By Ed Barnett
The Seventh-day Adventist Church was started by teenagers and young people, many of whom were in their twenties. Ellen White’s first vision came when she was seventeen years old. But today, we see our church being led by mostly older people. One can understand part of the theory behind why older people are leading, but I really feel the church is missing out by not including our young members in leadership roles, and in a greater numbers.
At the recent General Conference session in San Antonio, we often heard about young people needing to be leaders. However, as I looked around, it was obvious that it was not happening—at least not at that level. A majority of the delegates are selected by position—union or conference presidents, for instance, which require years of experience.
What can we do on the conference level, I wondered? What could be done in the more than 130 churches and companies that make up our conference that would make a significant change in representation in governance?
Currently, our executive committee has a few openings, and I am determined to present the names of some of the young church members in our conference who are called by God to be leaders and who would be representative of our congregations and the conference itself. My reasons are as follows:
Young people bring a different perspective to the way our church is run from those who have sat around the table for many years.
They have energy and enthusiasm, which comes with being young.
They are members in good and regular standing and deserve a voice.
They can be very creative in their questions, enabling us to look at things in a new light.
They often have a “can do” attitude that has in some cases faded away in older people.”
The broader the perspective brought to the committee, the healthier our committee will become.
Recently, I attended a board meeting with Adventist Health System. I met a young couple employed in our hospital system. One of them was a director in a hospital in Orlando, Florida. The other was a senior financial officer with the eight hospitals there. Both are still in their twenties, and holding senior and important positions with the Adventist Health System—yet, neither has even been asked to take a major role in church. I couldn’t help but wonder why we aren’t reaching out for the young talent that abounds in our church?
It is quite shocking to see the increasing numbers of young people going out the back door of the church. As a concerned church leader, I can’t help but ask if they were sitting at the table where decisions are being made about the church, would that back door perhaps begin to close?
I challenge all of our churches and schools to consider putting young people on boards and committees. Our conference and church will be better for it.
–Ed Barnett is RMC president.