NYG- Zion Heads to Detroit!: Day 4

Today we were able to sleep in a little -- breakfast was at 7:00 a.m. instead of 6:30. A little extra time always is good! After taking the shuttle from the hotel to the convention center, we attended morning worship, then had a little time for fun. We headed off for an early lunch in several groups to get a chance to eat at a restaurant instead of once again in the food court.

We then head back for our "Proclaim Story" day, where we met with all the youth and adults from our Minneapolis Area Synod who are here -- about 800 in all! There was singing and learning time led by youth from the synod. Our own Lucas Manke was one of the emcees, Caleb Birklid read scripture, and both did a great job. We also had a number of students and one of our adults who helped with greeting, ushering, assisting in worship, and serving communion. Our worship service with Holy Communion was led by our synod bishop, Ann Svennungsen.

Following that was the usual dance and supper time, then off to Ford Field for our evening program. The kids decided they wanted to do an extra little service project, so we bought a few cases of bottle water and passed them out along with a little thank you note to police officers and security people we met along the way to Ford Field. These folks have had been extra friendly and have carried out the important function of keeping us safe all week and helping 30,000 people move from place to place efficiently in downtown Detroit.

The theme of tonight's big program was "breaking chains." Once again, great music, singing, and dancing, with a strong selection of speakers. The big highlight for the youth was a special performance by the Christian rock band Skillet. They are a nationally known band. The kids were so excited, and they put on a great (and pretty loud) show.

Tomorrow morning will be closing worship, then we hop on our buses for the long drive home. A reminder to parents: We will be returning home in the wee hours of the morning very late Sunday night (actually Monday very early morning). Our estimated return time at this point is between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m., and we will have the kids call or text sometime on Sunday night to give a more accurate estimate on our arrival time.

Again, thank you the congregation for your prayerful and financial support of this great experience! Our youth have grown in their faith and in their caring for one another, and have a deeper appreciation for the larger church.

Morning worship