Title: ELCA Hosts "Youth Extravaganza" February 1-4 in Houston
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

January 24, 2002

ELCA HOSTS "YOUTH EXTRAVAGANZA" FEBRUARY 1-4 IN HOUSTON
02-16-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) who are committed to strengthening the Christian faith
lives of youth and young adults will gather for "Youth Extravagana
2002" Feb. 1-4 at the Adam's Mark Hotel, Houston.
     "The purpose of the extravaganza is to bring together youth
ministry professionals and volunteers and set an environment that
allows for the sharing of ideas, joys and frustrations," said Todd
Buegler, president, ELCA Youth Ministry Network.
     The extravaganza is an annual training event sponsored by the
ELCA Youth Ministry Network, an organization that brings together
youth ministry workers from ELCA congregations and from other areas
of the church that provide leadership in youth ministry.
     Buegler, director for youth and family ministries, Lord of Life
Lutheran Church, Maple Grove, Minn., said many youth ministry
professionals end their work in three years, often feeling stressed
and burned out.  "Many youth workers feel isolated and
underappreciated in their congregations.  Many are underpaid, work
[long] hours and deal with the best and worst in people," he said.
     At the ELCA Youth Ministry Network, "it is our belief that if
youth ministry leaders, professional and volunteer, are nurtured,
supported and educated, the quality and duration of their service
will increase and the ministry of the church to young people and
their families will be strengthened," he said.
     Buegler contends that there are more "positives" of youth
ministry work than "negatives."  ELCA youth ministry workers have
"the experience to walk alongside kids as they grow as individuals
and as children of God, which is a tremendous honor.  Youth workers
also experience the lightbulb moments, when young people come to
understand something that is beyond themselves.  There is also the
privilege of being part of a person's extended family and
experiencing everything from birth to death," he said.
     "We cannot entertain kids like MTV.  What youth workers can do
is share the message of God's love and grace," Buegler added.
     Brent Palochonski, Ascension Lutheran Church, Towson, Md., is a
volunteer youth ministry worker "with something to offer."
     "I offer a young person friendship," said Palochonski.  "It's
important that young people today have adult friends who care in a
nonjudgmental way.  Most kids face peer pressure, and family
structures are different today, so, I try to be there as a friend,"
he said.
     Palochonski, an electrician, has served as a youth ministry
volunteer at Ascension Lutheran Church for 18 years.  He became
certified to work with young people 20 years ago.  "Becoming
certified to work with children has given me a sense of purpose," he
said.  He decided to serve as a volunteer youth worker "because
someone became my friend and helped me during some tough teenage
years," he said.
     According to Heather Hansen, director for youth and family
ministries, MacArthur Park Lutheran Church, San Antonio, Texas, "kids
need relationships with adults.  The church must try to help
strengthen relationships between adults and kids, as well as with
church and family."  Hansen said the church should work "to make
family and youth ministry something the entire congregation engages
in together."
     Buegler, Hansen and Palochonski plan to attend the
extravaganza.  "The extravaganza is a time to renew faith" and become
re-energized about youth ministry, said Hansen.
     Extravaganza 2002 will feature more than 20 workshops.  Topics
range from dealing with stress and burnout to the biblical
foundations of youth and family ministry. Bible study will be led by
the Rev. Hal Weldin, director of Distributive Learning at Youth
Leadership, a youth ministry training organization based in
Minneapolis.
     Keynote presentations will be delivered by the Rev. Roland D.
Martinson, a professor of pastoral care and the Carrie Olson Baalson
professor of children, youth and family ministry, Luther Seminary,
St. Paul, Minn., and a member of the National Council on Family
Relations; the Rev. Lawrence J. Clark, senior pastor, Bethany
Evangelical Lutheran Church, Chicago, and assistant to the bishop,
ELCA Metropolitan Chicago Synod; Paula Sturgeon, Scottsdale, Ariz., a
Bible study leader at the 2000 ELCA Youth Gathering; and, the Rev.
Mark DeVries, associate pastor for "Youth and Their Families," First
Presbyterian Church, Nashville, Tenn., and author of "Family-Based
Youth Ministry."
     The event will feature worship and music from Peter Eide, The
Fitz Family, Happy Fun Time, Rachel Kurtz, Lost and Found, The Pool
Boys, Robert Robinson, Trace and the Twin Cities Gospel Choir.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html