Shiner Lutheran Church members attend ELCA National Youth Gathering in New Orleans

A small group of members from the Shiner Lutheran Church attended the 2024 ELCA National Youth Gathering in New Orleans.
“This is an event that’s held once every three years,” SLC Pastor Chris Heinold said. “Because of Covid, it wasn’t held in 2021. These are mass gatherings of thousands and thousands of youths all over the United States. From Shiner to all the way from the east coast to the west coast.”
This started in 1988 and there were about 16,000 youths that showed up. 
“There were mass gatherings every single night at the Smoothie King Stadium where the New Orleans Pelicans play,” Heinold said. “I was pleased to go as the Pastor of Shiner Lutheran Church along with two other adults. We only sent a couple of kids from our church. 
However, we partnered up with other Lutheran churches around the area including Trinity Lutheran Church of Victoria as well as a group from Robstown and Nordheim.”
Youth from Shiner attending this event were Emma Davis and Bee Baker. Escorting was Emma’s mother, Teena Davis. Emma said this was an awesome event. 
“It was really interesting to see people who have the same beliefs as I do all worshipping in the same place,” Davis said. “It was a really fun experience. I knew I was going to have a good time there and that I was going to learn a lot, but I didn’t expect to learn as much as I did there.”
There were many activities there as well as an accompaniment day.
“The accompaniment day was like a service project and there were a multitude of those projects,” Heinold said. “Our group from Shiner had an opportunity to go to a local Lutheran Church there that serves meals and does housing programs right there in the heart of New Orleans for the needy. 
We basically fixed up the church there and we had a chance to strip some walls to get ready to paint and clean some fences that were covered in vines.”
There were other youths there who did other projects including putting together disaster buckets for those affected by Hurricane Beryl. Those buckets included things like first aid kits. 
Davis said she learned how privileged she was doing the volunteer work. 
“We worked in a church that was really small and they have break ins all the time from homeless people who just want a place to stay overnight,” Davis said. 
“I’m really privileged that we have a really nice community that doesn’t do that.”
Heinold has been a pastor for about 16 years and has worked with youth and elderly in doing projects all around the area. 
“This was such a humbling project we did,” Heinold said. “We went to help others, but God was also changing us and humbling us. Those are the transformative experiences that the youth has got to experience. A local from downtown came up to us and said ‘we are so glad that you are here.’”
Heinold said this was a perfect way for the kids to connect with God’s word.
“At the end of the day, we had a mass gathering in the Smoothie King Center,” Heinold said. “Watching 16,000 people worship together was both loud and deafening in the sense that it was humbling. It caused all of the youth here to say, ‘I’m from a small town, but I’m a part of something much bigger.’”
The next ELCA gathering will be in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 
“Already, Shiner Lutheran Church is excited to start making plans for fundraising to attend this event,” Heinold said. “This is designed for high school age kids. They get one chance to go to this place.”
Some of the fundraising that the Lutheran Church has done in the past includes a hamburger fund-raiser at the Shiner Volunteer Fire Department Car Show and bake sales. 
Heinold believes it’s important for youth to be connected to the community and the ELCA National Youth Gathering is a way to do that. 
“The kids come back on fire for the Lord and that brings life to the church here,” Heinold said. “As a Pastor, it was an honor to go with the youth here from Shiner.”