Where is the church going? What makes the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) unique and gives us such hope and potential? And what do new leaders need to know to live into this vision?

Answering those questions - and creating many, many more questions - was the core of the eighth annual HELM Leadership Fellows Conference, held this year at National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C.

Eighteen students from across the country and across the church gathered for a weekend of reflection, community, and worship. With questions about Disciples faith, structure, and theology as the foundation for the conference, a panel of distinguished leaders in the church provided some of the answers but left the door open for more exploration.

"This weekend gave us an amazing look into the different areas of our denomination, from general ministries to long-term pastoral care to church history and to new church starts," said David Weuste, a junior at Texas Christian University from Guthrie, Okla. "Overall we got a great view of our church in general."

• Opening the conference was Marshall Dunn, pastor of University Christian Church in Hyattville, Md., for more than 30 years and recently the interim deputy general minister of the denomination. Dunn offered his ideas on how leaders, both pastors and lay leaders, can create and support a healthy congregation or renovate a struggling congregation.

• Newell Williams, a leading historian on the Stone-Campbell movement, and the president of Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas, offered an overview of the Disciples' unique history and theology. Also the current moderator of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Williams helped Fellows take a fresh look at how our ecumenical roots offer great opportunities in our changing culture.

• Currently Yvonne Gilmore-Essig serves as interim pastor at First Christian Church in Baltimore, but she's also in the process of starting a new congregation in Columbus, Ohio. She offered insight on starting new churches, ranging from evangelism to locating a building for her new congregation.

• Sharon Watkins, the General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), offered a big-picture view of the Disciples right now and what the near-future may bring, particularly regarding youth and young adult ministries. This was Watkins' first visit with Leadership Fellows and the third time a general minister has joined the conference.