National Youth Gathering 2024 Recap

Worship at the National Gathering

When someone asks you to describe what exactly the ELCA Youth Gathering is like, it can be hard to articulate the details. This historic event has been a part of our community of faith even before the ELCA was formed in the 1980s. Speakers from Dr. King, to Archbishop Desmond Tutu have spoken at past events, and this year featured amazing people as well.
Every 3 years, the ELCA brings together youth from across the globe to attend the Gathering in their selected city of choice. Over the decades, the event has adapted to meet the ever changing needs of the population this ministry of the ELCA serves, mainly our youth ages 14-18. For the 2024 event in New Orleans, Trinity teamed up with a number of other NEIA churches to attend together.

Our trek started out with a very merry bus ride overnight through the Midwest and Arkansas. Chicken biscuits, lattes, and more fueled our bus conversations as we continued into Louisiana, where we arrived for our first night together. 16,000 attendees gathered nightly in the Smoothie King Center, home of the Pelicans NBA team for worship, speakers, and fun together.
Our next day was our day of fun in the bayou. We kicked off by packing sack lunches to fuel us between our activities, and then headed out on the road for our pontoon boat tour of the bayou. We had a great guide who helped introduce us to a number of local swamp friends. Who knew that gators were so in love with marshmallows? We also saw many types of seabirds, learned about Spanish Moss, and what happens when lightning hits a cypress tree. We headed to the beach next. Some of the group had never experienced the ocean before, and while the weather only allowed us about an hour of beach time, we still had a blast in Waveland, MS. What’s a little water coming from the sky when you’re already wet from the ocean?

Rain Ponchos did become a reoccurring theme throughout the week. Mother Nature’s way of celebrating us being in New Orleans was to do so through numerous storms and rain showers throughout the week, which led us to deviate plans a few times. Those changes led us to discovering a great pizza place, splashing through many waterlogged streets, and taking some extra time to hang out in the Community Life and Interactive learning areas.

The rain did break for us to be able to complete our project for our Accompaniment day, where we worked with a local community garden and outreach center. We weeded, prepped mulch, worked in sheds, and saved a snail.
Our last full day included being able to worship with more of our Region 5 friends, including churches from all over Iowa. We played a get to know you bingo game, had worship and communion together, and then joined a number of churches from NEIA, as well as Bishop Kevin on a paddle wheeler journey. 

Our time together came to a close during our final worship service, where we all joined together to celebrate and share communion before the announcement for the next Gathering was announced. 2027’s experience will be held in Minneapolis, which is an exciting place to be able to be in community again.
Thank you so much for holding us in prayer throughout our time in New Orleans and for the financial support to make this trip possible!†

The Gathering in Numbers

Thank you so much supporting the Gathering with your gifts, prayers, and financial gifts.
– Trinity Youth & Staff