Youth Future

Our Youth Are the Future of the Church

The 38th annual Southeastern District Conference, cleverly scheduled on July 28-30, was led by moderator Jim Hoffman on the theme, "Mostly Together in God's Presence." Emphasising that the youth are the future of the church, but not the present, a total of 94 delegates represented 27 congregations, and a total of 167 adults were in attendance while youth and leaders who were returning home from National Youth Conference in Colorado.

A time was held during the business to have small group discussions as part of the denominational study process Mostly Together: Conversations on Being the Church. Discussion focused on the question, "What does it mean to be the church today?" This was a very productive time of conversation, co-executive minister Martha Roudebush reported. Saturday night's insight session provided leadership training for individuals to lead their congregations in this conversation.

Roudebush said that the district faced a "productive" situation this year. "The parliamentarian was at National Youth Conference," she said, "and the moderator-elect was also at NYC."