Should we go to the ELCA youth gathering?

Frankly, I love San Antonio. I would love to go. But I have reservations. Here is a letter from a pastor who has similar reservations:

Todd, Heidi, and Bill,

Thank you for the recent invitation to attend the Pastor'’s Academy as part of the national youth gathering in 2006. It is a gracious offer. Including time with Roland Martinson, complimentary registration for myself and my wife, and housing at a reduced rate suggests a deep commitment to growing a youth presence in our church. But your invitation puts me in a dilemma. Though I am highly supportive of family and youth ministry (my D.Min. is in the area of family systems), I look toward ELCA sponsored youth events with some concern and wariness.

A little about St. John Lutheran in Columbia, MD: This past spring we had 81 kids in confirmation. We routinely have 250 or so children in programs on Sunday morning. As you can imagine, they represent a wide spectrum in family health: some traditional nuclear families, blended families, a growing number of single parent households, and grandparents raising their grandchildren, mostly in response to their own substance addicted children, etc. We are working toward a number of initiatives to help build healthier families. We provide leadership to synod wide youth gatherings and programs. Our Family and Youth Pastor is currently working toward a D.Min. through Fuller Seminary in the area of creating healthy youth and is part of a county wide "“Search Institute"” partnership that is seeking to work with a wide variety of institutions and agencies. We do not approach this ministry in a trivial manner.

At the same time, I continue to read with dismay of the strong pro-gay and lesbian advocacy on the part of our ELCA youth ministry leaders. There's really no other way of saying it, but regardless of events and "“the vote"” this past summer in Orlando, given what I have read, I am not willing to place our growing and prevailing congregation and their families at risk by having them attend an ELCA youth event. I simply cannot trust what they will be taught and what they will experience. Perhaps when I hear our denomination take a strong and supportive stance toward creating emotionally and spiritually healthy traditional families, I can encourage our participation. Alas, we did not just spend 2.3 million on that effort, but in exploration of something very different.

It sounds like you are expecting a great crowd of kids and adults. More power to you and to them. As in all the ministries I lead, I cannot lead were I am not willing to go. I wish it were possible for me to, in good conscience, send our youth to San Antonio. I cannot.

Peace,

Dr. Brian Hughes
Lead Pastor
St. John Lutheran Church
Columbia, MD

I encourage you to add the link above to your bookmarks. There is lots of interesting discussion going on over at the ALPB Forum.

---Katie