More than 100 youth and adult advisors met at Trout Lake Retreats in Stroudsburg for the annual Lutheran Youth Fellowship Assembly November 17-19.

There were a few “firsts” for this assembly.

It was the first time that the assembly met at a camp instead of a hotel. Because of rising costs, the LYF board decided to look for a less expensive venue. Meeting at Trout Lake Retreats cut the cost of attending the assembly almost in half. On the evaluation forms for the retreat, the reactions to being at the camp were overwhelmingly positive. Aside from the lower (and more manageable cost), other pluses were having the opportunity to be outdoors to play volleyball and to worship and sing around a bonfire.

Another “first” was the introduction of topic sessions. During the registration process, youth were able to identify things they would most like to discuss. The LYF board then selected the top seven topics that would be used for discussion at the assembly. They also recruited members of the board to prepare for and lead these discussions. Youth were free to discuss these topics without the presence of adults. Topics included “Violence in Schools,” “Media and Society,” “What is Music Telling Us,” “Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll,” “War – What Is It Good For,” “Are You Calling Me, God,” and “World Religions.”

The assembly began with the sounds of Aimée and Joel Pakan of “Tangled Blue.” Pastor Michele Kaufman, assembly chaplain, led the assembly through several devotional and worship experiences based on the theme, “Live Your Faith: Your LYF as a Disciple.”

As part of a get-acquainted activity, youth gathered in small groups to discuss their gifts of time, talent and treasure. They prepared symbols for each of these which were then placed on a banner which was displayed at the assembly. Pastor Nancy Moore helped the youth explore this topic even further on Saturday morning in a discussion on spiritual gifts.

Youth and advisors attended workshops on Saturday. Workshop topics ranged from learning about Dietrich Bonhoeffer to using yoga as a form of prayer, from learning about games to use with youth groups to understanding why we’re Lutheran, from focusing on the relationship between religion and media and learning about fair trade opportunities and from hearing about how past LYF-ers are living in the “real world” to hearing about a mission trip to Guatemala.

LYF President Becky Montes de Oca (St. Paul, Tannersville) and parliamentarian James Hampton (Christ, Dryville) led the assembly through the discussion and passage of several resolutions. The assembly voted to request that the youth ministry team and LYF board look at the present attendance policy for the assembly; to work towards making our synod a ONE certified organization; to ask the Synod Council to approve the sale of Fair Trade products at all synodical gatherings; to have Fair Trade products available at all LYF assemblies; and to request that the four synod ministry teams include an LYF-appointed youth representative to be on each team.

Elected at the Assembly

Elections of LYF officers and mission district representatives and alternates were also held during the assembly.

These new officers were elected: Troy Marx (Jordan, Orefield) was elected LYF President; AJ Mell (Friedens, Oley) was elected Vice-President; Alex Nichols (Christ, Penn Forest) was re-elected LYF secretary; and Emily Moore (Christ, Penn Forest) was elected treasurer. James Hampton was appointed parliamentarian. AJ Rogers was appointed multicultural representative.

The following youth were elected by their mission districts to serve as mission district representatives and alternate representatives:

Bethlehem-Easton Mission District: Liesl Metzger (St. Andrew, Easton) and Arielle Bazulka (St. Paul, Easton)

East Berks Mission District: Amanda Sherry (Christ, Dryville) and Ben Schaeffer (Friedens, Oley)

Hazelton-Lehighton Mission District: Nikkole Piparato (Christ, Penn Forest) and Talon Fogal (Christ, Penn Forest)

Lehigh Mission District: Erin Antrim (St. John, Emmaus) and Aaron Matthias-Long (St. John, Emmaus)

Northern Lehigh Mission District: Andrea Hetrick (Hope, Cherryville) and Corinne Schmidt (St. John, Nazareth)

Pocono Mission District: Kiana Ramirez (Holy Trinity, Dingmans Ferry) and Ashley Stryker (Holy Trinity, Dingmans Ferry)

Schuylkill Mission District: Meredith Coleman (Jerusalem, Schuylkill Haven) and Alicia Hepner (Jerusalem, Schuylkill Haven)

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Mission District: Alex Howton (St. Paul, Mountain Top)

The term for mission district representatives begins immediately. The officers begin their term in June 2007 but will attend LYF meetings between now and then to assure a smooth transition in leadership.

Be sure to check out the photo gallery of the assembly!