LYA 2016: Dallas, TX

The youth of the ELS traveled to Dallas, Texas, for the 2016 LYA Convention. This year’s theme recognized Christian citizenship within the doctrine of the two kingdoms. The study of the doctrine of two kingdoms allowed the youth the opportunity to focus on this dual-citizenship vocation in morning and evening chapels, the daily Bible study sectionals, and with the keynote presentation by Dr. Wade Johnston from Wisconsin Lutheran College. With that theme as our guide, the youth were able to discern and appreciate their citizenship within both kingdoms where God rules and provides for us through different means.
The group toured the George W. Bush Presidential Library, the Sixth Floor Museum (site of the JFK assassination), and sang the national anthem at the Fort Worth Stockyards. In these events, the youth were able to live out civic reverence for our citizenship as Americans, where God provides safety and freedom through earthly authority in the form of our government within the kingdom of the left.
During the chapels and sectionals, through Christian fellowship, and in the Divine Service at Calvary Lutheran on Sunday morning, the youth were given many opportunities to revel in their citizenship rights in the kingdom of the right. As redeemed citizens in the family of the Church where God rules and provides for us through the Means of Grace, the youth were able to partake as beneficiaries of God’s sustenance through the Word and Sacrament. The annual LYA Convention was a wonderful opportunity to join together around God’s Word and encourage the youth to continue to use and appreciate these citizenship rights throughout their lives.
Psy.D Joshua Mears
Young Branches, Editor
Heritage Lutheran Church
Apple Valley, MN