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MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (July 19, 2012) — Ten years ago, Phyllis Fox welcomed 31 teenagers to the Milligan College campus for the first Youth in Ministry (YiM) Student Leadership Conference.
This summer, she is expecting almost 100 youth from 13 states and 55 churches for the 10th anniversary of the conference, July 22-28, at Milligan.
“What sets this conference apart is its singular purpose of helping teens explore God’s call for their lives,” said Fox, director of YiM and church relations at Milligan. “Our goal is to help awaken that call in them. Our alumni are serving in ministry, medicine, missions, you name it. Whatever God calls them to, that is their ministry.”
Over the last decade, 582 students have attended the conference. However, Fox looks at more than the numbers to judge the impact of the conference on teens’ lives.
“I’ve seen it come full circle,” Fox said. “One of the students who attended the second year of the conference is now serving a church in Seminole, Fla., and he’s bringing eight of his students to the conference this year. We also have two people who attended as students in the early years and are now returning as workshop leaders.”
YiM and the Student Leadership Conference grew out of a 2002 grant from the Lilly Endowment. The purpose of the program, which is based at Milligan, was to help teens determine their vocational calling and decide how they can best minister as a Christian in that career, whatever it may be.
“We have continued to receive funds from the Lilly Endowment because this experiment has succeeded,” Fox said. “We are putting more ministers in the church, as well as equipping more people for various areas of church service.”
During the year, YiM hosts several workshops and events geared toward teens. Summer is particularly busy for YiM, as it sponsors two camp teams made up of Milligan students. These teams travel to church camps throughout the country, including Appalachian Christian Camp, to lead worship and minister. In addition, YiM hosts the teen convention at the annual North American Christian Convention, which was held earlier this month in Orlando.
But the signature YiM event each year is the upcoming Student Leadership Conference.
During their week at Milligan, the high school students will participate in a session that helps them discern their spiritual gifts. They also will choose from ministry skills workshops focusing on preaching, performance arts, multimedia, leadership, children’s and youth ministry, missions, counseling, career search and intimacy with God. Leading the workshops are professors, as well as experienced and effective ministers and church leaders from the Tri-Cities and throughout the country.
“We haven’t changed the format of the conference too much over the years because everything has worked well,” Fox said. “As we’ve seen new needs arise in churches, we have added a few workshops such as multimedia and performance arts.”
Because 30 of the attendees this year are returning to the conference for a second time, YiM also added a “Leadership 201” workshop, led by Dave McAuley, founder and president of Summit Leadership Foundation in Johnson City.
The conference includes worship services, guest speakers, outings to local sites such as Roan Mountain, and special sessions, including a performance of the musical comedy “Star Queen,” on Wednesday, July 25, at 7 p.m., in the Mary B. Martin Auditorium of Milligan’s Seeger Memorial Chapel. The performance is free and open to the public.
“Every year during the Student Leadership Conference, YiM brings a special guest to Milligan and plans an event that is open to the entire community,” Fox said.
The musical, written and performed by former Milligan campus minister Tommy Oaks and his son, John Thomas Oaks, is a comedic retelling of the story of the biblical book of Esther.
“Our theme this year is ‘A Life Less Ordinary,’ and the story of Esther is a perfect inspiration for the students because she was an ordinary girl, a teenager, who was called to save a nation,” Fox said. “The Bible is full of people who are unlikely candidates for ministry, and we hope that the students who come to this conference will be able to discover the ways God can use them, too.”