It’s no secret that many churches don’t have large budgets – if any budget at all! As a ministry resource provider, Sparkhouse donates time, resources, and money to churches to help them spark faith in their communities. This year at the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering, Sparkhouse donated $2,000 to one lucky church.

Get to know our winner

Our grand prize giveaway winner is Anne from Faith Lutheran Church located in northern Illinois. She’s been a volunteer for her church for over 20 years.

After letting the donation sink in a little bit, we recently interviewed Anne about her church, Youth Gathering experience, and her plans with the donation.

How did your youth group like Youth Gathering?

Our group really enjoyed listening to the diverse speakers at Mass Gathering. Each speaker brought something different to the table with their unique background. They also loved Service Day at the local community center where they did painting projects and outdoor work.

What was your big takeaway from Youth Gathering?

My favorite thing was going to Mass Gathering each night. Not only were the speakers amazing, but I got the chance to witness so many kids absorbing Jesus and worshipping together. It’s so important for kids to be with other kids who are aiming for the same lifestyles. And now they all got to go back home and talk about their experience with their friends who weren’t at Youth Gathering.

So, tell us about your plans to spend the $2,000 donation for your church.

For a smaller church with not a ton of budget, this will be a huge help to get us started on a few ideas. We typically have about 15 kids of all different ages get together during Sunday service which is our youth time. Getting our younger kids excited about upcoming high school years is important. With that, we would love to use this money to re-vamp the designated youth room to make it feel like theirs. The renovation would also have the potential to be a meeting place during the week instead of just Sundays. Another idea we have is to start a scholarship program for summer Lutheran camp.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

Thank you for the great surprise! I never expected to win anything like that. Our kids were super excited to hear about us winning. It was a huge bonus on top of an awesome weekend!

A big thanks to Anne for taking the time to speak with us, and we can’t wait to follow up to see what her church does with our donation! Interested in learning more? Click here to watch our interview with Anne at the show!