Mark your calendars and get ready — the SD Synod Youth Conference is coming to Sioux Falls on July 31–August 1!
This two-day youth gathering will bring together students from across the synod for a meaningful, memorable experience packed with worship, breakout sessions, service opportunities, games, music, and much more!
We’re excited to share details for this year’s gathering!
- Cost: $25 per person (financial assistance is available; we want everyone to come!)
- Lodging: Stay overnight at welcoming, local churches in Sioux Falls
- Meals: 3 delicious meals included (Pizza Ranch, grab and go breakfast, and Jimmy John’s), along with snacks and water for break times
It’s going to be a meaningful time of connection, conversation, and community. Mark your calendars, spread the word, start planning, and get excited! We can’t wait to gather together!
Thank you to Thrivent: Clarity Wealth Consultants for your generous sponsorship of this event! Look for their table at registration time for more information and some giveaways!
REGISTRATION
Registration is now closed. If you plan to attend and need to get registered, please contact Pam Tetzlaff at Peace Lutheran Church: (605) 361-3683.
SCHEDULE
Friday, July 31
4:00-4:30 PM Registration
4:30-5:00 PM Welcome
5:00-5:45 PM Dinner
5:45-6:30 PM Keynote Session #1
6:30-6:45 PM Break & Transition
6:45-7:15 PM Breakout Session #1
7:15-7:30 PM Break & Transition
7:30-8:00 PM Breakout Session #2
8:00-9:00 PM Adult + Youth Split Time
9:00-9:15 PM Reflections & Debrief
9:15 PM Dismissal to housing
Saturday, August 1
7:45-8:30 AM Breakfast
8:30-9:00 AM Morning Gathering
9:00-9:30 AM Breakout Session #3
9:30-9:45 AM Break & Transition
9:45-10:15 AM Breakout Session #4
10:15-10:30 AM Break & Transition
10:30 AM-Noon Service Project #1—Journey of Hope & Kids Against Hunger
12:00-12:45 PM Lunch
12:45-1:30 PM Keynote Session #2
1:30-1:45 PM Break & Transition
1:45-3:15 PM Service Project #2—Church on the Street
3:15-3:30 PM Break & Transition
3:30-4:00 PM Closing Worship (with Communion) & Sending
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
St Dymas
St. Dysmas is an ELCA congregation located behind the walls of the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, SD and Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield, SD. We also support a Sunday evening worship at the Yankton Minimum Unit in Yankton, SD. Pastor Jeff and Pastor Laura will be present to talk about their ministry and the world’s sense of justice vs. God’s sense of justice.
Imagine More: Your Journey to the 2027 ELCA Youth Gathering
What happens when thousands of Lutheran youth gather to worship, learn, serve, and grow in faith together? Come discover what the 2027 ELCA Youth Gathering is all about! Learn about the new Gathering structure, what to expect, how to get involved, and why this life-changing experience is worth imagining—and experiencing—for yourself. Region 3 Representative Amanda Black will be leading this breakout session.
Sacred Discoveries: Your Story Matters
Shepherd’s Table
Building Longer Tables: What it Means to Belong in God’s Kingdom
Every table we set has a limit — a place where our invitation seems to run out. What if belonging isn’t about simply finding room at someone else’s table, but about building longer ones together so all may find a seat at the table? In this workshop, we’ll dig into a bold story about a man who was paralyzed and whose friends tear open a roof just to get him in front of Jesus. We will ask what it actually means to belong, not just to be accepted or included. Through close reading, conversation, and hands-on activities, we’ll explore who we often leave off the guest list, what radical hospitality looks like in real life at Shepherd’s Table, and how we can each pull up a few more chairs. Come ready to wonder, talk honestly, and maybe rethink what God’s vision of belonging looks like in the kingdom of God. There’s a place for you here.
Campus Ministry
Emma Witt
LOCATION
Most of the event will be held at Peace Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls. Sleeping accommodations and service projects may be held elsewhere. Information will be shared with your group after registration closes.
SPEAKERS & MUSICIANS
REV. ANNA & ELSE MADSEN
Anna Madsen is a “freelance theologian” living outside Two Harbors, Minnesota.
After graduating from Trinity Lutheran Seminary, she served a small South Dakota parish for three years before earning a doctorate in systematic theology in Regensburg, Germany. Immediately prior to her return to teach religion at a college in the Midwest, an accident killed her husband and severely injured her three year old son Karl. Her daughter Else was eight months old at the time. This event profoundly shaped her theology and her life, not least of all as a springboard to create OMG: Center for Theological Conversation. Here, individuals and groups, laity and clergy, come for questions, conversation, and study.
In 2017, she began The Spent Dandelion Theological Retreat Center, where she offers a studio apartment, her 20 acres of gorgeous woods, her library, her consulting, and Minnesota’s North Shore for people to retreat, refresh, and be restored.
NIC GUPTILL
Nic is the worship pastor at Ransom Church in Sioux Falls, SD. He has been leading worship for 14 years across three countries — Canada, the USA, and Australia. With a heart for the presence of God, Nic has a passion for creating space where people can encounter Him in fresh and meaningful ways.
