The Next Narrative

Nicholas A. Johnson

Princeton Theological Seminary
American Baptist Church
FTE Congregational Fellow ('10)

July 08, 2010

Staying Connected

From of our 2010 Leaders in Ministry Conference in Boston, MA

Today my roundtable group had our last meeting. I would not consider myself a very sentimental person, but I found myself a little upset about this meeting. Over the past few days, my group had become quite close. We spent our together each night reflecting on each group member’s call story and why each person believed that God had led him or her to this conference. Every story was very distinct from the next; however, these distinctions brought us together in ways that would normally take years to happen. Now that our final hours at the conference were approaching, I realized that I would probably not see some of my fellow conference participants again. Suddenly, I became a little sad that such a good thing was coming to an end.

Fortunately, I was not the only person in my group who felt this way. As we sat together for the last time, a moment of quietness enveloped because we all understood that we would probably never gather together like this again. However, we did not let this realization undermine the last three days of testimony and fellowship that we shared. Our roundtable leader then presented us with a charge: she asked that each group member name a specific task that he or she would do to stay connected to the group. The task could be anything such as adding each group member as a friend on Facebook or talking about his or her experience with the roundtable group to his or her home congregation. We also had to commit to a timeframe to which this task would be completed. After we were given this charge, every group member verbally spelled out what he or she would do to stay connected. I think making these commitments to our roundtable group was a rather fitting way to end a very powerful experience.

To the other FTE fellows participating in the Excellence in Ministry conference, I would like to extend the same charge. I am quite sure that all of you will remember this conference for years to come. I certainly met some amazing people over the last few days who I share much in common with. Although we represent a variety of denominations and perspectives, we all are young adults who love God and the Church. Let us not lose sight of this common value that we share. After we leave this conference, we can easily go back to our churches, schools, and families, and distance ourselves from people we met throughout this conference. I hope, however, that each fellow would commit him/herself to some specific task in order to stay connected to other 2010 fellows. Even if that task is as simple as adding 10 people from the conference as Facebook friends or sending e-mails every now and then, I think we go a long way at fostering a lasting bond with each other. We created a phenomenal story at this conference in just three days, and this story should not end when we leave tomorrow. Therefore, I expect to see some friend requests on Facebook within the next week or so!