In Their Own Words: Ebenezer’s Gathering Participants Share Thoughts about the Event

Rachel Metts

“As many know, my family and I had a very tough year. After my father’s cancer came back and eventually he passed away, believing in God was a little tough. As expected of a teenage girl, there were many questions about my faith and religion that could not simply be answered. Things have been rough and all I wanted was a week to leave Columbia. The minute I walked into that superdome, tears were in my eyes. I’ve never felt closer to God in my life before. Every night in the ‘Lutherdome’ I would get goosebumps from the lyrics and words of the speakers. The past week changed my life in ways I cannot explain. I had an awesome week with great people and a week I will never forget.”   –Rachel

Emily Tuten

“I had a great time on the trip to New Orleans. Seeing 33,000 other Lutherans all in one place really reminded me what it means to believe in God. It also helped that every night different speakers came out, all with a story about roadblocks they had gotten through, and told us more about how God works. The whole week was a blur of service, fellowship, and dancing, and I can’t wait for Detroit in 2015!”  –Emily

Candace Ballentine

“New Orleans was quite an adventure!! I learned a lot, had tons of fun and made some new friends. My favorite part of the Gathering was working with groups from all over the United States. We also worked with our fellow South Carolina Synod during our Discipleship day. Every night in the Superdome was spectacular! Seeing so many people all in one place made you think that we can make a difference by all working together. The words of the music and speakers were really moving and gave the message of getting through hard times by believing in God. The New Orleans trip has drawn me closer to God and made me understand more of who He is and what He has to offer. Thank you, Ebenezer, for giving me this wonderful opportunity!”  –Candace

Emi Buchan

“No offense to church but sometimes it’s hard to feel connected to God. But in the Superdome (which isn’t a very traditional way of worship) I could feel God in the room. Hearing the voices of more than 33,000 youths singing and praising God reminded me of God’s power and what he means to me. Over the past few years it’s been hard to believe in God at times. Being in the ‘Lutherdome’ and being in New Orleans in general reminded me of God’s love for me. I can’t wait for 2015 when I can feel that connection again!”  –Emi

Ross Buchan

“I don’t have any ultra-inspirational, heartwarming stories about why the ELCA Youth Convention in the New Orleans changed my life. There are no dramatic memories that I could recall for you to explain why it made me want to live my life through God’s will. Yet, it did. The gathering touched me like no conventional religious ceremony ever had. It made me feel God in a way I hadn’t since childhood. Not only because it was an incredibly stimulating, fun, youth oriented atmosphere, but because you could feel and see the Lord in every single one of the almost 35,000 teenagers there. This gathering helped me grow in faith, but it also made me feel something arguably much more important for a teenager in the 21st century: the hand of God guiding my life. And that made all the difference in the world.”   –Ross

Trey Holmes

“In the last two to three years, I have started to question my faith a good deal more than in previous years.  Coincidentally, at times it has been hard to believe that there is a god.   It is times like these when the passionate sermons, the incredible stories, and the powerful services really strengthen my faith.  They make it so that it’s hard NOT to believe that there is a god.  And it makes it even better when you realize one week can turn you around, full-circle, with your faith.  As we were walking in the Lutherdome the first day, we walked onto the floor with all these other people and suddenly I felt this wave of happiness and strength come over me.  At that moment, I really did think I could do anything through Christ.  And through the week, that feeling just got stronger and stronger. This past week has been a tremendous help to my faith, and I can’t wait until 2015! I would like to encourage anyone that has the opportunity to go on this trip to take it! You will be so thankful that you did. All in all, I would like to thank the church, all of the volunteer parents that came, and especially Mrs. Jami for all that they did to put this trip together.”  –Trey

Cally Morrell

“The New Orleans Citizens with the Saint’s trip has taught me it doesn’t matter where you come from, where you’ve been, what color your skin is or anything else. We’re all God’s children and we can make a difference, even if it’s small. God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good. This was my second National Youth Gathering, but I honestly don’t plan on not going back. I want to go back as a volunteer in Detroit in 2015. These gatherings teach me how to love whole-heartily. When you see 33,000 people in the same room all singing God’s praise, something moves you. It moves you to continue the love you’ve experienced that week, to pass it on, to not just volunteer in New Orleans, but bring it to Columbia as well. I hope to continue experiencing this feeling and to pass it on to the rest of our church and the rest of our city. I want to plan events where I can help our city that is in so much need. I feel as though people ignore our city even though we have parts of it that need so much help. And even just talking to someone in need, being there for someone that’s alone, will help out. I want everyone else in this city to feel the same feeling I felt while in New Orleans, but that feeling, is indescribable, so they’ll just have to experience it themselves.”  –Cally

Robin Austin

“Over the past couple years God has not been a big part of my life. I had begun to question my faith because there were a lot of things I still didn’t understand and there were things that people had a hard time explaining to me. In the Superdome all the speakers made everything so clear to me. Nothing was hard to understand and everything made perfect sense. The way everyone came together as one, as a whole community to serve God, was an unbelievable experience. The energy of 33,000 teenagers, music, stories, the people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, and just the feeling of

