h G hering brings 300 to Boerne for week-long session
Taitt DeMoss stood in the St. John’s Lutheran Church kitchen Tuesday morning, sifting flour to bake cookies from scratch.
Star photo by Jeff B. Flinn Not far away, Cora Keehner sliced dozens of croissants, filling each with a heaping scoop of chicken salad.
Over at Hill Country Daily Bread Ministries, Kyrie Hollinger and Lydia Medley gathered bottles of drink, inserted them in plastic bags and placed them in bins for delivery to area families in need.
DeMoss, Keehner, Hollinger and Medley are part of a group of 300 youth and adult chaperones from across the United States and Canada who are in Boerne this week, attending the firstever National American Lutheran Church Continental Youth Gathering 2024.
More than 500 churches throughout North America belong to NALC, formed in 2014, and had the opportunity to send youth to the gathering to share experiences in church, with each other and in the community.
“St. John’s has a wonderful reputation in the NALC. The pastor, senior pastor Eric Waters, is active throughout our denomination,” Pastor Teresa Peters, NALC director of youth and family ministries, said of the organization’s selection of Boerne to host the inaugural youth conference.
Peters said St. John’s youth team — including Matt Olson, director of family ministry, and Mark Linn, youth minister — were already known to her.
“It started with the church asking, ‘Would this be possible?’” Pastor Amy Little, NALC general secretary, said late last week, prior to Monday’s arrival of the masses. “They talked about it, took it to their leadership and they voted to host it.”
The Youth Gathering runs July 1-4 — totally coincidental, organizers say, that July 1 is Canada Day and July 4 is Independence Day here.
Peters said an important aspect of the four-day gathering is mission: service in the Boerne community on Tuesday and Wednesday morning.
Recipients of the Lutheran youth efforts include Hill Country Daily Bread Ministries, Hill Country Family Services, Boerne Community Coalition, Hill Country Pregnancy Care Center, and the Shady Rest neighborhood of Boerne.
Another crew of youth are making sandwiches and cookies, from scratch, to deliver to 150 first responders in the city.
Another group is packing disaster relief packages to be sent out nationwide when the need arises. Morning and afternoon sessions rotated between large group gatherings in the St. John’s sanctuary and the breakout group activities, such as mission work.
The theme for the week is “We Belong.” Peters spoke to its selection.
“Right now, young people don’t know that they belong,” she said. “They don’t know they belong to Christ. They don’t know they belong to the church, they don’t know they belong to the community, and they don’t know they belong to each other.”
“We’re just seeing, all over, that kids are looking for a place to belong,” Little added. “They don’t know that their most basic identity is in Christ. We want to hammer that home, so they get that foundation instead of looking in all the wrong places.”
Peters said one of the keynote speakers, Michelle Bauman, is director of Y4Life, part of the NALC’s Lutherans For Life for young people.
Peters said youth today are facing more mental health challenges than ever before, and the Youth Gathering aims to keep them informed of the presence of the Lord in their lives.
“We want to let them know who they belong to, so that when they are struggling, they know where to turn,” she said.
The Youth Gathering also seeks to bring together youth who will become aware that there are others their age going through the same life crises.
“And it’s the connections. We want them to recognize there are other people who believe what they believe, other people their age,” Peters said.
Linn said about 20 of the youth participating are from St. John’s, which is operating a large volunteer contingent to make the week happen.
“Right now, young people don’t know that they belong. We want to let them know who they belong to, so that when they are struggling, they know where to turn.”
Pastor Teresa Peters NALC Continental Youth Gathering 2024
Cora Keehner places a scoop of chicken salad into a sliced croissant Tuesday in the St. John’s Lutheran Church kitchen, the start of 150 sandwiches to be delivered to first responders throughout Boerne and Kendall County.
Star photo by Jeff B. Flinn
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