As many of you know, each year HELM brings together all of the Leadership Fellows for a weekend-long conference to explore what it means to be a leader. At these conferences we are given the opportunity to learn and grow together as a community, but also to listen to brilliant leaders in our denomination. I have had the pleasure to engage with the director of Week of Compassion, editor of Disciples World Magazine, directors of organizations and ministers of churches from around the country, a retired pastor who served the same congregation for over 30 years and who also served as interim General Minister and President for Sharon Watkins, and other Disciple leaders. These people have shown me how far my leadership skills can take me and have given me practical advice for the present and the future. I know that I and the other Fellows cherish the relationships that we have built with the people who took a weekend out of their lives to hang out with some crazy college kids and explore leadership and ministry in all its forms.

While the conference resource people are always wonderful, I think the most rewarding part of my HELM experience, and I'm sure the other Fellows would agree has been my relationship with the other Leadership Fellows and with the HELM staff. We may not get to see each other but once or twice a year, but I still feel like there is a special bond within the program. We are all very different, with many different styles of leadership as well as life goals, but I am inspired by each of the Fellows I have met.

This year was especially difficult for HELM and the Leadership Fellows program. One of the Leadership Fellows, Jenny Faenza, passed away in November. We had all seen her at the conference in St. Louis just a few weeks before, and she was as spunky and driven as ever. While we were in St. Louis, Jenny told us all about her call to ministry, and how she felt God had worked in her life. I will never forget how driven Jenny was and how passionate about life and passionate about her calling she was. After Jenny's passing I feel like we all took a hard look at ourselves and the impact we have on the world, and the HELM staff helped us all work through the grief, but discover what it was that made Jenny so special, and how we can translate that into our own lives. Jenny made such a huge impact in just a short time by being herself, loving other people, and loving God, and I try to honor her memory by doing the same.

Now, I know that I have talked a lot about my relationships, but I think that is what makes HELM so great. HELM provides opportunities for young college leaders, for seminarians, and for Disciple pastors and professionals to come together, form relationships, and be enriched and inspired by one another. One of the things I was always taught growing up is that church is about family, it is about forming relationships with other people, and it is about learning from the people around you. I have learned a lot with HELM, and I hope that I have provided something to the conversation. And you know what is so wonderful about HELM? They continue to bring people together and foster new relationships.