Katherine Floyd

being a part of such a wonderful Lutheran community made this trip a memory I will never forget! I can’t wait for Detroit in 2015!”   –Robin

“New Orleans was so amazing and I had so many special moments, but my favorite moments would be in the Superdome. It was so mind blowing to see so many Lutherans fill the Superdome.”  –Katherine

Reid Metts

“The trip was AMAZING. Getting to experience worship with 33,000 other Lutherans and getting to make a difference in a community which was devastated was life changing. I would love to go back!”  –Reid

Jon Simmel

“Looking back on the Youth Gathering, it was definitely one of the best parts of my summer, much better than any summer reading or AP government work that I have to do. New Orleans is already a beautiful city, and I’m glad to know that I took part in helping it become that much better (along with 33,000 other youth). I got to spend some quality time with the great members of my youth group and the not so great weather of Louisiana, but it was an awesome experience for me nonetheless. Mostly importantly though, I feel like I’ve taken some of the spirit of the gathering back home with me, they said quite a few times during the services that it was “better to give than it was to receive” and that’s become a bit of a personal creed for me even since I’ve gotten back from New Orleans, and that has most certainly made me a better person–which is why it pains me that I won’t be able to go to Detroit in 2015–unless I volunteer maybe? We shall see!”  –Jon

Zach Brown

“My trip to New Orleans in 2012 brought back memories from my 2009 trip. This trip made me realize that my generation is not lessening but growing in faith. I watched as the youth around me were being awed by the sermons and the songs. On our service project day I decided to go with the the “dirt” group. The Dirt group’s goal was to put dirt on a baseball field and to remove shrubbery to create a bike path. The Dirt group was comprised of Reid, Ross, Trey, myself and a group from Oregon. Reid, Ross and Trey opted to work on the baseball field. The group from Oregon and I decided to tackle the removal of trees, vines and an assortment of other things. During the next two hours we worked diligently. There were times when I drew strength from them. An example would be when I ripped two wisteria vines off of a tree. I was starting to lose a grip on them but I turned and looked at the group and I told myself that I couldn’t let them or the park down. I found a new strength, one that comes from friends. Our service day was about helping out a community. It felt amazing to be able to contribute to the park. Moving on towards Saturday: That was the hardest day for me. We went in for worship,  which was amazing. After worship, we had time to explore the convention center. There was only one thing on my mind, though. I had been wanting to donate blood. So I immediately went down to the booth and signed up. After an hour of waiting I finally gave blood. I gave two and a half pints. After this, I noticed that I was starting to feel weak. As the afternoon went on, it became worse. It wasn’t until I got back to the hotel that I realized that I was having a bad blood sugar crash. This is where Jane Holmes comes in. Mama Jane nursed me back to health eventually. That week meant so much to me. Meeting new people, giving back to the community and strengthening our faith. I loved being with the youth. The adults on the trip were great. I look forward to 2015. I want to become a chaperone for that trip. May everyone have a blessed week.”  –Zach

Sunday: Worship Service and the Long Trip Home

On Sunday morning we made our way to the “Lutherdome” for the last time to participate in the worship service.  As we expected, it was spectacular.

Our view during worship on Sunday.

We sat in a place on the floor where we had not been before–on the right side of the arena facing the stage.

Instead of a single acolyte, hundreds of youths dressed in white shirts and white or khaki shorts came up the aisles and flooded the stage holding votive candles that they put in honeycomb-like shelving on either side of the altar. You can see one of the honeycombs here toward the bottom right of this picture.

As the procession began, people came in with doves on long sticks, with large balloons like the ones used on another night, and with white umbrellas–to remind us of our baptism!

The cross before it turned to go down the main aisle toward the altar.

The procession was long and included many people.

The balloons and doves don’t show up well in this picture, but they were pretty at the time.

Bishop Hanson as seen on the screen near our seats.

Song lyrics: “He reigns”

We love Bishop Hanson, who told us about his six children and some of the trials he and his wife have been through as parents.

Our young people singing at the worship service on Sunday morning.

Many stations were set up all around the Dome when it was time for communion. One person handed out the bread, one held the chalice of wine, and one made the mark of the cross on our foreheads. A fourth person stood with the other three holding an umbrella to symbolize baptism.

Jon remembering his baptism.

Katherine receives the cross on her forehead.

Every night in the Dome, Kaelie Lund and Josiah Williams were the emcees. They also participated in the Sunday worship service.

After worship, we walked a mile back to our hotel to grab our overnight bags and get on our bus for home.

It was hot, and we were really, really happy to be in the cool hotel lobby . . . until we learned that we were going to have to go back outside and walk three blocks to our bus. In the heat. Did we mention that we had just walked a mile back from the Dome in the heat?

