Dates
July 26-30, 2009
Location
University of Southern Mississippi
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
(1˝ hours north of
New Orleans, LA)
Why is this event held after
the Gathering?
Scheduling the Lutheran Youth Organization Convention after the
2009 ELCA Youth Gathering enables young people to fully attend
the Gathering and then fully attend to the Convention. The LYO
Convention has always been held alongside the Gathering, as it
is supported solely financially by the Gathering. This has
provided young people who are leaders in the LYO with a concrete
connection to their constituency: youth and congregations.
Who can attend the LYO
Convention?
Synod LYOs will be formally invited to select youth voting
delegates and adult advisors to this convention. It is
completely up to the synod LYO to choose who their youth voting
delegates will be (as LYO is a youth-led organization, of course
these selections are to be made by young people). Some synods
send the young people from their synod LYO Board to serve as the
delegates while others hold special elections at synod youth
events. What is most important is that each synod be represented
at this important convention that sets the primary course for
the churchwide LYO for the next three years.
How much does it cost to
attend?
There is no registration fee for youth delegates and their adult
advisors to attend the LYO Convention. Housing and meals are
also provided for all youth delegates and their adult advisors
at LYO Convention. The only major “out of pocket” cost for youth
delegates and their adult advisors to attend the LYO Convention
is for travel to and from the convention site. If they are
already traveling to the Gathering in New Orleans, they must
simply extend their return trip date. There will be multiple
transportation options available for people to travel from New
Orleans and Hattiesburg. Transportation details will be shared
as available with synod LYOs.
Visitors are invited and welcome
at the LYO Convention, but they do have to pay a registration
fee and expenses for their own housing and meals. These costs
have not yet been set for 2009.
What happens at an LYO
Convention?
A lot of things! LYO Convention worship and fellowship play a
distinctive role in the development of young leaders. There are
also plenary sessions led by young people. This is where the
youth delegates engage in an agenda created by the Board of the
LYO to:
- Listen to the leadership
activities that have taken place.
- Learn about various issues
that they care about related to the church, young people,
and the world. “Topic sessions” were very well received
in 2006.
- Write, discuss, and vote on
directives for making statements, action plans, and changes
to the LYO Constitution
- Elect new members to the
Board of the LYO
- Network, be surrounded by
music, learn, worship, pray, and much more!
Why is this event held at a
university campus and not in New Orleans?
This event within the Gathering family of events is very
different from the rest. A university campus provides all the
required overnight accommodations, meeting space, and meal
services at a fraction of the cost of providing such an event in
a major downtown hotel in any city. Young leaders, in this
sense, model stewardship for the larger church. University
campuses also provide a more fun, communal dynamic for
high-school aged young people.
None of the major four university
campuses in New Orleans were up-and-running since Hurricane
Katrina or available for summer conferences in 2009, so in
searching for an alternative location, Hattiesburg was calling
us! And we are so glad, because it helps the Gathering be more
intentionally inclusive and aware of other places besides New
Orleans that have seen dramatic changes since Katrina. The LYO
will be hosted by Hattiesburg’s southern hospitality, learn
about this part of the country, and be the church in it.
When does registration open
for LYO Convention?
January 1, 2009. This is several months after the Gathering
registration opens.
What’s the city of Hattiesburg
like?
To learn more about Hattiesburg, Mississippi, visit the
following Web site:
http://www.hattiesburg.org/.
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