Tomorrow's Leaders Today
June 2005 edition

Five new students added to HELM Leadership Fellows Program
Five emerging leaders in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) have been named as the fifth class of HELM Leadership Fellows. HELM Leadership Fellows are selected based on their leadership potential, church participation, and academic promise. The five new Leadership Fellows, who will all be incoming freshmen during the 2005-2006 academic year, are Esther Lee (TCU), Laura O'Donnell (Vanderbilt), David Weuste (TCU), Zech Wilson (Chapman), and Felicia Wright (TCU).

Students called to social action by new STEP vision
A clarified vision calling college students to social activism and theological dialogue are the results of March's meeting of the Student Ecumenical Partnership Leadership Team. STEP is the primary national ministry for college Disciples and is an ecumenical partnership with the United Church of Christ. The four Disciples students and two UCC students who came to the St. Louis meeting revisited the ministry's roots and created a vision that they hope will strengthen STEP in the next few years. Working together, the students created a new, succinct mission statement: We are ecumenical college students called by the Gospel of Jesus Christ to oppose injustice and transform dialogue into action.

HELM receives $909K Lilly Endowment grant for new minister support program
Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded a bridge grant of $909,500 to Higher Education and Leadership Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to provide five additional years of operating and development expenses for the Bethany Fellowships program.

Lynchburg College's Tiner Named Winner of 2005 T.A. Abbott Award for Faculty Excellence
Dr. Elza Tiner, professor of English at Lynchburg College, is the recipient of the 2005 T.A. Abbott Award for Faculty Excellence from Higher Education and Leadership Ministries. The award is the most prestigious recognition that the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) gives to faculty members of Disciples-related colleges and universities.