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HELMdisciples.org > About HELM > HELM and Campus News

Applications available for
HELM Leadership Fellows Program

December 7, 2010
Contact: Brad Lyons, Director of Communications
(314) 991-3000 - blyons@helmdisciples.org

If you're heading to college in the fall and plan to be a leader in your church — as a pastor or as a layperson — you should consider applying for the HELM Leadership Fellows Program. It could change the way you look at the world — and yourself.

"There was a time in college when I felt lost. I questioned my passions, my ambitions, and everything I thought I knew," says Esther Lee, a 2009 graduate of Texas Christian University and the HELM Leadership Fellows Program. "HELM taught me that successful and world-class leaders were not made overnight and certainly did not always have everything figured out. They are the great leaders that they are because of their failures and mistakes. Today, in the professional world, I still question myself daily, but my attitude is entirely different. I have accepted that the questioning process will never end and I am okay with that. I now know that in order to improve myself and really be the leader God has called me to be at home, at work and in the world, questioning myself is essential."

College students who want to find out how their leadership skills can help further God's calling to demonstrate true community, deep Christian spirituality, and a passion for justice can apply now for the program. Eligible students will begin studies in the fall of 2011 at an accredited four-year college; this includes current high school seniors, community college students, or students who have graduated from high school but have not yet started undergraduate studies.

Applications are available on HELM's web site, www.helmdisciples.org.

The unique program provides several different ways to help students explore and strengthen their leadership potential:
  • Covenants: Students design their own covenant with HELM describing how they plan to work on developing their leadership abilities. Fellows craft their own leadership development project in cooperation with a campus chaplain, director of church relations, ecumenical campus minister or another appropriate mentor. 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 2010 conference in Colorado Springs focused on expressing individual faith while building communities with those whose beliefs and opinions differ from our own.

  • Summer internships: HELM works with Leadership Fellows to identify internships that will expose students to the wide variety of ways Disciples minister.

  • Grant: Fellows receive a $2,000 scholarship at the beginning of each school year for educational use.

  • Intangibles: HELM connects students with mentors within the denomination, providing students with networking and insight beyond normal connections. Students maintain regular contact with HELM staff and other denominational leaders via e-mail, denominational meetings, and informal get-togethers. This network of Disciples has helped some find additional financial aid, make decisions about transferring to a new college, or discover God's call to ministry.

Entering its eleventh year, the Leadership Fellows Program has drawn from all areas of church life. Seventy-eight students have represented 25 regions of the church. They come from large congregations and small, from major cities and small towns. They attend Disciples colleges and universities, public institutions, and private institutions affiliated with other denominations. While many graduates have gone on to ordained ministry, a majority are laypeople. This diversity gives Fellows a new way to look at the church they have grown up in — the church they will serve in many different ways.

Applicants must be members of 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.

The application requires an essay, three references, and official transcripts, and all materials must be postmarked no later than March 15, 2011. All identifying information is redacted before applications are reviewed by a scholarship committee. Students will be notified by April 30 whether they have been named as fellows.

Guidelines and application forms can be downloaded free online at www.helmdisciples.org or may be requested by calling HELM at 314-991-3000.

HELM works to nurture transforming leadership for the church in partnership with Disciples congregations, higher education institutions, campus ministry programs, regions, general ministries, and other parts of the church.



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