YOUNG LUTHERANS' CREATIVITY IS UNLEASHED

     NEW ORLEANS (ELCA)  -- Young Lutherans got a chance to try writing a song, drawing a cartoon, cooking a Cajun-style dish or just imagining ways of seeing things differently.  They took part in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Youth Gathering here July 23-26.  In a "trek" called "Creativity Unleashed," 3,500 of the 30,000 gathering's  teens tapped into the arts to express themselves and their faith.
     Trek organizer Jerry Evenrud, Minneapolis, said the idea was to "unleash the ideas, creativity and talent of young people in ways that might be new to them."
     It worked for Carrie from North Carolina who said the first morning of the trek "made me think."  With about 2,000 other teens, Carrie took part in a program featuring singer/songwriter Ken Medema.
     Another girl said, "We could just pitch out words, and he worked them together into a song.  He showed us what you can do with imagination."
     A youth from Twinsburg, Ohio, wants to start his own band.  He called Medema "amazing - the way he could work on the spot."
     One girl and two adult counselors from Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, Humboldt, Iowa, took part in a program led by the Rev. Herbert Brokering, Minneapolis,  a poet, lyricist and "star gazer."  We "experimented with seeing things differently," they said.  "We all took off our shoes and formed them into a river.  Then we explored what happens to make the river change direction."
     Jesus changes our direction, Brokering told the group.  The theme of the Youth Gathering is "River of Hope."
     "Spirit of God -- Mighty River," a 55-voice youth folk choir from King of Glory Lutheran Church, Tempe, Ariz., performed and told other young people how to "invest their creative talent in the worship life of the church."  The choir uses dance and drama as well as song.
     Dan Kallman, a composer from Northfield, Minn., asked the high-school-age youth, "Does God just beam all those notes down to the composer or songwriter?"  He brought participants into "the process, the frustrations and the joys of creating music."
     Another girl from Humboldt, Iowa, went to Kallman's session.  She said, "He played different styles of music for us and said,  You can change your mind, enjoy some music for a while then switch to something else.'" She said, "We learned that music is an art form, that one style doesn't praise God more or less than another -- including jazz, improvision and heavy metal."  Music provides a way of connecting, of expressing yourself, she said.
     Artist John August Swanson, Los Angeles, displayed his work, inspired by biblical themes, and showed young participants the various stages of print-making.  Jutta Anderson, Chicago, taught a session about depictions of Jesus in art.  Lutz Haufschild, Vancouver, B.C., a stained-glass artist, told participants about "new ideas about light and glass ... changing our perception of sacred spaces."
     The young people encountered Cajun cooking, calligraphy, cartooning, dance and drama -- "all ways to unleash and celebrate their God-given creativity," Evenrud said.

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Ann Hafften, Director, News and Information
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