Ridin' on the city of New Orleans...

It’s now been over a week since returning from the ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans. I’ve had time to catch up on emails and sleep. Our youth our going to be sharing stories from their trip during worship this Sunday. They will have powerful witness of God’s presence. I’m looking forward to it.

Here are some highlights of the trip:

Cleaning, organizing, and sweating during our service project at a furniture bank.
Morning worship with rapper Agape.
An evening concert with Lost and Found (I heard them at the ’97 Gathering in NOLA).
Seeing old friends and making lots of new ones.
Riding a bus for 11 hours (twice).
Riding New Orleans streetcars.
Seeing Bishop Mark Hanson come on stage riding a bathtub.
Lots of interesting speakers. Our group really liked Viola Vaughn.
Receiving Communion with 37,000 people puts the Feeding of the 5000 in a whole new perspective.
Seeing what was once a place of horrible sorrow and human pain (The Superdome) become a place of joyous worship and faith-filled proclamation.