Renew…Educate…Connect…
Every Extravaganza has a theme. A theme gives direction and guidance to the planing team. A theme gives context for participants. And a theme gives space for the Holy Spirit to work within us…to move us together. Because we can ...
The Extravaganza planning team leaders just completed their annual meeting to review and debrief from the 2023 Extravaganza, and to launch the planning process for Extravaganza 2024. The planning team is thankful for all of the people who chose to ...
In the movie “Jerry McGuire,” the title character, played by Tom Cruise, says at one point “We live in a cynical world.” It was a moment of deep truth in an otherwise funny but pretty forgettable movie. We live in ...
CHICAGO (Jan. 18, 2023) — The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), partnered with the ELCA Youth Ministry Network, has received a $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help establish the Formation Lab Project. The goal of the project ...
Recently, I had a conversation with someone who had just joined the Network. They had called with a couple of questions about how to access some of the Network resources. In the course of our conversation, they told me (a few different times) how excited they were to be a part of this community. I ...
Hello Network friends, We have completed compiling and analyzing the evaluations from Extravaganza 2022, held in early February in Minneapolis and online. First, I want to thank all of you who took the time to fill out an evaluation form. We had an good rate of return on these evaluations. In 2022, there were a ...
Hello friends, Last week, a Network member posted in our Facebook group that they had noticed new recommendations from the ELCA about how long congregations retain registration data about events with children and youth. These recommendations had been updated in May of 2021. You can see the document that lists these recommendations here. The new ...
by Rev. Dan Fugate; Chairperson of the Network Board of Directors The recipient of the 2022 Thomas Hunstad Award is so accomplished and has provided so much leadership in the church in general and in the area of children, youth, and family ministry in general, that we have a hard time trying to choose what ...
Like many of you, I’ve been watching the updates coming in from Ukraine. And like many of you, my heart has broken, seeing the conflict develop, people fleeing, the sights of bombs going off and images of families being separated. This is horrible. It’s terrible. On so many different levels, it’s just so very wrong. ...
Hello friends, Our ELCA camps and outdoor ministry sites are in deep need right now and are asking for our help. Coming out of the pandemic, and a year where they either didn’t operate or they worked to provide online ministry opportunities for campers and their families, they are now struggling to recruit enough staff ...
Dear friends, At this year’s Extravaganza, ELCA staff members and many of the team leaders from the ELCA Youth Gathering were present to talk about the cancellation of the 2022 Gathering and the transition to the 2024 Youth Gathering. And at this event, Deacon Tammy Jones West was introduced as the new Interim Director of the ...
Hello friends, By now, you have probably seen the notification from the ELCA Youth Gathering, letting the community know that the 2022 Youth Gathering in Minneapolis will not take place. Instead, the Gathering leadership will pivot and begin working on the 2024 event. We want to let you know that the 2022 Extravaganza, scheduled for ...
Dear Network friends, The Extravaganza planning team has updated our COVID protocols for our gathering next month at the Hilton in Minneapolis. We are committed to an event that fulfills our mission and our goals: Powerful spiritual renewal, quality continuing education and great networking. At the same time, we are committed to an event that keeps participants ...
Dear friends, It is with deep sadness that I write to share the news of the death of Rev. Heidi Hagstrom. Heidi died last night around midnight, in the presence of her family members. Heidi had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer last year. Heidi served most recently as the pastor of Fields ...
Network is a Verb 