30,000 Lutherans blanket Detroit to volunteer, worship

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/16/30000-lutherans-blanket-detroit-volunteer-worship/30274469/

Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press 10:07 p.m. EDT July 16, 2015


Chelsi Roberts, 16, left, and Alexandria Martinez 17, both of Urbandale, Iowa volunteer to cleanup the garden at the Spirit of Hope Lutheran church in Detroit on Thursday, July 16, 2015. Detroit is the host of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Youth Gathering for five days with 30,000 volunteers from all over the country. (Photo: Kimberly P. Mitchell, Detroit Free Press)

Every three years, Lutherans with the ELCA gather for worship and to volunteer in neighborhoods, building homes, painting walls, clearing debris and other efforts. The logistics of such efforts aren't easy, involving a host of transportation and lodging challenges, but it's well worth it, say participants. At Spirit of Hope Church, a part Lutheran, part Episcopal church, volunteers from Iowa and California spent six hours cutting brush, hauling away used tires, and wheeling away debris.

"The ELCA has a phrase, God's work, Our Hands, and this is the embodiment of that phrase," said Jimmy Sanborn, 17, of Fresno. "We are doing God's work right here with our hands."


Tyler Pedersen, 16, of Urbandale, Iowa cleanups the weeds int he alleyway at the Spirit of Hope Lutheran church in Detroit on Thursday, July 16, 2015. Detroit is the host of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Youth Gathering for five days with 30,000 volunteers from all over the country. (Photo: Kimberly P. Mitchell, Detroit Free Press)

For Sanborn and others, the convention is also a way to connect with other Lutheran youth through their faith. Sanborn, who had a small wooden cross hanging from his neck, said the Ford Field services help in maintaining his beliefs.

"It's moving," he said of the nightly prayer services. "There are times when you think, I don't know if anyone believes the stuff I do, and it can get to be kind of daunting sometimes. It's really awesome to know there are 29,999 other people just like me yelling their heads off."

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