The ELCA Youth Gathering

Jul 24, 2024

By Bishop Michael Rinehart

My first national youth gathering was in New Orleans at the Superdome. For All the Saints (FATS) was held in 1976 with 26,000 Lutheran Youth from the ALC, the LCA, and the LCMS. I believe it was the last all-Lutheran youth gathering. This event was formative in my life. We heard compelling speakers, learned, worshiped, and sang songs that still stir in my soul. It was an incredible shot in the arm for our congregation’s youth group.

In my young adult years, I played in the main stage band for quite a few LCMS national youth gatherings. Those were the days when things were pretty amiable between us in the ALC and our friends in the LCMS. I still treasure many of those relationships.

Youth from Kinsmen Lutheran Church in Houston

As a young pastor, I watched our youth come away inspired and challenged by the gathering, which is always prepared to engage the issues our youth are facing. As bishop, I have enjoyed five ELCA Youth Gatherings (four of which were held in our synod). The most recent was in Houston (2018). 1976 had 26,000 youth with the LCMS. 2018 had 31,000 without our LCMS friends. This event has legs. I was saddened that Minneapolis didn’t happen in 2021, due to the pandemic, so I am glad we will be going there in 2027.

The pandemic ravaged youth ministries and campus ministries. We lost two years of classes, half of the high school journey. It is no surprise that the gathering was 18,000. We should not expect to come back at the same level. But I was not prepared for the incredible energy the event had. We packed the Smoothie King Center, and Spirit felt every bit as strong as other events. The pictures don’t do it justice. The singing, the praying, the speaking, the worship – it’s all so very powerful.

A couple of cycles we held two gatherings, back-to-back. As attendance climbed into the upper 30,000’s, it was simply too unwieldy. So, for example, at Dancing at the Crossroads in St. Louis, we had two weeks, to make the events more manageable. The first week there were 21,750 people, and the second week 16,000. Is that one of the years we held a lottery for who could go which week? That year, I led a section of the interactive center. You can see our team in the below, taken 24 years ago; Deacon Peggy Hahn in between Kathleen (Ahrens) Barr and Peggy’s daughter, Dr. Kristen Contos Krueger. Peggy went on to lead Service Learning at the gathering, and her daughter, Kristen, led Accompaniment Day at this gathering.

At this 2024 gathering in New Orleans, youth worked at a project with oyster shells to rebuild the barrier reef, did projects at schools, created flood buckets for disaster relief in underserved areas, and more. Service projects and service learning provided great opportunities for students to serve the world in Jesus’ name.

There is something about the 18,000-20,000 size that works. I’m not saying we should limit it, but this event worked. I believe it will grow. Several of our youth groups did not participate this time, opting for a service project trip, but have told me they’ll be back for the next gathering. Some groups said this event was simply too late in the summer. Football and band were already in summer camp for the fall.

The gathering in Minneapolis in 2027 will be an opportunity to hold the event earlier in the summer, in a cooler climate, in a part of the country where Lutherans are denser. I predict we will see a big bump in attendance. Anyone want to make it interesting?

For more photos from the 2024 Gathering, visit Bishop Mike’s blog.

ELCA Youth Gatherings (1988-Present)

  • 1988 – San Antonio, Texas – “Rejoice in the Lord Always”
  • 1991 – Dallas, Texas – “Called to Freedom”
  • 1994 – Atlanta, Ga. – “2 Be Alive”
  • 1997 – New Orleans, La. – “River of Hope”
  • 2000 – St. Louis, Mo. – “Dancing at the Crossroads”
  • 2003 – Atlanta, Ga. – “Ubuntu” (Do Life)
  • 2006 – San Antonio, Texas – “Cruzando” (Crossing)
  • 2009 – New Orleans, La. – “Jesus, Justice, Jazz”
  • 2012 – New Orleans, La. – “Citizens with the Saints”
  • 2015 – Detroit, Mich. – “Rise Up Together”
  • 2018 – Houston, Texas – “This Changes Everything”
  • 2024 – New Orleans – “Created to Be”

The American Lutheran Church (1960-1987)

  • 1960 – Milwaukee, Wis. (constituting convention of the ALC Luther League)
  • 1961 – Miami Beach, Fla. – “Christ Is Living” – Speaker: Martin Luther King, Jr.
  • 1964 – Detroit, Mich. – “Jesus Is Lord”
  • 1967 – Seattle, Wash. / Dallas, Texas (split sites) – “We Are a Peculiar People”
  • 1970 – New York, N.Y. – “And We Say We Care”
  • 1973 – Houston, Texas – “With Eyes Wide Open” – 1stAll-Lutheran Youth Gathering (with LCA & LCMS) – music: Johnny Cash, speaker: Fulton J. Sheen
  • 1976 – New Orleans, La. – “For All the Saints” – 2nd All-Lutheran Youth Gathering
  • 1979 – Kansas City, Mo. – “Called to be Servants” – ALC only
  • 1982 – San Antonio, Texas – “In Christ, a New Creation”
  • 1985 – Denver, Colo. – “Proclaim Him Lord of All” – speaker: Jimmy Carter

American Lutheran Church (1930-1960)

  • 1930 – Lakeside, Ohio (constituting convention of the Luther League)
  • 1931 – Long Lake, Ill. – “The Luther League at Work”
  • 1933 – Madison, Wis. – “Builders with Christ. For Christ”
  • 1935 – Austin, Texas – “Christ Calls”
  • 1937 – St. Paul, Minn. – “Christ Our Life”
  • 1939 – College Park, Md. – “Under the Banners of the Church”
  • 1941 – Greeley, Colo. – “I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes Unto the Hills”
  • 1943 – Dubuque, Iowa – “Tell the Story”
  • 1946 – Ames, Iowa – “Now Is the Time”
  • 1949 – Pullman, Wash. – “Thy Kingdom Come”
  • 1951 – East Lansing, Mich. – “Thine Is the Power”
  • 1953 – West Lafayette, Ind. – “Live Christ”
  • 1955 – College Station, Texas – “God’s Love – My Life”
  • 1958 – Ithaca, N.Y. – “United in the Word”