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New Orleans (ELCA)-MR/JB* — Youth workers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) gathered here for the eighth annual "Extravaganza" Jan. 22-25. The conference, which drew about 550 participants, provided training and continuing education for youth ministry professionals from ELCA congregations and ministries.
Extravaganza 2004 was sponsored by the ELCA Youth Ministry Network, an organization committed to strengthening and empowering youth ministry leaders.
"This was a really powerful event," said Todd Buegler, president of the ELCA Youth Ministry Network and youth minister at Lord of Life Lutheran Church, Maple Grove, Minn. "Workshop topics were very relevant, so it was a good educational experience. We've heard nothing but praise for the keynote speakers," he said, calling the event "a home run."
The conference offered some 40 workshops dealing with a wide range of subjects including youth and family ministry in rural settings, developing youth leaders, Christian peacemaking, faith-based organizing, and depression and suicide among youth. "Intensive Care" continuing education courses were offered to further the mission of youth and family ministry as a means of Christian outreach, supporting a movement from church to home to neighborhood. An Urban Ministry mini-retreat was held on the first full day of the conference.
The Rev. Hal C. Weldin, director, Distributive Learning at Youth Leadership, a youth ministry training organization based in Minneapolis, led devotions and gave a keynote presentation. He engaged participants in the theme of the Extravaganza, "Breathe," by reflecting on Genesis 2:7, how God breathed life into humanity, and by asking participants: "What does it mean to breathe the breath of God?"
In addition to the conference providing "breathing" time away from the demands of youth ministry, participants also heard from a number of speakers on how to be more focused on critical areas of their ministry.
"Now more than ever before it takes vision, a real ability to 'see' youth, to get youth ministry done well," said keynote speaker the Rev. Efrem Smith, pastor of Sanctuary Covenant Church, Minneapolis, and a member of the CORE Seminar Training Team of Youth Specialties. Smith indicated that just keeping youth momentarily occupied or entertained won't work anymore.
"When you look at young people, what do you see?" Smith asked conference participants. "When was the last time you just looked at the young people God has put before you?
"God sees young people differently than we do," Smith continued, saying that God sees what youth can become, whereas youth workers sometimes do not see beyond the personas youth adopt to defend themselves or to "fit in."
"Could it be that lives can be transformed if we look at young people with the eyes of God?" Smith asked. "I'm trying to get my eyes to be like God's. That begins with an understanding of how God sees me."
Another keynoter, the Rev. Martin Brokenleg, an Episcopal priest and professor of Native American studies at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D., and dean of the Black Hills Seminars on youth at risk, said that in American society there is a general disregard for kids. "An average mom engages her child in meaningful conversation only three minutes a day," he said, "and for an average dad, it's 49 seconds." Augustana is one of 28 college and universities of the ELCA.
"The most universal human need is to belong, and adolescents feel that need the most," said Brokenleg. "And that's the point: to connect. Nothing creates more strength than belonging."
Other keynote speakers included Venice Williams, executive director of the Kujichagulia Lutheran Center and SeedFolks Youth Ministry in Milwaukee; Marva Dawn, author, educator, and theologian with Christians Equipped for Ministry, Vancouver, Wash., and a Teaching Fellow in Spiritual Theology; and, Mark Yaconelli, author and workshop leader, who has spent the last 12 years working with youth in congregational, camp and conference settings, and director for Youth Ministry and Spirituality Project, San Francisco Theological Seminary.
Mike Yaconelli, author and founder of Youth Specialties, was honored posthumously with the Tom Hunstad Award for Distinguished Achievement in Youth Ministry. Yaconelli, father of Extravaganza keynoter Mark Yaconelli, spent 43 years of his life dedicated to youth ministry. Mike Yaconelli died in October 2003 at age 61.
The Hunstad award is presented in memory of the first president of the ELCA Youth Ministry Network. At the 2000 Extravaganza, Tom Hunstad started a network scholarship fund and made the first financial contribution. After Hunstad's death in November 2000, the fund was renamed in his honor and the presentation of an annual achievement award in Hunstad's name was established.
The Extravaganza featured music from Lost and Found, The Pool Boys, Celia Whitler, Sarah Hart and Kelly Glow and dramatic performances by Doug Berky.
The ELCA Youth Ministry Network board of directors met during Extravaganza 2004 and adopted a new structure for the way the board will function, according to Buegler. "We're shifting from a management model to more of a governance model," he said. "We've established teams to work in six specific areas of ministry, two board members on each team." A primary focus of the board's work will be on how to connect with underserved youth. Buegler was re-elected president of the ELCA Youth Ministry Network.
The Rev. Barbara K. Lundblad, professor of preaching, Union Theological Seminary, New York, preached at Extravaganza's closing worship service. "I hope this has been a time for you to come to a Sabbath place, where you can breathe. The breath of God cannot stay inside us because it grows stale," Lundblad said. "Don't wait to exhale."
*Jim Bailey, Gretna, La., is editor of the ELCA Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod supplement to The Lutheran magazine.