By Mark A. Taylor
This summer CHRISTIAN STANDARD wants to profile leaders in the Christian churches and churches of Christ who are 40 years old or younger.
We”re focusing especially on church leaders””paid or volunteer, working for local churches, on the mission field, in a Christian college, or some other parachurch ministry.
Maybe this leader is a local church minister, or the president or dean or teacher at a college, or the head of a missions agency, or a writer or missionary or musician.
Whatever their calling, the younger leaders we”ll feature all will have this in common: These influencers are serving today in a way that will shape our future tomorrow.
We need your help to identify these leaders.
This month, please send a brief recommendation to the CHRISTIAN STANDARDÂ office. You may mail your note to 8805 Governor”s Hill Drive, Suite 400, Cincinnati, OH 45249. Or, better yet, send your e-mail to [email protected]. Put “Young Leaders” in the subject line.
Here”s what your recommendation should include:
“¢ Candidate”s name, place of service, and role in that church or ministry.
“¢ 100-400 words to tell us why this person”s leadership will lead us into the next decade and where you think they”ll take us. Their influence should be wider than their own, individual ministry.
“¢ Please verify the candidate”s birthdate; only those 40 years old or younger will be considered for this recommendation.
“¢ Your name and address.
All submissions must be received in our office by Friday, February 1, 2013.
This spring we”ll notify the featured leaders and gather photos and descriptions of their work for our July issue.
This is the most exciting time in our lifetime to be a leader in our fellowship of churches. Think of all we”re doing in church planting and missions, multisite and externally focused ministry, missional outreach as well as megachurch influence.
All of this is happening because of committed, creative leaders among us. And many of them are 40 years old or younger. Their work today will shape the face of our movement”s ministry in coming decades. Our plan is to encourage this good work by lifting up examples to inspire all of us in our service.
Please take this request seriously. We want to hear from you. We”ll consult with our contributing editors and other influencers to find and feature these leaders. But you may know someone we don”t know. We”re looking forward to reading the recommendations of our readers.
What a great opportunity to be encouraged for the future. I’m looking forward to meeting many of the young leaders throughout our churches in your articles this summer.
God Bless.