In the flood of people dispersing to their various modes of transportation, some of our folks ended up blocks away from our bus and had to walk even further. Needless to say, by the time we all got on the bus, we were all very sweaty. What a fun way to start a twelve-hour ride on a bus full of people!

Earlier in the week, we had placed a sandwich order, so our lunches were on the bus when we arrived. We ate on the bus and headed out of town, making only a few bathroom stops and one food stop at Arby’s for dinner.

Mark and Pastor Joseph (St. Matthew’s, Charleston) entertained us.

We watched movies, slept, chatted, sang, played music, and marveled at what a wonderful experience we had just had, and before we knew it, we were back in the parking lot at Dutch Square Mall around 2 a.m.

Zach is catching a few Z’s.

The next ELCA National Youth Gathering will be in Detroit, Michigan. All of us on this trip hope to go back–some as adult leaders, some as college-aged volunteers, and others as youth participants. We intend to start planning now for 2015, and we hope that everyone who will be going into the ninth, tenth, eleventh, or twelfth grades of high school or the first year of college in 2015 will plan to be with us!

Our very excellent driver, Franklin Simmons!

Thank you to everyone who helped park cars during the Greek Festival for the past three years. Those funds covered nearly all our costs. Each participant paid only a $150 deposit for a trip that cost close to $1,000 per person.

We are grateful that our congregation supported us on this trip not only by working the parking lot but also by praying for us while we were gone, seeing us off last Tuesday morning, reading and commenting on our blog, and even baking us cookies (Joyce Lybrand!).  It was a life-changing trip we will never forget. Thanks be to God!

Saturday Afternoon and Night: ‘Round N’awlins and at the Dome

Midday on Saturday, some people went with Ms. Jane to the Riverwalk for lunch, and a few others ate food from vendors in or around the Practice Peacemaking arena. Mr.  John took a few others to lunch while the rest of us headed back to the hotel to prepare our large luggage to be loaded on the bus at 3:30 p.m. As we had done on the trip there, we kept an overnight bag with the things we would need for the last night and the trip home.

After our luggage was securely under the bus, we headed to the French Quarter. A group of us stopped at Cafe du Monde while others went a few blocks further to the French Market.

Emi enjoying beignets.

Finally we made it to this famous cafe!

Emi, Katherine, Debe, Nancy (taking photo), Mark, and John enjoyed beignets and water (too hot for coffee!).

Emi and Katherine and a plate of powdered-sugar-laden beignets–a beautiful thing!

Nancy, Debe, and Katherine guarding the to-go bag that included beignets for those who had gone on to the French Market.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next it was time to head back to the Dome for our final night. Mr. Stiglbauer led us down Bourbon Street, where we encountered some very strange sights–especially considering it was only 5 p.m. We stuck close together as we walked down that very long street with an endless chain of bars, scantily clad women inviting in passersby, and a variety of street performers looking for tips.

Walking down Bourbon Street

Bourbon Street

 

 

 

 

 

When we arrived at the Dome, we were able to sit just one section above the floor for this last evening event. Speakers included Rev. Andrena Ingram, who told her story of community activism, and 18-year-old Greg Von Wald, a rising college first-year student talked about how he hopes to “be the change he hopes to see in the world” by majoring in Integrated Science and Technology. Click here to hear his message.

We heard music by the Preservation Hall Junior Jazz and Heritage Brass Band, which consists of students from 10 and 17 years old. Click here to hear this amazing group of young people play in true New Orleans style!

The big event of the night was the very famous band Switchfoot, a group successful not only in the Christian music world but in the secular music world as well.

Switchfoot was the final act of the night.

Rachel, Trey, Jon, and Mr. Mark listen to Switchfoot.

 

 

 

 

 

Robin, Emily, Cally, and Emi

 

 

Emily, Cally, Emi, Katherine, and Candace

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we left the Dome, a group went to one of the hotels to hang out in the Fun Zone while another group went back to our hotel and then to a dance at another hotel.

The view of New Orleans from the window of the room in which Emily, Emi, Katherine, and Robin stayed.

Sign seen in a New Orleans store window.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we walked the mile between our hotel and the Dome in either heat or rain, this was a welcomed sight as we turned the corner.

Saturday Morning: Practice Peacemaking

Our last day of scheduled activities began bright and early. We left the hotel at 7:30 a.m. to make our way to the Convention Center, which is near the Riverwalk–about a mile-long walk from our hotel (as was the walk from our hotel to the Dome).

The day’s activities began with a worship service for everyone who was slated to participate in the Practice Peacemaking events that day.

Worship in the Convention Center for Peacemaking Day

After worship, we entered halls set up to give the participants encounters with various people and cultures where there is conflict and to consider how we can be agents for peace.

Some rooms contained people telling their stories of conflict in various parts of the world, while other rooms contained MP3 players where participants could listen to others’ stories.

