to take on adult responsibilities.

In any case, youth organizations among us Lutherans have focused on the high school years. And the ELCA has had one of the finest youth organizations among all the churches. For a very long time our congregational youth did not attend the huge youth gatherings the ELCA held every three years or so. There are pros and cons to spending so much money to take a group across the nation and to spending so much time raising that money. But in 2012 several of our youth attended the ELCA youth gathering in New Orleans and found it to be a deeply meaningful event which grew their faith. One thing that I noticed during the fund raising campaign for this trip was the number of older adults who talked about the memories they had of attending a national gathering in their youth, which may have been 30 or 40 years ago. They still counted it as one of the great events of their lives. When a small town teen or rural youth attends an event with thousands of other youth who profess a faith in Jesus Christ as Lord they realize the size, scope, and diversity of the ministry of the church in the world. The youth who came back from the ELCA youth gathering in New Orleans talked about their new appreciation of the needs of the poor in one of America’s poorest cities still recovering from Hurricane Katrina and of the hot and humid day spent on a service project.

A similar result happens with synod youth events. For many years the Northwestern Minnesota Synod had what many considered the best youth gatherings among the 65 synods of the ELCA. This was largely due to the work of David Hunstad while he was on synod staff. My own three children all had the opportunity to participate in these grand events in Winnipeg, St. Paul, St. Cloud, Fargo, and other places. One adult chaperone told me of being overwhelmed at a Peder Eide concert at one of these synod youth events when the loud, even raucus, music gave way to complete silence as Peder called on them to kneel in silent prayer – and they all did. It was a profoundly holy moment.

This year our youth are embarking on a new adventure with a mission trip to Idaho with other youth from Kittson County. The purpose is to see yet another part of the country and experience the church in a different setting as they engage in work for those in need and witness to their own youthful faith. We look forward to their report on what they did and what it meant to them.

Our current local youth group advisors are doing an excellent job of working with our youth so that they can experience the best of youth events at home and far from home. There always has to be some entertainment component to events with youth as well as service and learning. (Maybe with adults, too, come to think of it.) But the opportunities are there for those who will avail themselves of them. It is not always easy working with youth so we can thank the Lord for those who are doing their best right now to lead our youth to deeper faith in Jesus Christ, fuller commitment to the church of Jesus Christ, and service to the needy in the Name of Jesus. As one of “yesterday’s youth” I thank God for today’s fine youth and those who work with them.