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HELMdisciples.org > About HELM > HELM Leadership Fellows > Kelly Rand
August 3, 2005

Tomorrow Starts Now: Young Adults at General Assembly

Kelly RandI was blessed to have spent this past week at the 2005 General Assembly in Portland, Oregon, reuniting with old friends and mentors and making new ones. I have settled in for my last week of work here at Union Avenue and am glad that I have the chance to thank everybody who enabling my first GA experience - the congregation of Union Avenue Christian Church and a donor to Higher Education and Leadership Ministries.

For me, one of the most exciting aspects of the assembly was the recognition of the Young Adult Commission (YAC) by the general church. It's a movement that's come a long way in a short time.

The efforts of Disciples young adults to unite and communicate began right after the 2003 General Assembly in Charlotte. The general ministry position for young adults had recently been eliminated, and though we understood the financial reasoning for the cut, we still felt abandoned. Soon after Charlotte, the Young Adult listserv was started to facilitate conversation between young adult Disciples across the U.S. and Canada.

Then, on the first weekend in February of this year, the newly formed Young Adult Commission gathered in Indianapolis to take the leap from conversation to action. YAC is a leadership team of nine young-adult ministers and lay leaders from across the country and two staff persons from general ministries, Jane Lawrence, Executive Vice President of Disciples Home Missions, and Brad Lyons, Communications Director and Program Officer for HELM. Commission member Beau Underwood says the commission is looking to do three things:

  • Communicate with young adults nationally,
  • Advocate for young adults on the general and regional levels, and
  • Empower young adults to start ministries on their campuses, at their churches and in their regions.
It was an incredible task to go from what little they had to work with - communication between approximately 100 young adults via the listserv - to what they have created. The February meeting resulted in an innovative communication network. A Young Adult website (www.docya.org), designed and maintained by HELM, keeps Disciples up-to-date on young-adult news and events. An avenue for continual dialogue has also emerged in the form of an online networking tool and blog ring called Disciples Connect (www.diciplesconnect.com) created by the commission's Nathan Hill, a Gethsemane Mission Year participant at National City Christian Church. Disciples Connect enable young adults across the U.S. and Canada to access other disciples profiles, share ideas via blogs, and conduct online chats.

Communication is one thing. Action is another. The commission called regions into action by sending a letter to all regional ministers requesting the name and contact information of the regional staff person for young adult ministries. They also asked that a small portion of each region's budget be set aside for young adults.

The primary focus of the meeting, though, was to plan events for this year's General Assembly to ensure that young adults were present, visible and communicating. Scheduled activities for young adults at the assembly included daily resource groups, aftersessions for young adult clergy and lay leaders, an Open Mic Night, and Young Adult Night Out. All of the activities gave young adults a chance to gather, connect, dialogue and brainstorm.

"It was amazing to see all the young adults from across the U.S. and Canada getting to know each other or catching up with old friends," said YAC member and HELM Leadership Fellow Alison Williams. "With my role as a member of the Young Adult Commission, I helped plan young adult events and was able to receive feedback on their success. After leaving Portland I'm even more excited about next assembly in Fort Worth and the Young Adults who will be attending it."

Perhaps the commission's most important move was the passing of the "Tomorrow Starts Now" Resolution. At the February meeting, the Young Adult Commission coined its motto, "Tomorrow Starts Now," expressing that while we as young adults are indeed the future of the church, we have the skills, gifts and passion to make a difference now. The resolution points out that the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) was "established by 19-year-old Alexander Campbell and 26-year-old Barton Stone," recognizes that young adults will provide the new wave of leadership and vitality that the church is seeking, and calls for the denomination as a whole to "unite with young adults as we proclaim 'Tomorrow Starts Now'."

On a more personal note, while I recognize that it is difficult to unite such a diverse group - young adults range in age from "18ish to 30something" and are students, non-students, lay leaders, clergy, seminarians, parents, newlyweds, and so much more - it was inspiring to see connections made and ideas fostered in spite of those differences. The energy of the Young Adult Commission and the network being built by young adults across the nation in conjunction with my work here at Union Avenue has truly shown me that much of the church is willing step up and start with us. Tomorrow starts now - may it be so.

Kelly Rand is in her second year as a HELM Leadership Fellow and is a member of St. Andrew Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Olathe, Kansas.



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