One room was dedicated to ideas for incorporating creative arts ministries in churches as a way of including people whose creative talents are sometimes marginalized in traditional corporate worship.

Another room highlighted the difficulties that people with disabilities encounter in our places of worship. Participants could, for example, try to navigate a space in a wheelchair or to experience what it is like for the visually impaired to try to follow a worship service.

A workshop was held to train people how to carry the anti-bullying message back to their communities. It was packed, so none of our group was able to get in.

After we left that hall, we went into the great hall–an enormous arena with different zones where the participants could engage in various forms of Peacemaking. Click here for a map of the zones of this interactive space.

Several zones were play areas where people were encouraged to take a risk and reach out to people they didn’t know to engage in a fun activity. Play zones included pick-up soccer and basketball games (yes, that’s how big this arena was!), a hover bumper car area,  mini golf, a zip line and rope climb, and inflatables.

Other zones afforded the participants opportunities to contribute to projects that promote peace by providing people with life’s basic necessities, such as shelter and water. Habitat for Humanity hosted a huge space where participants could help build three different houses.

Habitat for Humanity had three stations where houses were being built in the arena.

“Walk for Water” was a course where participants were had to get a heavy container of water from one place to another to experience what it is like to secure safe water in many parts of the world.

The “100 Wells Project” area allowed people to build mini “wells” out of “bricks” representing the amount of money their congregations had donated to this project.

Here is the “well” we built with the bricks representing the $240 our congregation donated to help build wells.

The goal of the 100-wells project was to raise enough money to build 100 wells at $2,500 each. By Saturday afternoon, we had surpassed that goal!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zach  Brown donated red blood cells (ALYX) in the blood drive area.

Zach was thrilled to be old enough to donate this year!

Waiting his turn . . . .

Jami Sprankle donated her hair to an organization called “Children with Hairloss” that provides wigs for children who have medically related hair loss. (We all love Jami’s new ‘do!)

 

The first cut!

We went with Jami to give her support!

One station invited participants to sign a pledge to fight bullying. We could write the name of someone we know who is being bullied (or has been bullied) and tie that ribbon to a mesh where hundreds of others were tied. From all the ribbons, it was easy to see the widespread nature of bullying. We could pick up dog tags stating that we were committed to speaking up when we see someone being bullied.

We were encouraged to speak up for those who are being bullied.

Also in the arena was a stage where top-notch artists performed mini concerts throughout the day. One of the Gathering favorites, Rachel Kurtz, invited audience members to join her on stage, and look who hopped up there and sang with her!

Rachel (white shirt), Calley (blue sweatshirt), and Emi (tie dye) join Rachel Kurtz on stage in the Practice Peacemaking arena.

A host of other activities encouraged participants to break down walls with others, to take risks, and to learn about places in the world where walls limit people.

Candace, Emi, and Robin singing at one of the interactive sites on Peacemaking Day.

The Peacemaking arena also included a giant Old Lutheran store, where Emily bought a “Lutheran SWAG” (“saved with amazing grace”) hat.

On the front, Emily’s new hat says “Lutheran SWAG.”

Jami made this pan flute at one of the interactive stations.

Our group spread out and engaged in a variety of activities, many of which we didn’t capture in a photo.  Also available in and outside of the arena were food stations.

After spending several hours in the arena, we gathered for a group picture that is already framed!

God’s Masterpiece, indeed!

. . . even when we’re being silly.

Friday: Practice Discipleship

As we mentioned earlier, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, all 33,309 participants divided into three groups, with each of the three groups rotating among three different daily schedules coded by the color of our wristbands. Our was green, and our schedule went like this: Thursday was “Practice Justice” (service) day, Friday was “Practice Discipleship” day, and Saturday will be “Practice Peacemaking” day.

Everyone wore orange ELCA shirts (which we showed you already) on  “Practice Justice” day. On “Practice Discipleship” day, we wore our purple South Carolina Synod shirts because our morning session was held with our SC Synod companions.

Zach and Ms. Jane

We had to be downstairs at  8 a.m. to walk to the hotel where our synod was meeting, which was near the Luther Dome (!). We were supposed to arrive by 8:30 so we could find our synod’s meeting spot and be ready to start by 9 a.m.

The Gathering staff was very organized and had people holding signs and directing thousands of people to their synodical meeting spots. Below are pictures of what we saw when we found our synod friends and gathered with them outside the ballroom.

Ross, whose energy and enthusiasm know no bounds and who keeps us entertained, clowns around with the South Carolina sign.

A sea of purple shirts! While we were waiting, people were shouting out “Game-” to which the crowd would respond “-cocks!” or “Martin” to which they would respond “Luther!” The Clemson fans were uncharacteristically subdued, although we were wearing one of their colors.

Once we were inside the ballroom, we learned about the seven faith practices of discipleship: serve, pray, invite, study, give, and encourage. Bishop Yoos led us in a worship service that included communion.

Next we broke into small groups in which we spent 20 minutes on each of the other practices.

