Community Lutheran Church -- Enfield NH

ELCA Youth Gathering Returns to New Orleans in 2012

            In a reprise of the immensely successful 2009 New Orleans Evangelical Lutheran Church  in America (ELCA) Youth Gathering, ELCA Youth will once again meet in New Orleans July 18-22, 2012 for its triennial event.  37,000 Lutheran teenagers and leaders met in 2009 to help New Orleans respond to the Hurricane Katrina disaster by painting and making home repairs.  So impressed was the ELCA by the faith and hospitality of  Louisianans’ as they worked with our youth to rebuild their homes that it was decided to return to New Orleans for the 2012 triennial.  The ELCA Youth triennials are the largest gatherings sponsored by the ELCA, eclipsing the Organization’s biennial business meetings
            CLC would like to send some of our high school students and teachers to this event in 2012, but in order to do this we will need to do some fund raising.  We could also explore the possibility of yoking ourselves to another congregation (Our Savior comes to mind) to help in reducing air fares and hotel costs.  As it stands, here is the ELCA’s timeline for the New Orleans, 2012 Conference:

            2010
March-April-May – Biblical foundation identification and theme development

August/September – Posters sent to every ELCA organization and other organizations

            2011
March registration flyer, including financial assistance application process mailed to every ELCA congregation, and available online.

September 18 – Registration opens online only

            2012
January – Monthly Getting Ready curriculum available online

March 18 – Congregation groups can send reservations to hotels

June 18 – Deadline to paid in full

July 18 – 22 2012 ELCA Youth Gathering

            If you are interested in going to this event, want to find out more, or have some great fund raising ideas, see John Harris, Pete Kulbacki, Linda Jasinski, or Karen Schifferdecker.  And remember, with apologies to Hamlet.  “To flamingo or not to flamingo, that is the question.”