Network’s Board of Directors Announces Two New Members
At its fall board meeting, the ELCA Youth Ministry Network’s Board of Directors appointed two new people to fill vacant board positions. The board positions will be filled by Heather Hansen and Josh Toufar. Heather Hansen is a pastor in the San Antonio, Texas area. Most recently, she served at MacArthur Park Lutheran Church. Heather ...
Announcing New Outdoor Ministry Partnership
The ELCA Youth Ministry Network and the Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Network have formed a new partnership that links them together for mutual support and to grow in mission. The Network has had “gold” and “silver” partnerships for a number of years, allowing for organizations, resource providers, colleges, seminaries, and other groups who share Network values to ...
Nominations Being Taken for Network Board of Directors
This winter, two new people will take on important roles on the Board of Directors of the ELCA Youth Ministry Network. Sue Megrund and Tom Schwolert will each be completing their second term at Extravaganza 2020 in Anaheim. Board members may serve a maximum of two terms. The Board is responsible for tending to the ...
Trust, Grace and Accountability: How we think about the Roar Curriculum Problem
I’ve been paying attention to the conversations in the past 2 weeks about the Roar Curriculum, produced by Group Publishing. It reminds me of the critical obligation that those of us who practice faith formation in congregations have. One of our basic and most important tasks is to look through any materials we receive or ...
Changes to the Network’s Facebook Presence
The Network is changing the way we use Facebook, hopefully to make it a more helpful experience for our whole community. Our Facebook group has been our primary presence. This group is now over 6,100 members. We’ve used this group both to communicate Network news and updates to the community, and to encourage conversation, support ...
Extravaganza: Changing It Up!
The Extravaganza planning team is hard at work putting together the 2020 event in Anaheim, and there are some pretty amazing changes in the works for how we learn together. The first task the team leaders took on when we met together in March was to read and give careful attention to the evaluations that ...
Network Board Meeting Update Day 2
Your Network Board of Directors is hard at work today, meeting at the Lutheran Center in Chicago. We actually began meeting last night, just spending time together and doing “check-ins” on each others lives. Today we buckled down for some hard work. Highlights included: Opening devotions Approving minutes and other “housekeeping” items Rachel Alley, Program ...
CROP Hunger Walks Celebrate 50 years, Lutheran Youth Led the Effort!
Walking for a cause. It’s not a new thing, we have all either done a walk to raise money or know about one in our community. The first walk in the US to benefit a charity was 50 years ago and it has some amazing Lutheran youth roots. What soon became a US movement called ...
What Does the Network Look Like?
I’m asked every year, “Who is the Extravaganza for?” My stock answer: “Well, it’s for everyone…especially for people who work in faith formation with young people and their families.” It’s not the most satisfying answer, I get that. But it’s truth. We work to create an event that connects with as many people as possible. ...
Maximizing Your Extravaganza and Network Value
We know that there is a commitment to being a part of the ELCA Youth Ministry Network, and an even bigger commitment when one comes to the Extravaganza. They both take time, and financial resources. And we know that when you talk to your supervisor, or your church council, or whoever approves spending, and you ...
Network is a Verb 