Here are our youth amidst the other SC Lutherans during the “Practice Discipleship” morning session. Everyone is dancing to a favorite praise song being played and sung by a live band! Zach *says* he wasn’t dancing, but he came awfully close!

While we were in the morning session, the heavens opened up and torrential rains caused flash flooding in NOLA. Our afternoon was supposed to be spent walking around the city on a scavenger hunt related to the seven faith practices, but the rain made that process complicated.

Worship with our synod peeps.

Dancing: “I get down; he lifts me up!”

Whenever two or more are gathered in His name at the Gathering. . . there is a conga line.

When the session was over at 12:45, we were starving, so instead of going out in the monsoon, we opted to eat the hotel buffet–expensive but very delicious and really our only option given the weather. We enjoyed red beans and rice, bread pudding, pulled pork, vegetable grits (delicious!), and other local dishes. We “ate big” so we could make do with a light supper.

The desserts were exquisite, as you can see from Robin and Emily’s photo below. We didn’t take a picture of the display, but it was beautiful!

Emily and Robin highly approve of the beautiful and delicious dessert options!

We puzzled over how to complete our discipleship scavenger hunt in the terrible weather.

One of the seven discipleship practices is service, and our directions said to engage in a conversation with our server during lunch to thank him or her for his or her service. Our server was Ebony. She was very appreciative of our words of encouragement and thanks, and she cheerfully had her picture taken with us. After the photo session, she went around and hugged all of us.

Our server, Ebony, with whom we enjoyed talking about servanthood and discipleship.

Another of our scavenger challenges related to prayer was to find a cross and take our picture with it. Lo and behold, when we walked out of the hotel restaurant, look what we found!

The cross of Christ can even be found in the bar area of a hotel restaurant if we look with our Christlike eyes and hearts.

Next, we went out into the nasty weather and crammed into two taxi vans to head to the French Market. (Be sure to ask John Stiglbauer how that trip worked for him.)

Debe with one of our van drivers, Francois. He and Nancy had a *very* brief conversation in French (after which Nancy had completely exhausted her French vocabulary),and he told her–in French–that her accent was really good but her vocabulary was “better than nothing”! Everyone we have met in NOLA has been warm and hospitable.

We figured that since the market was covered and since plenty of artisans work there, we would be able to find people engaged in using their talents and could complete our next challenge related to the faith practice of service. At least we would be seeing a famous part of NOLA and would have some protection from the increasingly gnarly weather.

Sure enough, we saw artists of all kinds engaged in making dolls, jewelry, and other beautiful things.

Robin, Emily, and Emi with an artisan making dolls in the French Market–an example of someone using her talents.

 

 

 

 

Another artisan in the French Market.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All of us at the French Market, right after the monsoon.

 

 

 

 

We headed back to the hotel for a quick turn-around before it was time to head to the Luther Dome for our evening event. This was our night (everyone with green armbands) to get in early for floor seating. We knew now how much more exciting it is on the floor, so we wanted to get there in time for that seating. We left the hotel at 5:00 and arrived in time to get in the long line for floor seating. By the time we got in, the seating up front was taken, but we were happy to be on the floor at all–albeit on the next-to-last row.

Again on Friday night the speakers and performers were outstanding. We heard from Lutheran peace activist Leymah Gbowee, the 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate from Liberia, who spoke eloquently about how each of us has been given a unique spirit and gifts with which we can change he world. At the end of her talk, she invited us to stand up and join her in singing “This Little Light of Mine,” and people with cellphones turned on their flashlight apps and lit up the dome. The photo is beautiful, but it was a breathtaking moment in person, hearing everyone singing that beloved song and seeing thousands of lights that represented all the young people poised to be a positive force for change in this world.

Imagine being in the middle of a huge superdome and seeing tens of thousands of cell phone lights held up and hearing the voices of young people singing “I’m Gonna Let It Shine.”

We also heard from Chicago activist Diane Latiker, who started a nonprofit in her living room and opened her doors to 1,500 inner city young people.

Jamie Nabozny spoke about being severely harassed as a young person and with his advocacy on behalf of others who have been bullied.

We danced and sang along with the rap group Rhema Soul and the band Lost and Found.

Another highlight of the evening occurred when the saxophonist in the house band played a solo rendition of “Jesus Loves Me.”

As the program was about to end, much-loved singer-songwriter Rachel Kurtz sang the song “Hallelujah,” an oft-covered song that was in the first Shreck movie, and participants came in the back of the Dome bearing enormous white balloons filled with helium and attached to white fabric. As she sang and as the crowd once again lifted their cell phone “lighters” and sang along, the balloons floated up into the air in the Dome. Photographs just don’t do justice to the beauty of the scene.

Last song of the night. A laser light show was another highlight of the evening, although we don’t have those photos available yet.

