Youth Group Officially begins this week!

This Wednesday Night- EPIC begins again!

Ryan and Terilee are excited!

Are you excited!

The schedule for youth night is more or less the same, with the addition of our new Fine Arts Ministry: The Movement!


4:30-5:30pm Confirmation/Junior High Youth Group

7-8:30pm High School Youth Group

Junior High, we will be studying together our confirmation stuff! High School we are trying out some new material- come and check it out!!!

Introducing our High School Theme for '09-'10!

"Breathe"

The inspiration for the theme this year came from the song "Learning to Breathe" by Switchfoot. I was listening to it after we got back from our trip New Orleans for the National Youth Gathering. And as I was listening I realized that sometimes life just gets to busy that I forget to breathe. And I found myself wondering, where is it that I go when I need a break so I can catch my breath and get focused on what is important? I had to think about it for a little bit.

This year I pray that our Wednesday Night youth groups will be able to be one of those places for you. We all face a lot of pressures in our lives- from school, family, friends, etc. Those pressures can be good or bad, it kind of depends. Sometimes we need to relearn what it means to breathe in God's grace every day and be released from the pressure and remember that no matter what God is with us.

We will be changing up the way the room looks, changing up the routine for what we do together, and offering some new cool theme nights- Art Therapy Night, Doubt Night, and a lot more. I hope that you take the opportunity to come every week to be present and breathe in God's love for you, just as you are.

The leadership desires that youth group will be a time and place for you to feel welcome, cared for, and empowered to go out and make a difference in the world!

Newspaper Coverage

On July 22, the local New Orleans Paper did a great story about the youth gathering. Click the link below to take a look:

The Times-Picayune

Gentilly Terrace Elementary School

Here are a few shots from our day of service. We didn't even know what we were doing until we got on the bus this morning! It turns out that we got to do the finishing touches on the hallways of Gentilly Terrace Elementary School, just in time to surprise the parents and students at the start of the school year. The principal of the school has been trying to get it painted for two years, but did not have the budget. The school was flooded during the storm and had water up to the windows for several days. We met the principal and she shared that having the groups come has inspired the faculty to include the junior high kids to continue the project by having them paint the upstairs hallway. The principal's goal is to empower every single child to graduate from high school.

Our group worked incredibly hard to make sure our area was spotless when we left and they did a wonderful job! Here are some of the pics, and take a special look at the video below- there's messages for you!

Day of Service!!!

Mmmmm Crawfish!

It's a little bit warm!

So it was definitely hot outside today, really, really hot! But we spent the morning in the air-conditioned Interaction Center in the Convention Center. It was basically a big playground/information center/store/fun activity/a thousand other things that was the length of 6, count 'em 6, football fields. Unforately I (Pastor Sarah) forgot my memory card for my camera and my phone so I had to go back to the hotel to get them. I did however run into a ton of wonderful people I know and get some good Old Lutheran gear the store! I hope Kevin likes his present!

It is a beautiful thing to see so many people committed to "living lives worthy of the gospel." The Holy Spirit is the part of the Trinity that we say is the creator of community. Well, the Holy Spirit is working fast and well at the National Youth Gathering this year. Everywhere we go we make new friends! God is also working in the midst of the 16 of us as a group, strengthening relationships or building new ones. However, this kind of overstimulation did get a bit overwhelming a few times and I think we are still learning how to move and function as one organism and not just 16 individuals. We are getting the hang of it though...slowly but surely. It is an adjustment for all of us who are used to looking after mainly ourselves to remember that every decision we make affects the rest of the group. But these are life lessons that we will take away from New Orleans and back into our day-to-day lives.

We are also getting ready for our service day tomorrow! I pray that we will all get rested and ready to go so we can be fully present in that experience! Today we walked along the river and I was able to share with some of the group just why the Hurricanes were so devastating. I think it makes a difference when you can look at the river and imagine it overflowing into the streets.

Please pray for us as we prepare our hearts to be one small part of God's justice for all in the world.

God's Peace to you!
Pastor Sarah