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Thursday, November 16, 2006
Contact: Brad Lyons, Director of Communications
(314) 991-3000 - blyons@helmdisciples.org

Leadership Fellows study putting faith into action

All Disciples are called to be ministers, to live lives that are examples of Christ’s call to love and care for each other.

As young Disciples discern their vocation, however, often they are pushed in other directions, away from their passions and toward lucrative or more practical careers. Or ordained ministry isn’t a practical option.

Finding a middle ground — a place where Christ’s call and a career can live together — was the focus of this year’s HELM Leadership Fellows Conference. Seventeen undergraduate students gathered for a crisp fall weekend at the Tall Oaks Camp and Conference Center outside Kansas City to examine how to do ministry beyond the pulpit.

The Leadership Fellows Program nurtures college students who have expressed the desire to lead in their congregations and their church, whether that is a minister or a lay leader. During this conference, students met four people who know how to do ministry without being behind a pulpit:

Robin Hoover, the founder of Humane Borders, explained the Biblical and theological roots for his organization’s mission of providing drinking water to immigrants crossing the treacherous deserts of the American Southwest. Hoover also pastors First Christian Church of Tucson, Arizona.
Amy Gopp, Associate Director of Week of Compassion, explained her call to minister for those in lands devastated by war, famine, or other disasters and how that has led her to the Balkans and Sudan as parts of her ministry.
Anthony Flynn, Operations Pastor and Executive Director of the Power Center Community Development Corporation, described the rapid growth, broad reach, and inspiring creativity of New Direction Christian Church, a Memphis congregation started in 2001 that now has more than 8,000 members and is affiliated with a handful of businesses that provide jobs for an economically challenged neighborhood.
Jamie Frazier, the president and CEO of Bridging the Gap, shared his organization’s mission of sustainable growth and environmental stewardship in the Kansas City area.

Though each guest had a different take on vocation and calling, the theme common to each was clear. “Finding my passions and putting faith into action were messages that really hit home for me,” said Allison Enari, a first-year student at Occidental College from Bloomington, Indiana. “As I continue to find my own path with Christ in a new place, I will prayerfully consider other ways I can passionately put my faith into action.”	Enari
David Weuste, a sophomore at Texas Christian University from Guthrie, Okla., found something different in each presenter. “The resource staff was great talking and hanging out with us throughout the weekend,” he said. “Amy Gopp revived our passions in our lives and ministries. Robin Hoover helped us think about channeling those passions into social change. Jamie Frazier showed us new ways for ministering to God’s great Earth. Anthony Flynn enlightened us to evangelizing and community development in urban areas. This weekend recharged my passion in activism.” Despite their different experiences and ministries, there was common ground.	Weuste
“The common traits that I saw between our speakers was their willingness to step outside the box, let their voice be heard, and not be afraid of what might be said about them,” said Katie Johnson, a first-year student at TCU from Nashville. “Their passion for what they did outshined their fear of doing what hadn’t been done before.” The students also engaged in an intense discussion about the challenges facing women and different ethnic groups in church life. Like many other dialogues, the topic came back to leadership and how to lead. “I learned something that I suppose should have been obvious to me from the beginning... that leadership is just what it says: LEADERship,” Johnson said. “I can’t lead by following someone else’s example. In order to be a leader in this world, I have to do what hasn’t been done. I have to find a need and work to fix it, not just lend my time and efforts to other people’s goals.”	Johnson
Laura O’Donnell appreciated the larger vision brought by Gopp, Hoover, Flynn, and Frazier. “It can be challenging for leaders in the church to think beyond the local congregation,” said the Vanderbilt sophomore from Zionsville, Indiana, “but this weekend provided amazing examples of leadership outside of the church that is inspired by faith. Each of them showed incredible motivation in their own lives.” They also demonstrated the importance of educating yourself on the issues before taking a stand. “They were all very knowledgeable in the work that they were doing,” O’Donnell added. “They all showed how important it is to have a grounded faith and the knowledge to back up that faith when it is tested.”	O'Donnell

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