Information About the ELCA National Youth Gathering 2009

The ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) National Youth Gathering 2009 is going to be held in New Orleans, LA. Cities are normally chosen 6 years in advance. Organizers usually announce host cities 3 years before the date. An announcement was not made this time because they were not sure if New Orleans would be in good enough condition after Hurricane Katrina hit

After Katrina hit, requests were sent to other cities, but it still seemed that New Orleans was the best option. Two of the organizers went to New Orleans and when they saw the city they asked, "What in the world went through here?"

When they asked this question, they went out into the community and met people who lived in the community. They met Asian families who worked in the shrimp industry, ELCA members, children crammed into trailers that were meant to hold only two people, exhausted pastors, people from the lower North Ward who couldn't get insurance because of the tradition to simply pass a house down to each new generation, and teachers with dreams for young people.

Most of the people who were met said that if it wasn't for the church, they would not know where they would be today.

The organizers talked to others who had held large conventions in New Orleans and prayed a lot about the location for the gathering. Looking at the people in New Orleans and seeing the opportunity for ministry, they asked, "Who did Jesus hang out with?"

As Bono of U2 fame has said, "That the scriptures are brim full of hustlers, murderers, cowards, adulterers and mercenaries used to shock me. Now it is a source of great comfort."

The event will be held for only one week, July 22-26, 2009. While it has been traditional since 2000 to have two weeks, the attendance for the gathering has been steadily declining. The ELCA would not be able to afford two weeks with around only a total of 42,000 attending for both weeks.

The organizers expect to have 36,000 youth attending, which is about 1/6 the population of New Orleans. They say that there are further hotels available and will hopefully not have to deny registration to any more than 2,000 youth.