ELCA NEWS SERVICE
December 6, 2006
Lutheran Students to Celebrate Faith, Change, New Year in New Orleans
06-192-FI
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- More than 250 college-aged students from
Lutheran churches and campus ministry sites will be in New
Orleans with 350 other young adult Christians to celebrate, see,
serve and reflect. The annual gathering of the Lutheran Student
Movement-USA (LSM-USA) will be held Dec. 28-Jan. 1 in conjunction
with the Ecumenical Student Gathering sponsored and planned by
the Council for Ecumenical Student Christian Ministry (CESCM).
The gathering theme is "Celebrate! At the River: Waters of
Faith...Deltas of Change."
LSM-USA will hold its annual legislative session during the
event, where students will discuss and debate various issues
affecting members, the organization and the church, such as the
centennial of campus ministry, ecumenism and world hunger. The
organization will also elect officers for the coming year.
Melanie Slease, LSM-USA intern, said "Quarter Wars" will
raise money for charities. Participants put money into 12 jars,
one jar for each of the organization's 12 regional
representatives. A point system, with quarters providing
positive points, will determine which representative gives which
representative a pie in the face.
New Orleans was selected as the gathering venue before
Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005, said Sue E.
Rothmeyer, an associate in ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA) and member of the CESCM board. "When
CESCM met a month following the hurricane, the decision was made
to (keep) the event in New Orleans, realizing that it could be a
very significant learning opportunity for students and staff
alike," she said.
Rothmeyer is director for campus ministry and associate
executive director for youth and young adult ministries, ELCA
Vocation and Education.
"We are using all New Orleans-based presenters and preachers
so that they can share their stories with us," she said.
The gathering's program begins Dec. 28 with a performance by
the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. Its founder and current artistic
director, Irvin Mayfield, will give the gathering's keynote
address.
The Shades of Praise gospel choir and the personal
narratives of Hurricane Katrina survivors will start Dec. 29 with
worship. Those narratives will continue into the afternoon
during bus tours of the city.
Dec. 30 will be a day of service for the college-aged
students. After orientation and a commissioning service,
participants will fan out across the New Orleans area to work on
hurricane recovery projects.
Adren Wilson, assistant secretary, Office of Family Support,
Louisiana Department of Social Services, will provide reflections
the morning of Dec. 31. That day will include an international
reception and conclude with a New Year's Eve Watch-Night Service.
Closing worship will be New Year's Day near the Mississippi
River with Shades of Praise providing music.
"While Lutheran students gather each year, we welcome the
opportunity to gather with our ecumenical brothers and sisters
every four years. Much campus ministry work takes place
ecumenically on local campuses, so it is only fitting that we
celebrate this unity in diversity on a national level as well,"
said Rothmeyer.
CESCM includes student organizations of the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ), Episcopal Church, ELCA, Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.), United Church of Christ and United Methodist
Church. It works in partnership with the National (Roman)
Catholic Student Coalition, Student Christian Movement of Canada
and trustees of the World Student Christian Federation.
LSM-USA is a national organization of college, university
and seminary students who worship in the Lutheran tradition.
Through LSM-USA, Lutheran students promote active participation
of students in the life and mission of the Lutheran churches on
their campuses and in their communities. The ELCA supports LSM-
USA as an active voice of students in the larger church through
financial and organizational support.
-- -- --
Information about Lutheran Student Movement-USA is at
http://www.lsm-usa.org/ on the Web. Details about the Ecumenical
Student Gathering are at http://www.cescm.org/Celebrate06/ on the
CESCM Web site.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog
