LYO--NNEMA Style!

I went to the Northern New England Mission Area Lutheran Youth Organization lock in Saturday night. That's a mouthful--let me break it down.

First "Lutheran Youth Organization." That's a group to which all ELCA (that's our denomination abbreviation) Lutheran high school aged youth belong. It's run differently in various areas, and some places don't have the organization--even though they have the Lutheran Youth. This lock in was the first meeting of this particular area's LYO. A kick off--organizing the organization!

Northern New England. That's part of the ELCA New England "Synod" which is a cluster of churches grouped together for mission together and support of each other. The northern designation includes all of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont--as well as two churches in upstate New York near the Vt border.

Mission Area. That's a smaller band of churches in a specific context that work together on issues and projects that impact them locally, and work on global issues and projects from a grassroots level. The formation of a Youth Organization that serves such a huge geographical area will be a challenge. but it is exactly the contextual type of issue these groupings were meant to address.

Back to the lock in itself. It was remarkable mainly for its leadership in planning and carrying it off. Several youth did the lion's share of the job. Which means not only are they learning to be leaders in the church, but also that this will be a group that is totally youth-led, with adults serving only in a guidance capacity. This will truly be a gift to the church and her youth!

I left the lock in early to get back to Messiah for worship. But those who stayed had fun, learned about themselves and God, and started a new youth movement up her in the great white north!

God bless their continued work!!