I was introduced to HELM through the Disciples Leadership Institute in 2007. I was a newcomer to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and I had just finished my second year of seminary. I was still pretty clueless about this denomination that I was a part of and definitely did not know disciples outside of the churches I attended and my seminary classmates. One would think that moving from Atlanta, Georgia to Indianapolis, Indiana (the DOC Mecca) would instantly help create one's identity within the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) as well as a circle of colleagues and confidants to walk this journey with me.

I was told that Higher Education and Leadership Ministries desires to "bring together a small group of about 40 emerging leaders for four days of worship, conversation, collaboration, fellowship, and recreation in order to know each others' lives and ministries, learn from each other, and support each other's leadership. They wanted to create an ongoing and growing organization of emerging leaders." So sounds great right? Right! But what does all that mean?

Initially I was excited about the opportunity but while sitting on the plane I had some time to think. Will I meet a bunch of church camp people who have known each other since childhood? Will this be a group of people, as the old folks say, "that are so spiritually bound they are no earthly good"? Will I be the only young African American woman, again? I don't speak Disciple. Will I understand their Disciple language? Will I be able to relate to anyone at all?

What I found, what I experienced, what I was able to establish was more than I could have ever imagined. There were young people and not so young people. There were people new to Disciples like me and some of the generational Disciples as well. It was a small group with great diversity. Through large group discussions, small group biblical explorations, collective worship services, the powerful witness and response sessions and of course daily communion I fell in love. I fell in love with the ability to have difficult conversations about difficult issues with a group of people who had very different opinions, backgrounds and perspectives. I fell in love with experiencing a variety or worship styles and practices. I fell in love with the people.

Thanks to HELM and its Disciples Leadership Institute, I began to develop relationships with Disciples of varying hues. I learned quite a bit about the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and I was given a new source of motivation and companionship on what can be an exhaustingly lonely journey in ministry.