The 5 Petals for Vol. 1 Issue 7 of 5PF...

Announcements & Reminders

--> Information and forms for adults who will be leaders at Youth Events:

-Opportunities for Small Group Leaders in 2023-2024

-2023-2024 Small Group Leader Information Sheet

-Permission to Conduct a Background Check

-What it means to be a (Young) Adult at a Synod Youth Event

--> The early bird discount for THE ELCA YOUTH MINISTRY EXTRAVAGANZA (aka,"THE E", aka, the annual gathering of adults who work with youth for fellowship, inspiration, and education) - Jan. 18-21, 2024 - has passed, but registration is still OPEN! ... All the necessary information and links for registration are available here. ProTip: This event will be especially useful if you're planning to take a group to the 2024 Youth Gathering (see below ... like right below), the "E" will give you a chance to become familiar with New Orleans, and you can even sign up for a tour of Gathering sites!

-->WINTER CELEBRATION is our faith-sharing event for 9th-12th graders and the adults who come with them (Feb. 2-4, 2024 at Eagle Eyrie Lynchburg). REGISTRATION is open! Go to this link for all the info and registration instructions or go to www.vasynod.org and click on the Youth Ministry drop down menu.

-->The early Registration discount has passed for The ELCA Youth Gathering (for youth who have completed grades 8-12 and their adult leaders by next July) in New Orleans, July 16-20, 2024. But you can still register or add participants to your group! All the information and materials your congregation needs to register, plus lots of other Gathering info, can be found at elca.org/gathering. Questions can be directed to our "Synod Gathering Champion" Pastor Bob Vogl (RevBobStTim@gmail.com)

LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER FOR "LOST AND FOUND 2023"! ... scheduled for next weekend, Nov. 17-19 at Eagle Eyrie Conference Center in Lynchburg. At this point, please contact Director Dave Delaney before registering to make sure we have room and supplies! To get all the info and sign up for this event, go to this link or the Virginia Synod website (vasynod.org) and click on the Youth Ministry tab.

You might want to read this new book!

-Remind Me Again, by Joe Davis (spoken word artist and frequent collaborator with David "AGAPE*" Scherer) has written this book whose subtitle is "Poems and Practices for Remembering Who We Are." Every poem is accompanied by a suggested an action or practice to help readers connect the themes to their everyday lives.

It works great either as a personal devotional tool or with groups who want to experience a fresh take on important facets of personal and faith formation.

It's published by Sparkhouse, so you can get it through augsburgfortress.org, but Amazon also has it.

Reflecting with Martin Luther

Okay, so this is supposed to be an AI generated image of Martin Luther. A couple of things: No one in the editorial offices of 5PF was very impressed. In fact, it looks more artificial than the famous painted images of his own day. Plus - and here's the interesting thing - after trying four different AI programs to see if any of them could draw Martin Luther as he might have looked today or even putting him in contemporary clothes, not one of them seemed able to do that. Apparently it's just too hard to imagine him as a modern guy. They always came back looking like the same 16th century Luther we've seen in his portraits. We're not sure what that means, but one thing is for sure: As flawed as Luther was (as we *all* are), some of his words ring as true now as they did then, even if he isn't sporting an undercut hair style or billowing denim jeans.

"A youth who believes in Christ has victory over everything over which Satan has power. Thus he has victory, not in such a way that sin, an evil conscience, and death are not felt, but because they are overcome. For Christ is greater." (Luther's Works, vol. 30, p. 247 - homily on I John 2:3, alt.)