Title: ELCA YOUTH HAVE `HEARTS ON FIRE'
ELCA NEWS SERVICE
July 27, 1997
ELCA YOUTH HAVE `HEARTS ON FIRE'
97-YG-11-AH
NEW ORLEANS (ELCA)-- Youth of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America remembered their Baptism on the
Mississippi River and explored
Christ's gifts of hope through activities
and conversations at "Hearts on
Fire," a "trek" at the ELCA's Youth
Gathering here July 23-27. The
gathering theme was "River of Hope."
About 4,800 high-school-age teens,
boarding in shifts of 800, took a
river boat ride and celebrated Holy
Communion out on the water. The Rev.
Theodore Schneider, bishop of the ELCA's
Metropolitan Washington, D.C.,
Synod, presided for the services.
Back on shore, the young people were
"empowered to explore issues
related to friendship and peace and how they
can make a difference,"
according to co-organizer Jason Reed of
Springfield, Va. Reed, a youth
director at St. Mark's Lutheran Church,
worked together with Gary Dittman
of Lincolnton, N.C.
The teens entered a maze of activities,
videos, music and
conversation circles. A 90-foot "Wall of
Hope" portrayed centuries of
struggle for justice and peace. There were
newspaper clippings, personal
testimonies and portraits of heroes,
including some non-Christians.
Youth interacted with the wall's
pictures and quotes from the civil
rights, anti-war and anti-weapon movements,
pacifism and conscientious
objection, work for immigrants' and
refugees' rights, and the effort
against apartheid. They used markers to
name contemporary heroes and add
their own ideas about land mines, peace,
child soldiers, civil war,
materialism and other concerns.
The young people sat in circles talking
about what it means to take a
risk, to take a stand, to make a commitment.
"I don't know how to back up
with action the feelings I have about things
I care about. Here I've been
exposed to so many hard problems," a girl
from Denver said.
Adriaenne Kreps and Carie Hansen from
Moorhead, Minn., said they
"heard other kids talking about `Hearts on
Fire.'" They found it
"intriguing to talk about our faith, then to
see the works of God, nature
and the river, and to take Communion." The
girls are members of Trinity
Lutheran Church.
In one circle 16 teens talked about
commitment and working for peace.
Each was given a key chain and three "keys"
of colored plastic. "I asked
them to come up with three ways they can
make change happen," said Glen
Gersmehl of Lutheran Peace Fellowship.
"They didn't have to write them
down, just remember them when they see their
keys," he said.
Youth talked for a videotape about what
friendship means. Others
wrote letters to Senators and
Representatives about refugee issues and
welfare reform. Others talked about what
their faith has to do with
economics, their family's livelihood and how
they spend their money.
Reed said the "trek" was designed with
two parts. "At the activity
center we looked at where there is division,
where friendships are tested,
the absence of God, when the world is
hungry, poor are neglected, races are
prejudiced. There we discover Christ's
gifts of hope and healing, justice
and peace."
On the river boat, Reed said, "We
remember our Baptism and rejoice in
the presence of Christ in Word and water,
bread and wine." There the young
people affirmed their Baptism and sang songs
of praise and were sent forth
to serve.
-- 30 --
For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director, News and Information
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html
