Two seminarians converse during the March 5-8 Seminarians Conference in Nashville, Tenn. Photo: HELM

By Ryan Singleton, DisciplesWorld contributing writer

NASHVILLE (3/31/09) — The Disciples Seminarians Conference, held March 5-8 in Nashville, Tenn., drew 67 M.Div. students from 19 theological institutions, according to organizers of the event.

Held during odd-number calendar years, the conference is hosted by the general ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and coordinated by Higher Education & Leadership Ministries (HELM). The conference's aim is to nurture emerging leaders and provide them with networking opportunities.

“The conference was incredibly organized, and because of that, it was incredibly busy and nonstop,” said Adam Frieberg, student at Disciples Divinity House of the University of Chicago. “It was like a boot camp for the general church.”

Ministries of the general church sponsored the conference, and thus had a large presence. In total, 14 general ministries were in attendance, according to HELM’s website.

The theme of this year’s event was “We call ourselves Disciples,” which centered on the four priorities of the church, said Brad Lyons, communications director and program officer of HELM.

Presenters on these priorities included Unbinding the Gospel author Martha Grace Reese, who spoke about church revitalization; Rick Morse and Nadine Burton of New Church Ministry, who addressed the church-wide initiative to establish 1,000 new congregations by the year 2020; April Johnson from Reconciliation Ministry, who discussed the goal of becoming a pro-reconciling, anti-racist church; and Dan Moseley, professor at Christian Theological Seminary, who spoke about the art of leadership.

Moseley’s presentation was among the highlights of the conference, wherein he used a metaphor of jazz music to illustrate the essence of leadership.

“A jazz band has to be led,” he said. “As a leader you have to assert yourself. You have to put your song out there. You have to live your love out loud.”

Moseley drew this parallel because as he has discovered in his own ministry, church “context is extremely fluid and it helps to be able to adapt as we act. Each action within a context changes the system itself, and that will call for a different action next time.”

“Because of this understanding of leadership,” Moseley said, “I believe that the best thing a leader can do is learn how to read their own needs and desires, their own gifts and passions, and nurture those gifts so that they are available to be offered if and when the context calls for them.”

This ability to listen and draw out one’s own gifts, as well as the gifts of others, is a sentiment that Frieberg echoed, noting that the conference emphasized spiritual discernment as a process. “God is going to use us how God will, so pay attention.”

Frieberg also said that the event centered on a portion of the denomination’s Statement of Identity, “wholeness in a fragmented world.”

This was something he found beginning in the opening address, offered by Sharon Watkins, general minister and president, and in the conversations, workshops, and services throughout the weekend.

Such discussions “gave me hope,” Frieberg said. “A lot of people think Disciples are a broken church. If we are also a fragmented world, is there a way for us to find wholeness, as well? I think wholeness for the church and wholeness for the world are going to have to be connected.”

HELM will organize the next Seminarians Conference for the spring of 2011. As always, registration is open to M.Div. Disciples students who have completed at least one year of their graduate education.