Each of these helium balloons was about 10 feet in diameter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We headed back to the hotel in time to eat pizza in Ms. Jane and Ms. Nancy’s room, after which some of the teens headed across the street to another hotel for a dance while others went downstairs in our hotel for a different Community Life event. “Final Fifteen” devotions were at 10:45, and lights out was at midnight. We are all a little tired at this point, but we’re looking forward to our last full day on Saturday–our “Practice Peacemaking” day.

Here are random pictures from various days:

Love like Jesus–says it all.

Our view from the top of the Lutherdome on Thursday night–a sea of colorful tee shirts.

Jane and Nancy, still hanging in there!

We love these buttons we bought at the Old Lutheran store!

Jami has been extremely organized and has made sure we were prepared for each event every day–no small feat! She has been studying this event and planning for close to a year.

Debe and Jami out in front of Daisy Dukes on Wednesday afternoon.

Another tee shirt.

Tee shirt we saw at the Old Lutheran store in the Convention Center.

Thursday Night: At the Dome

In our previous post, we have now posted a few additional pictures of our dinner at Daisy Duke’s.

After dinner, we headed to the Dome, which everyone has started calling the “Luther Dome.”

On the first night, we were able to get on the floor because a lot of Gathering attendees hadn’t yet arrived in NOLA. We were pretty sure, though, that we would not get a seat on the floor on Thursday night. We were right. A few people in our group wanted to go to the very top of the dome to sit, so up we went. The view was quite different from that vantage point–almost like watching the event on television. And a few others in our group were pretty uncomfortable with the height of the seating up there. It certainly lacked the excitement of the night before, when we were right in the midst of the dancing and high energy.

The speakers and performers were very good. We have still been talking about one of our favorite speakers from Wednesday night, Nadia Bolz-Weber.

One of the highlights of Thursday night’s event was hearing Bishop Hanson talk about our role in helping to stop bullying in our schools and elsewhere.

Speaker Shane Claiborne spoke about the risks of discipleship and gave a powerful message about how following Christ means a more challenging life, not an easier, calmer one.

The House band.

Tony Memmel

Tony Memmel

Singer songwriter and performer Tony Memmel was born without a right forearm, but taught himself to play the guitar, piano, and harmonica. Before he plays the guitar, he has to refashion his duct tape “cast” every time.

Shane Claiborne

At the end of Thursday night’s program, we headed back to the hotel. From there the youths were able to choose from among half a dozen or more “Community Life” events being hosted by the hotels. Events included karaoke, dances, concerts, and fun clubs.

At 10:45, we gathered in the hallway for “final fifteen” devotions, and at midnight it was time for lights out.

Here are a few random photos we haven’t posted before. Most are explained in the captions, but the one of the blue banner with “All God’s Critters Have a Place in the Choir” on it bears a little more explanation: this is the title of a song that almost all our children learned in choir and at Music Camp with “Mr. Jim” Johnson years ago! It was great for them to realize that the song they knew and loved is part of a Lutheran tradition and sung and loved by lots of other Lutherans. We saw it in the Old Lutheran store that was set up in the Convention Center.

A Katrina memorial, a tree with a house in it.

Seen at the Old Lutheran store in the Convention Center.

A band in the Convention Center.

Thursday: Practice Justice

On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of the Gathering, participants were divided into thirds so that on each day, one group is practicing justice, one is practicing discipleship, and one is practicing peacemaking. Today was our day to practice justice.

After breakfast, we headed back to the dome. Everyone who was slated to practice justice today wore orange shirts with the Gathering logo on them. It was really powerful to walk in a sea of orange as about 10,000 people headed to the dome to get instructions, be inspired, and board a bus for the location of their justice work.

The back of our orange Justice Day shirts have printed on them this quote from Martin Luther.

While we waited, we saw skits, listened to bands, and engaged in a conversation about the work we would be doing that day.

We learned that we were going to cross Lake Pontchartrain on one of the country’s longest lake bridges–24 miles long–and work at an athletic park in a small community where many people moved after Hurricane Katrina devastated their homes in New Orleans. We were *told* that we were going to build birdhouses, clean birdbaths, and clean trails, although when we arrived, that’s not what we did at all!

Before we left, we got in small groups of eight and blessed one another for the work we were about to do by anointing one another’s hands and feet.

Jon blesses Katherine’s hands and feet.

Jane blesses Nancy.

Lining up to get on our bus.

Heading across Lake Pontchartrain

Here is the whole group before we divided to do our separate jobs.

Cally and Rachel painting.

Jane with the Oregon folks. They cleaned out and restocked concessions stands.

When we left the Dome, buses were lined up as far as we could see on the street outside, and we filled them up and headed on our way.

When we arrived at the park, we met our hosts and they divided us into four groups: one to paint, one to clean out the concessions stands, one to dig up little pine saplings and plant them in places where trees had not grown back since Hurricane Katrina, and one to spread dirt on the public baseball fields.

