At the beginning of November, the ELCA hosted the annual Youth Leadership Summit at Carol Joy Holling Camp in Ashland, Nebraska. Each synod is able to send two youth and one adult advisor, funded by a special grant that covers the costs of the program. The Delaware-Maryland Synod was represented well by Matthew Fairchild, the Lutheran Youth Organization Overall Leader Among Leaders; Deborah Tadesse, member of the LYO Small Groups Team; and Colleen Carpenter-Gonia, one of the LYO Worship Team mentors. Today, I yield my blog post to Deborah and Matthew to share about their experiences at the Summit.

From Deborah:

No words can begin to express my attitude towards this event. Nonetheless, I’ll try. I felt a great altitude of comfort. Comfort in knowing that every soul there came, as a call sent by God. It was by his grace that I met the most wonderful people I could’ve ever known to imagine. I was surrounded by mounds of love, passion, and excitement. As I sat and looked around, I knew that there was a person there who was going to become an activist, someone who was going to be an astronaut, a teacher, a preacher, a president, a musician! I was surrounded by all of the people who were going to change the world. Who are changing the world. I feel this strong urge to become nicer, stand taller and be excited. I really hope that I never get off of this high.

As for attending with both Colleen and Matthew, it was genuinely an amazing time. They both have remarkable leadership skills. We started the travel to the summit with a bit of awkwardness, but by the end of the trip, we were laughing together. Those two are true superheroes and I’m so lucky to have experienced all of this with them.

From Matthew:

My name is Matthew Fairchild and I am an active member of Grace Lutheran Church in Westminster, Maryland. This year, I have the honor of serving as the Overall Leader Among Leaders in the Lutheran Youth Organization of our synod. Earlier this month, I traveled with Deborah Tadesse and Colleen Carpenter-Gonia to represent the Delaware-Maryland Synod at the ELCA Youth Leadership Summit at Camp Carol Joy Holling just outside of Omaha, Nebraska. The Summit’s theme was, “Through Christ, we can,” and programming was centered upon practicing effective advocacy and learning how to best accompany others. I specifically learned about advocating for racial justice in a workshop led by Nicolette Faison and about the ELCA’s AMMPARO (Accompanying Migrant Minors with Protection, Advocacy, Representation, and Opportunities) task force in a separate workshop led by Alaide Vilchis Ibarra.

Aside from the programming, I enjoyed connecting with other leaders of the church and learning about what youth ministry looks like in other synods. One of my biggest takeaways from the event was just how blessed high schoolers in the Delaware-Maryland Synod are to have such an expansive, developed youth program. After talking with high school students from synods around the country, I have a much fuller appreciation for how unique the opportunities for youth leadership are in Delaware and Maryland. Every person who learned about what our synod is doing with youth through retreats and the LYO was blown away, and several expressed interest in developing similar youth leadership programs in their home synods. The Summit helped me to learn about what resources are available in terms of advocacy and leadership development through the broader ELCA. I really appreciate having had the opportunity to attend this event and look forward to sharing with others what I have learned.