If Detroit didn’t know the Lutherans were coming to town, they certainly know that we are here now! Over 30,000 youth and adult volunteers have come to the Motor City for the ELCA National Youth Gathering. Groups wearing brightly colored shirts and wielding random props move in masses throughout sidewalks, restaurants, and meeting spaces.
The event is mainly held in two locations, the Cobo Convention Center and Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions.
Groups from all over the country began pouring into Michigan starting at the beginning of the week. Many of our Virginia congregations came up early to do service work together or experience some fun activities like Cedar Point Amusement Park.
The excitement was palpable as people began flooding into downtown on Tuesday, July 15, the first day of the event. However, if you asked many of the youth what they were expecting, they couldn’t exactly give you a concrete answer, but it’s clear that they could knew that God was going to do something amazing this week and they wanted to be a part of it.
“I’m really excited about meeting new people and seeing the Holy Spirit work through 30,000 youth,” said Kelsey Welch, a rising junior in high school from Good Shepherd, Virginia Beach.
For Amanda Liggon, a rising 11th grader from Ascension Lutheran in Danville, this is only her 2nd large youth event, the first being the Virginia Synod’s Lost and Found when she was in middle school.
“I wanted to go to a new city and I thought it would be really cool to come to meet 30,000 people, especially since they’re all Lutherans. In Danville, the only Lutherans my age are in our youth group.”
There is it is again. That 30,000 number. While the youth coming may not know what to expect, they know that they are going to find people that share their beliefs. In a world where it’s becoming increasingly unpopular to label yourself as a Christian, it’s important for these high school students to know and see for themselves that they are a part of something much larger.
The first thing open on Tuesday was the Cobo Center where many youth ran to check out the Old Lutheran store or the playground. This playground isn’t for toddlers.
There are activities spread throughout the space, some familiar, some newly constructed for the Gathering. People strapped themselves into bungee harnesses to see if they could outrun their opponent before being pulled back. A group crowded into an octagonal pit, hitting a ball at each other’s feet in an intense game that had to have derived from dodgeball.
The entire room is buzzing with activity and there is enough to make your head spin—and that’s only one room. Throughout the convention center there is live music, interactive displays, a high ropes course, movies playing if you need to take a break, and so much more.
Groups tend to have more freedom during the day. There will be two structured portions called Proclaim Story and Proclaim Justice. Proclaim Story is often referred to as “Synod Day” where all the participants gather for the afternoon with their Synod. For many in Virginia, this will be a time to reunite with friends made in our Synod youth events like Kairos and Winter Celebration. Throughout the Gathering we seem to be known as “that Synod who knows everyone” because many of our youth already have relationships because of our youth ministry program.
Proclaim Justice is when all the groups are sent out from the city to do various service projects. For the Virginia Synod, this will take place on Saturday.
Pastor Chris Carr, one of the pastors of Christ the King Lutheran in Richmond has been to three Gatherings previously and remembers when the service projects became a mandatory part of the event.
“It changed the whole tenor of everything,” he said. “This is how we can act out our faith.”
While the groups may be spread out throughout the city during the day, at night the masses congregate in Ford Field. The sight of 30,000 people all worshiping together in an arena that large is a breathtaking site.
Bishop Eaton opened up the first large group by calling for the church to “Rise up together”.
“We know that the places the world calls God forsaken is exactly where God is at work,” she said.
Each night the lineup of speaker and musicians is astounding and even if you aren’t here with us in Detroit, you can still catch all the action by live streaming the event at elca.org/gathering or you can catch the highlights by searching for #RiseUpELCA on social media.
To catch a glimpse of what our Virginians are doing, watch our new video:
Virginians Rise Up to Detroit from Virginia Synod, ELCA on Vimeo.
