Young people work as team to deliver address
By Kathy L. Gilbert*
April 24, 2008 | FORT WORTH, Texas (UMNS)
Six strangers came together and found one voice to present the first-ever Young People’s Address to an international delegation of United Methodists.
|
Andrew Craig, 16, of Denver helps give the
first-ever Young People’s Address during the 2008 United Methodist General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose.
|
In a press conference after the address to the 2008 United Methodist General Conference, Becca Farnum, 17, said the six have become “good friends,” adding she hopes the end of the address will not be the end of their relationship.
The six received resounding approval from the 992 delegates and were asked to talk about what experiences in the church made them into the young role models they are today.
Annie Arnoldy, 29, said growing up in The United Methodist Church helped “form” her, but it was pastors who took a personal interest in her that “transformed” her.
“I fell in love with the church,” said Arnoldy, who will be ordained as a United Methodist pastor in June.
Jason Rathod, 24, credited a summer internship with the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, his father—a United Methodist pastor—and his college pastor with helping him become involved in leadership roles in the church.
Even though he started out in the Episcopal Church, Andrew Craig, 16, said it was United Methodists who encouraged him after he gave his first speech in a United Methodist church. That support led him to send in an audition tape to the United Methodist Division on Ministries with Young People, Board of Discipleship.
Kira Volkova, 24, described herself as a “non-Christian” who joined The United Methodist Church when she was 10 years old after she met some United Methodist missionaries in Russia.
“Their example inspired me to become involved,” she said. Volkova is also a candidate for ordination in the church.
Matt Lockett, 20, said young people need to be asked about what they would be interested in doing in church.
“There is nothing you can say that will ever make young people stay in church,” he said. “You have to give them some responsibility. I didn’t go to church at all until I was 14 because my mother kept telling me I should.”
*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.
News media contact: Kathy Gilbert, e-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org.
Phone calls can be made to the General Conference Newsroom in Fort Worth, Texas, at (817) 698-4405 until May 3. Afterward, call United Methodist News Service in Nashville, Tenn., at (615) 742-5470.
Related Articles
General Conference headlines
Resource
General Conference 2008
Young People’s Ministries | 
