The National Youth Gathering is held every three years when Evangelical Lutheran Church in America high school youth come together to worship, serve and fellowship with others from across the nation.

From Left to Right:  Youth from First, Torrance--Hannah Hurst, Ashley Severson, Eryn Olson, Shawna Korshavn, Sarah Pruitt and Victoria Johnson--at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome before the night session.

     This year's gathering was the second

  consecutive event in New Orleans. 

  More than 30,000 Lutheran youth,

  chaperones and volunteers gathered around

  the theme, "Citizens with the Saints."

     Eryn Olson from First, Torrance cherished

  her time in the Superdome

  especially worshipping with 30,000 brothers

  and sisters in Christ.

     "[Coming together in the Superdome] truly suprised me [with] the amount of people all there for the same reason as me: believing what I believe," said Olson. "The worship [had the most impact on] me ... in my faith journey because of the electric energy from the  thousands there."

Southwest California Synod Bishop Dean Nelson with Martin Luther at one of the interactive booths at Practicing Peacemaking in the Convention Center.

     The gathering also focused on serving the city of New Orleans. Each congregation was assigned a rotation of three different practices: discipleship, peacemaking and justice.

     Seventeen-year-old Jamie Semel and eighteen-year-old Alyssa Hitchcock from Emmanuel, North Hollywood were eager to participate in Practicing Peacemaking at the

New Orleans Ernest M. Morial Convention Center.  At the 2009 National Youth Gathering in New Orleans the girls 

learned of  the opportunity to donate hair to make wigs for children with cancer.

From Left to Right: Jamie Semel, Hannah Rickertsen, Petra Rickertsen and Alyssa Hitchcock from Emmanuel, North Hollywood donated their hair at the National Youth Gathering.

     Then, the young teenagers with short bobs

  vowed to grow out their hair until this year's

  National Youth Gathering . On Friday,

  July 20, the two girls donated three year's

  growth of hair to the cause.

     "After three years ... , my hair had gotten to a

  point where I didn't want it anymore,"

  said Hitchcock. "The whole morning I was

  antsy ... to donate it. At first, I didn't really feel

  like I made a difference, but once people started

  commenting about how much hair I gave and ...

  how I was going to make someone very happy,

  it felt like I had accomplished ... something [by 

  the simple act of] cutting my hair."

     Hitchcock and Semel weren't the

  only ones who donated hair. They inspired two

  other girls from their congregation to donate

  their hair as well. 

     "[Cutting my hair] with [others] in the group made it that much more meaningful and quickly made us forget about our nervousness; especially since the group was there ... for support," said Semel.   

     There were other options to donate in the Convention Center for Practice Peacemaking such as giving blood, biking for the 100 Wells Challenge and more.

     Although everything is still being tallied, the Gathering announced on its Facebook page that 1,193 pints of blood, 509 heads of hair, $256,000 in the Sunday offering and more than $400,000 for the 100 Wells Challenge were donated during the Gathering.

Emmanuel, North Hollyood youth and chaperones with Southwest California Synod Bishop Dean Nelson.

     Outgoing Synod Council Youth Representative and member of Holy Trinity, Thousand Oaks, Caleb Arndt enjoyed his service opportunity in the "Big Easy." According to Arndt, his church's service project was to work  with other congregations going door-to-door in a

socio-ecomonically disadvantaged community asking if anyone wanted free energy efficient light bulbs.   

Some of the youth from Holy Trinity, Thousand Oaks including Outgoing Synod Council Youth Representative Caleb Arndt (center) and Incoming Synod Council Youth Representative Alex King (top right)  collecting orders for light blubs in New Orleans in their orange service shirts that each ELCA congregation received.

     "[The project] was headed by Greenlight New Orleans which is an energy advocacy organization," Arndt said. "We would take orders for many light bulbs they would want and whether or not they needed special assistance for installation. My experience in New Orleans was truly incredible. I took away from the trip the message of the ELCA which greatly consisted of talks of peace and  tolerance, love and understanding, and grace and confidence."   

    Eryn Olson strongly encourages youth to attend the 2015 National Youth Gathering. in Detroit, Michigan.

     "It's the best way to understand and realize how many other teens are Lutherans," she said. "You can't even imagine how inspired [one] will get from worship,

speakers, the locals and fellow youth.  You stay so busy because there are so many different activtities and events to let you experience as much as possible."