NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Thirty-seven thousand Lutheran teenagers and their adult leaders will converge on New Orleans Wednesday (July 22) for the biggest convention since Hurricane Katrina, a three-day event that will include thousands of hours of donated labor around the city.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America holds a youth gathering like this every three years. This one, called “Jesus, Justice and Jazz,” will be held at the Louisiana Superdome and the Morial Convention Center.
Organizers said 27,000 high school-age teens will descend on New Orleans, joined by 8,000 adult companions and another 2,000 volunteers. They have booked 77 hotels around the area.
For three days the teens will visit, pray together and immerse themselves in social justice issues on display in New Orleans — centering on issues like literacy, wealth and poverty, art, culture and health.
The teens will spend one of their three days working on 154 community service projects while in New Orleans. Each day, one-third of the teens will board buses for community service work around the area, while the rest take part in learning programs at the convention center.
