It was a case of good news-bad news concerning the 1997 National Youth Gathering of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
ELCA
youth gatherings always draw thousands of youth, who plan for months
and hold fund-raising events so they can attend the triennial
gathering.The good news: Enough requests were sent in the first day of
registration (Nov. 1) to fill the 35,000 open spots for this summer's
New Orleans gathering.
The bad news: Some 4,000 more requests also came in that first day.
Blindfolded
Youth Gathering staff made a draw of the first-day entries and sent
apology notices to those who were not chosen, along with a list of
alternative events.
Several congregations not chosen wonder why
their youth — many of whom spent months planning and raising money for
the trip — were excluded.
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