The HELM Leadership Fellows Program may be the only fellowship that comes with a warning label attached:

Warning: May Change Your Life.

• Covenants: Students design their own covenant with HELM describing how they plan to work on developing their leadership abilities. Fellows work in cooperation with a campus chaplain, director of church relations, ecumenical campus minister or another appropriate mentor to develop leadership skills. Many participate in planning and leading campus ministry programs or similar activities, while others lead youth groups in local congregations or engage in outreach programs.
• Leadership Conference: Fellows also attend annual leadership conferences, where they learn from Disciples leaders, pastors, and each other while building bonds to support each other as their leadership skills grow. The 2004 conference in Tampa, Florida, helped students learn how to maintain a healthy spiritual life in the face of the pressures of leadership. A session on Disciples structure and life is planned for 2005.
• Summer internships: HELM works with Leadership Fellows to identify internships that will expose students to the wide variety of ways Disciples minister. During the summer of 2004, students interned at churches in Kansas, Missouri, and Washington, D.C., as well as the HELM office.
• Grant: Fellows receive a $2,000 scholarship at the beginning of each school year for educational use.
• Intangibles: Students maintain regular contact with HELM staff and other denominational leaders via e-mail and denominational meetings. More than one-third of the class attended the Charlotte General Assembly. This network of Disciples has helped some find additional financial aid, make decisions about transferring to a new college, or - in the most dramatic cases - discover God's call to ministry. Of the 11 graduates, eight have headed to seminary or are already working in congregations.

Current high school seniors and community college students planning to attend a regionally accredited American college or university as a full-time student beginning in 2005 are eligible. Applicants must participate in a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) congregation and express a commitment to serve the church as a clergy or lay leader. Participation in the program can be renewed up to three additional years. Guidelines and application forms can be downloaded free online at www.helmdisciples.org or may be requested by calling HELM at 314-991-3000. The application requires an essay, three references, and official transcripts, and all materials must be postmarked no later than March 15, 2005. Students will be notified by April 30 whether they have been named as fellows.

As the program enters its fourth year, 37 students have participated in the program. Based on the dozens of qualified applicants that have to be refused each year due to budget constraints, the HELM Leadership Fellows Program could easily double in size.