Renew…Educate…Connect…
Hello friends, The ELCA Youth Ministry Network has made the decision to require onsite Extravaganza 2022 participants to have COVID vaccinations, or a negative COVID test no more than 72 hours prior to the start of the event, in order ...
The results of the 2021 Salary Survey are in and available for you to use. The goal of the salary survey is to serve as a starting point for congregational conversations about budget, salary and compensation. Facts are our friends, ...
A couple of days ago, I came across a social media post by Rev. Beth Wartick, of Resurrection Lutheran Church in Ankeny, Iowa. I read it, and then read it again. And I realized that it is a really good ...
Hello friends, Last month we launched the 2021 Salary Survey. Normally, we would have done it in 2020, but we figured that COVID was throwing everything out of whack and our results in 2020 might not be representative of reality. ...
The Network Board of Directors will welcome 2 new members and one reappointed member when it meets following the Extravaganza in early February. New board members include Jade Ortiz, who serves as a TEEM Pastor at Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer in Oxnard, California. Jade has 17 years of experience in children, youth and family ...
Dear friends, I want to give you a quick update on Extravaganza 2021. We find ourselves having to “live into” our theme of “Holding Loosely” as we do our planning. We have made the difficult decision to cancel the “in person” portion of the event at the Hilton in Minneapolis and instead focus all of ...
Watch the video announcement, or read below: Hello friends, Thank you for your patience as we’ve been working to figure out how to fulfill the mission of the Network and the Extravaganza in a pandemic world. For the last several months we have been focusing on two questions: “How can we be helpful to people ...
Note: Over the last two months, the Network Board of Directors has engaged in deep listening and conversation around issues of race, justice and inclusivity. While these conversations have been a part of the board’s agenda for years, the events surrounding the killing of George Floyd, and the subsequent events and conversations, increased our focus ...
The ELCA Youth Ministry Network Board of Directors is excited to welcome Matthew Lovett as its newest member. Matthew will be filling the position vacated by Kinda Makini-Anderson. This term runs until February of 2022, when Matthew will be eligible to be reappointed to the board. Matthew lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and grew up as ...
Dear friends, I hope that you and your family, friends and congregations are doing well. The Network is making some important changes regarding the Connect Journal. Effective today, we have moved the journal to a “digital only” format. You can find our new digital version of the journal by going toConnectJournal.org.We are making this change to ...
Well, finally! It’s been on our wish list for awhile now. We’ve always wanted to give people the option of having their Network memberships “auto-renew.” And now our software and our credit card system are on “speaking terms.” Remembering to renew your membership is just one of those hassles that we’d rather avoid. And when ...
Dear Network friends, The ELCA Youth Ministry Network’s Board of Directors met this week for its regular spring meeting and had good conversation and made some important decisions in the life of the Network that I wanted to share with you. The meeting was originally scheduled to happen at the ELCA offices in Chicago. Because ...
Dear friends, Thank you so much! I am overwhelmed by the Extravaganza 2020 Evaluations you filled out. We have completed going through the responses and creating reports for them. The Extravaganza team leaders will meet next week in Minneapolis to review the responses and to dial in on the planning process for 2021. I’m excited ...
Sometimes you just can’t make this stuff up. When “coincidences” like this happen, my eyes widen a bit, and then I catch my breath and realize that the Holy Spirit is at work. Let me start at the beginning: So 3 years ago, the Extravaganza team leaders were together for their regular March meeting to ...
