Title: YOUNG LUTHERANS' CREATIVITY IS
UNLEASHED
ELCA NEWS SERVICE

July 26, 1997

YOUNG LUTHERANS' CREATIVITY IS UNLEASHED
97-YG-08-AH

     NEW ORLEANS (ELCA)  -- Young Lutherans
got a chance to try writing a
song, drawing a cartoon, cooking a
Cajun-style dish or just imagining ways
of seeing things differently.  They took
part in the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America's Youth Gathering here
July 23-26.  In a "trek" called
"Creativity Unleashed," 3,500 of the 30,000
gathering's  teens tapped into
the arts to express themselves and their
faith.
     Trek organizer Jerry Evenrud,
Minneapolis, said the idea was to
"unleash the ideas, creativity and talent of
young people in ways that
might be new to them."
     It worked for Carrie from North
Carolina who said the first morning
of the trek "made me think."  With about
2,000 other teens, Carrie took
part in a program featuring
singer/songwriter Ken Medema.
     Another girl said, "We could just pitch
out words, and he worked them
together into a song.  He showed us what you
can do with imagination."
     A youth from Twinsburg, Ohio, wants to
start his own band.  He called
Medema "amazing - the way he could work on
the spot."
     One girl and two adult counselors from
Our Saviour's Lutheran Church,
Humboldt, Iowa, took part in a program led
by the Rev. Herbert Brokering,
Minneapolis,  a poet, lyricist and "star
gazer."  We "experimented with
seeing things differently," they said.  "We
all took off our shoes and
formed them into a river.  Then we explored
what happens to make the river
change direction."
     Jesus changes our direction, Brokering
told the group.  The theme of
the Youth Gathering is "River of Hope."
     "Spirit of God -- Mighty River," a
55-voice youth folk choir from
King of Glory Lutheran Church, Tempe, Ariz.,
performed and told other young
people how to "invest their creative talent
in the worship life of the
church."  The choir uses dance and drama as
well as song.
     Dan Kallman, a composer from
Northfield, Minn., asked the high-school-age
youth, "Does God just beam all those notes
down to the composer
or songwriter?"  He brought participants
into "the process, the
frustrations and the joys of creating
music."
     Another girl from Humboldt, Iowa, went
to Kallman's session.  She
said, "He played different styles of music
for us and said,  You can change
your mind, enjoy some music for a while then
switch to something else.'"
She said, "We learned that music is an art
form, that one style doesn't
praise God more or less than another --
including jazz, improvision and
heavy metal."  Music provides a way of
connecting, of expressing yourself,
she said.
     Artist John August Swanson, Los
Angeles, displayed his work, inspired
by biblical themes, and showed young
participants the various stages of
print-making.  Jutta Anderson, Chicago,
taught a session about depictions
of Jesus in art.  Lutz Haufschild,
Vancouver, B.C., a stained-glass artist,
told participants about "new ideas about
light and glass ... changing our
perception of sacred spaces."
     The young people encountered Cajun
cooking, calligraphy, cartooning,
dance and drama -- "all ways to unleash and
celebrate their God-given
creativity," Evenrud said.

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For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director, News and Information
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html