ELCA Youth Gathering: A boundless God

June 29-July 3, 2021:Every three years, 30,000 high school youth and their adult leaders from across the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America gather for a week of faith formation known as the ELCA Youth Gathering.

by: Sophia Behrens

What boundless: God beyond measure means to me is such a powerful feeling that it’s difficult to put into words. To have a God that’s boundless is to have a God that accepts and loves us all, no matter what we look like, who we love, or what we’ve done.

It’s to have a God that fills in all the empty spaces and gives each and every one of us the spiritual gifts we need to work together. And it’s to have a God so incredible that we can’t even list all the ways we see God in our lives, because God’s always just there.

As high school students, having God among us and beyond us is so important because we know there’s an endless love, patting our backs on the difficult days and pushing us beyond our limits on the easy ones. God is here with us now and back home with our families, growing our spiritual gifts through everyday life and allowing us to grow these gifts through experiences that also bring us feelings and love beyond measure such as the Gathering and the ELCA Youth Leadership Summit.

Sophia Behrens is a freshman at Valparasio University. Throughout high school, Sophia was active in the ELCA Youth Core Leadership Team, her home congregation and supporting ELCA World Hunger. Sophia was also a part of the 2021 Theme Discernment team for the ELCA Youth Gathering.