By Jim Vitale
For about 150 Lutheran youth, the New Year began with a bang. The Lower Susquehanna Synod’s annual Winterfest gathering kicked off 2025 with loud music, high energy, and lifted spirits. Winterfest continued the tradition of gathering at the Wyndham Resort in Lancaster for the first weekend in January. This year’s theme was “Fingerprints” and explored the ways that God has created us all to be unique and to leave our mark on the world.
The weekend began Friday night with the first large group gathering. The Winterfest Band, a talented group of young adults, kicked things off with some praise and worship music. The emcees then came out to welcome us before introducing the night’s guest speaker: King David. A young adult volunteer embodied the spirit of the king talking about his struggles to remain faithful and authentic as he left his mark on the world. Following the large group gathering, we broke out into smaller table-talk groups to discuss the night’s theme in more detail.
The evening then transitioned into community life—a couple hours for youth and young adults to have fun and get to know each other. There were inflatable games: human-sized Whack-a-Mole and another game where contestants were bungee-corded to opposite ends of an inflatable and had to try to fight the bungee-cord tension to reach the middle and grab some apples. There were lawn games, music, snacks, and plenty of spots to just sit and chat.
The evening ended with family time, a moment set aside for congregation groups (in our case: our small Upper Susquehanna Synod group) to debrief from the day and have a little more discussion about the theme.
Saturday’s events followed much the same pattern as Friday night. There was a large-group meeting in the morning, where a young adult embodied the character of Mary Magdalene. She gave a moving talk about how the world labels us all kinds of things, but God reminds us that our true name, “Child of God,” is the only one that matters. The band got us up and dancing and then sent us off to table-talks.
After lunch, we were given the opportunity to choose among a series of electives. All of them were discussions of the theme “Fingerprints” from different perspectives. Elective options included:
- Jamming with the Winterfest Band
- A discussion on ecotheology (the intersection of faith and nature)
- The effects of social media on identity
- Leaving your mark with art
- An exploration of the effects of trauma
- Building greater inclusivity for the LGBTQIA+ community
- LAMPa’s advocacy work
- Viewing different Christologies (ways of understanding Jesus)
- Leaving your mark on the next generation
After some more time for rest (and for me, a nap!), we gathered for dinner, followed by another large group session. Saturday night’s gathering centered around a conversation between Charlie Roberts, Director for Faith Formation and Youth Ministry in the Lower Susquehanna Synod, and LaQuinn Thompson, founder of the Code Name: Beast Initiative, a youth esports and gaming program designed to help educate students about the college and career opportunities in gaming and esports. Thompson uses the acronym, B.E.A.S.T. as a way to connect with youth in hopes of inspiring and motivating them to be positive and to strive toward achieving their goals. B.E.A.S.T. stands for Be yourself, Experience life at its full potential, Achieve greatness, Shine like no other, and Testimony. Roberts and Thompson’s conversation explored the ways Thompson has left a positive mark on the people around him.
Large group gave way to another round of table-talks, which in turn led to that evening’s community life—this time, a dance party. We concluded the evening with more family time, reflecting on the day’s themes a little more.
Sunday morning greeted us with a final large group gathering and table-talk session before we gathered for closing worship. Youth and young adults helped to lead the liturgy. Charlie Roberts preached. Pastor Jay Eckman presided. The Winterfest Band rocked the house. And we all were sent off, encouraged to be the unique and special people God created us to be.
Winterfest was a great way to start the year. It did me good not only to see 150 youth and young adults all gathered into one place to engage with each other and their faith, but also to explore those themes for myself, to remember who God has created me to be and to claim that identity without fear or shame. I have a clearer sense of my own “fingerprint” and the ways I can leave my mark on the world thanks to Winterfest.
If you would like to join us for Winterfest in 2026, we will be sending another group! The dates are January 2-4 at the Wyndham Resort in Lancaster. Reach out to us at cml@campmountluther.org and tell us you plan to join! In the meantime, there are lots of opportunities for youth to get together in the Upper Susquehanna Synod. Visit the youth Instagram or send us an email to find out more!