We were one of two churches represented in this project. The other one was a group from Oregon. We learned how they pronounce the name of their state, and we worked hard with them to get all our projects done!

This is the group that painted–Ebenezer folks along with our friends from Oregon.

Robin and others digging up and transplanting pine saplings.

Back left to right: Jon, Katherine, Emily, Robin, and a friend from Oregon. Front : Debe and Jami with an Oregonian.

Ross, Ried, Trey, and Zach were part of a group that hauled and spread dirt on athletic fields. As they returned, storm clouds were gathering.

Reid and Ross on the back row, Trey on the far left of the middle row, and Zach in front.

Cally, Rachel, and Emi

Robin, Emily, and Katherine with some of the pine saplings they helped replant.

We got on our bus to return to the Dome just in time, before the rain began.  It was a little spooky riding across that 24-mile bridge in pelting rain.

We headed back to the hotel, took quick showers, and headed to a place called Daisy Dukes for dinner before heading back to the Dome for the evening program of speakers and music.

Trey and Rachel at Daisy Dukes

In our next entry we will post more pictures from the Thursday night program at the Dome! It’s late, and we’re exhausted, so we’ll have to post the rest tomorrow.

Eating in Daisy Dukes.

Thanks to those of you who have left us comments and who are following our journey.

Here is a short video about the Practicing Justice day activities.

The other end of the table at Daisy Dukes.

Wednesday: Oh, What a Night (and Day)!

It would be difficult to overstate how amazing our first experience in the Superdome was tonight. Those of you who watched the live stream know already how over-the-top inspiring our speakers were and how moving the music was. If you didn’t go online and watch the live stream tonight, consider doing so tomorrow night. The planning committee has pulled out all the stops, and you won’t be disappointed.

But before we look at pictures of tonight’s spectacular events, let’s back up and take a look at our day. When we arrived in New Orleans, two of our rooms at the Marriott on Canal St. were ready, so we put all our luggage in those two rooms and raced around the corner to have dinner at Huck Finn’s.

Huck Finn’s is on Decatur St. in the French Quarter, about a block and a half from our hotel.

Before we left Columbia, we had called ahead and made sure Huck Finn’s could give us an authentic New Orlean’s experience. The favorite choice among the diners in our group was the alligator sausage po boy.

Meals were served with a cup of gumbo, fries, and either tea or a soft drink with unlimited refills.

We didn’t have to wait at all, thanks to our having a reservation.

Our two servers were very efficient and friendly, and we were served quickly. The food was delicious!

While we ate, we talked about whether we had time to go down to Cafe du Monde for beignets after dinner, but then we discovered that we had a coupon on our maps for a free order of them with every two entrees! Needless to say, we opted for the free ones this time and decided that we’d go to Cafe du Monde another time!

As you can tell from these pictures, both the dinner fare and the dessert were a big hit!

Robin, Candace, Jon, Ross, Reid, Trey, Rachel, Cally, Katherine, Emi, and Emily

Jamie, Mark, and John

Mmmmmm . . . .

Ms. Jane loves this New Orlean’s treat!

Ms. Debe gets in on the action . . .

Ross and Reid, of course!

Here are Katherine, Emi, and Emily with Lutherans from South Dakota.

It was nice to sit down in an air-conditioned restaurant and drink cold water, iced tea, and soft drinks.

We had about all the sugar and grease we could stand with these beignets, but MAN were they delicious.

As you can see from one of the pictures below, Ross and Reid never run out of ways to amuse the rest of us!

Beignets didn’t last long with this group, as is evidenced in this picture that Emily took:

Before . . . and after!

As we walk around town and in our hotel, of course we run into other Gathering attendees, and common practice is to say, “Where are YOU from?” Some people brought bracelets, guitar picks, or clothespins with their church’s name on them to share with other attendees, and we’ve collected quite a few of these!

Here is a picture of a few of us with some folks from South Dakota . . . who DROVE here! Took them two days!

After we ate, we had to head down to the Convention Center to register, to have the leaders go through an orientation, and to pick upour backpacks, Bibles, and our orange Justice Day tee shirts, which we will wear tomorrow when we engage in our service.

Posing under the jester on our way to register at the Convention Center.

Registration was held in the Convention Center, about a mile from our hotel and near the Riverwalk.

A sea of Lutheran youths in the Convention Center as everyone arrived and tried to register.

Then we went back to the hotel. By now, we were pretty tired, having walked a  mile each way to and from the Convention Center.

But there was no rest for the weary. Jami stood in line to get the rest of our room keys, now that the other rooms were ready. We had just a few minutes to freshen up before it was time to head to the Dome.

We were all feeling pretty tired, hot, and frustrated by all the waiting. Little did we know how the program at the Dome would get us back in the Spirit!

Cally and Emily at the Mercedes-Benz Dome

Enjoying the live music!

When we got to the Dome around 6:15, we went up a ramp to the top entrance at Gate A. Storm clouds were gathering on the horizon, but the sky was still clear over the Dome.

