St. Mark is excited to send 4 high school students and 2 adults to the 2015 ELCA National Youth Gathering in Detroit, Michigan on July 15-19. The theme of the gathering is “Rise Up!” The ELCA Youth Gathering for high school-age youth takes place every three years and is about faith formation, worship, study, fellowship, service and play.
It is an opportunity for youth to engage with peers from across the United States and the world who share a common commitment and faith in Christ. The Gathering is a five-day event that begins on a Wednesday evening and ends with a service of communion the following Sunday morning. The opening night sets the stage for the days ahead in which young people may have an encounter with Jesus that energizes their faith and helps them discover their call to serve in the world — locally and globally.
On the days between Wednesday and Sunday, young people rotate through a variety of service learning experiences in the surrounding community. They explore and strengthen their faith by studying God’s word, serving their neighbor, sharing bread and wine in worship, participating in lively faith discussions and broadening their experience of God’s world and diverse communities through travel.
When the question “Why work so hard to gather so many young people in one place?” pops up, the response is really quite simple.
We were meant to be together, and we are a church that believes God is calling us into the world — together. So every now and then, we gather young people and adults together to share their unique stories and to experience the larger story that makes up the ELCA; we gather to be inspired, encouraged, strengthened, connected and sent out to do God’s work in the world — together!
We will send out our St. Mark group with a special blessing at our 10:00 worship on Sunday, July 12th.