Grace/Our Savior’s Youth attend Reformation Remix

That’s exactly what I’d say we were a part of at Arrowwood Resort in Alexandria – a remix - something old mixed with something new and fresh.

November 17-18, Robert and I chaperoned the NWMN Synod of the ELCA Middle School Gathering. We had 9 great kids with us from 6th-8th grade: Riley Saurdiff, Brigette Watne, Kia Klein, Ahna Stanley, Justin Thompson, Sheldin Sundberg, Kaylor Torgerson, Reece Sundberg and Blake Rychlock. 

It was in 1517, 500 years ago, that Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany. Acting on his belief, he wrote a list of questions and propositions for debate. After reviewing why Martin Luther felt the church needed to reform, the LYO Board met and discussed for almost a year about what they think needs to be reformed in today’s world and church. They came up with ‘Race and Sexual Orientation.’

Don’t panic.

A few of you will.

Keep in mind this was an LYO gathering, not an LGBQT gathering; the messages were all delivered in an age-appropriate, loving and respectful way.

Listen up. 

One of our presenters was Dave Scherer, also known as AGAPE. His hip-hop, rapping, dancing, storytelling approach was understood by every listener. ‘LOVE YOUR HATERS.’ His passion is to bring together people of all backgrounds and let them know about God’s love for the whole world. He has toured all across the US and in 8 different countries. He founded a youth-led worship service that attracts hundreds of youth across the Minneapolis/St. Paul area each month. And he has received awards for excellence in youth ministry. He was fantastic to listen to. He brought his friend, Mayata, with him, who is a young black woman. (And a phenomenal singer!) 

Mayata shared her message of what it was like to grow up in a white community as the only black girl. She was so honest about the struggles and harsh realities of not being accepted all because her skin color was different. The kids loved her. I loved her. Everyone loved Dave and Mayata. Their songs of praise and love were very powerful, too. Their passion soaked right into all of us. And I thought it was so important for our young kids to hear these stories, not only because of the world we’re currently living in, but because of the predominantly white community we currently live in.

Another presenter of ours was Aubrey Thonvold. She is a lifelong Lutheran from Minnesota. She is also a lesbian. She told of the hurt and confusion growing up – knowing she was gay – but being told by the people in her church that she was broken and needed to be “fixed.” She was 24 years old before she met other gay Christians. 

Aubrey has a master’s degree in Transforming Spirituality from The School of Theology and Ministry at Seattle University. She prides herself on inviting ALL people to the table and works to support the freedom to marry for LGBQT couples. She and her wife both have a call to ministry and her message was this: We are a church that reforms. Keep your hearts and minds open; that’s how God works. And yes, there will be people who might not accept you if you are LGBQT, but God uses strong disagreements to create movement in our hearts. 

She strives to be a safe place for anyone going through a gender identity/sexual orientation issue and encouraged our youth to be a safe place for their friends, too. She added that everyone can bring a gift to the church. And our role as adults and leaders in today’s world is to make sure young Christians know that. 

Larry Wohlrabe was also at the gathering. He is the Bishop of the NWMN Synod – ELCA. It was his 10th year attending the yearly retreat and he felt very passionate about the two topics presented to us. 

The worship leaders for the weekend were the Good Shepherd Worship Band out of Moorhead and they were AWESOME. Great music filled the huge room and got hundreds of kids up on their feet.

Throughout our time there, we had large-group assemblies, small-group mixers, games, panels and also some amazing food, FYI. The kids also had a couple hours of free time on Friday night. The night life included a black light dance, a movie room and free entry into the huge waterpark. I don’t know why we only had 9 kids instead of 50!? These things are life-changing, people. 

Anyway, we stayed overnight Friday only and ended the night with a midnight devotion that made for some great discussion. “Our world is changing, just as it was in the time of the Reformation. The changes occurring in the world will ultimately affect the church.” From there we talked about the challenges affecting our schools, communities and churches.

These kids get it. They weren’t afraid to share their thoughts openly, but most importantly…THEY GET IT.

For example, our first evening at the resort, there was this boy from another town who was an “outsider” in his group. The kids immediately recognized that he was being left out and doing a lot of activities alone. They not only invited him to be a part of our group activities, they even asked if he could sit with us during our big assembly at the evening Worship. I was so proud of them and made sure to tell them that. 

Kindness, acceptance, friendship. 

Like I said, these kids have got it.

And these are the types of gifts LYO retreats give us, in addition to praising God.

In closing, one of the songs by the Good Shepherd Worship Band had some powerful lyrics that we sang. It was dark in the room and we were all singing to Him:

“Your love never fails – it never gives up – it never runs out on me.”

Don’t we all deserve to feel and believe that with every     fiber of our being?