When we got to the Dome, the ushers told us–much to our surprise and delight–that there was still room on the floor! We had no idea we would be able to be there this first night, right in the middle of the energy and excitement! We were able to find seats directly in front of the stage, about 50 rows back. Our young people had a great time singing and dancing.

Our youths were in the two back rows of a section, and we adults were on the front row of the next section, directly behind them. Thus, we had a big aisle between us, and all of us got out in the aisle and danced together with youths from other churches. We could all feel the spirit moving in that place!

The stage and some of the large screens

Everyone in the Dome could see well because of the five huge screens that showed close-ups of the speakers and performers. In addition to the main, center stage, there were two other stages on either sides where the bands played.

We heard several speakers tonight, including the bishop of the synod that Louisiana is in, Bishop Hanson, and everyone’s favorite, Nadia Bolz-Weber, a pastor who defied everyone’s stereotypes about what a pastor “ought” to look and be like.

Nadia Bolz-Weber reminded us that grace is always God coming to us, not our moving toward God, and that we are both 100% sinner and 100% saint.

If you missed her speech, you can hear it here.  She talked about why she decided to be a Lutheran and the power of grace in her life–and ours!

When we were enjoying the music and waiting for the ceremony to begin, tweets were scrolling on the screens in front.

When Bishop Hanson came out, he announced that he had waited until tonight to start his own Twitter account and to post his very first tweet. He invited all in attendance to follow him at @BishopHanson. Immediately, three or four tweets popped up on the screen behind him. The teens in the audience didn’t waste any time!

We will remember this event for the rest of our lives.

Bishop Hanson on stage and projected on the large screens above the stage.

Trey and Ross jamming to the music!

Here is the house band along with some of the other musicians.

After the program ended at about 8:45, we were told not to leave the Dome because it was storming outside. In fact, it was storming so badly that we could HEAR it in the Dome. We waited around for a while, but Jane Holmes, who had stayed back at the hotel because her knee was hurting, called a taxi company and had a van come pick us up. Ms. Jane was everyone’s hero. And not only did she have us rescued, but she had pizza waiting for us in her room when we got back. We all piled into one room and ate pizza and looked at pictures from our day.

At 10:45, we had devotions, and at midnight it was lights out!

We have lots and lots of other pictures, but it’s just after midnight and we adults have to get some sleep! We’ll post more tomorrow.

Here is one final one of all of us in our Ebenezer tie-dyed tee shirts, waiting out in front of the Dome for the rescue van to come take us through the storm back to our hotel.

While we were outside waiting, we met Lutherans from New York City! And when we got out the camera to take this picture, a nice young man from another church offered to take the picture so we could all be in it.

As you can see, we are tired, in need of showers, and a little bedraggled . . . but we are still on cloud nine from an amazing and inspiring evening.

Waiting for our van ride back to the hotel in the storm after the opening program.

Tomorrow is our Justice Day, and we can’t wait to see what God has in store for us as we reach out in service to the people of New Orleans! (And, P.S., don’t you love the sign on the post behind us!?)

Wednesday Morning: “On the Road Again!”

We are less than two hours from New Orleans now! Everything went well last night. Here is a picture of us having devotions in the hotel lobby last night:

Jami leads devotions in the hotel lobby on Tuesday night.

The Ebenezer gang was the first on the bus this morning. Everyone ate the “free” breakfast in the lobby of the hotel.

We *think* everyone went to bed at a decent time ;-). The youths were all up and ready to go on time.

Here is a picture of Mark Molter and one of our new friends from St. Luke’s, Summerville. Mark brought along a couple of interesting instruments:

Mark Molter shares his musical talents while we wait for everyone to load the bus on Wednesday morning.

When we get to NOLA, we hope to check in (if the rooms are ready) or leave our luggage and head over to the Convention Center to check in. We have a reservation at Huck Finn for lunch at 1 p.m. It’s not too far from our hotel, the Marriott on Canal Street, so we’ll be in the French Quarter and may have time to do a little sightseeing.

Our first official Gathering event is in the Dome tonight at 6. The service starts at 7 p.m. We hope you can join us online for the live stream!

It’s now 11:15, and we are 56 miles from New Orleans. The landscape is beautiful here in Mississippi.

We are having a movie marathon on the bus!

Thanks for following us! If you post comments, we’ll be sure to share them with the group.

Watching movies on the bus between Alabama and Louisiana.

 

 

Movie marathon . . .

 

Tuesday Night: Safely in Our Rooms in Tillman’s Corner, Alabama

We had a delicious meal at Morrison’s Cafeteria before settling here in our hotel for the night. Just wanted you parents to know that all is well! We’ll have devotions at 10 p.m. (11 p.m. your time) and then head to bed. We’re back on the bus again tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.

Emi, Robin, Candace, Katherine, and Emily

Zach, Trey, Mark, Jon, Calley, Reid, Rachel, and Ross