Encouraging young leaders

The 2023 Local Mission appeal focuses on supporting our young people in finding their leadership potential within our church. In a recent episode of the LCANZ’s Laudio podcast, ‘Young leaders – our hope and joy’, we heard from Elsa and Joel, two young adults using their gifts and talents in their churches and wider communities.

Joel was encouraged by members of his congregation who could see his gifts and talents and guided him to Grow Leadership. This helped him to work on his leadership skills and find the confidence to use his talents within the church, and he is now a pastor in the Lutheran Church. ‘Youth and young people are not the future of the church; they are the now of our church,’ Joel says.

Elsa says, ‘Young adults will sometimes say “fix this”, and then they’ll come, but in all honesty, we [young adults] don’t know how to fix it either and are not really sure what we want. But if we feel accepted and welcomed, then we can all try and figure out the future together’. Elsa has found great support in using her gifts and talents and is using them worldwide with Lutheran World Federation.

We encourage you to listen to the podcast and be inspired by two young adults who were accepted, supported and welcomed into their church and given the opportunity to serve in leadership.

How can you and your congregation welcome young people and give them opportunities to serve? How can you encourage young people to use their God-given gifts and talents to serve one another and their church?

For more ideas for encouraging gifts and talents of all ages, download Grow Ministries’ Equipping Sheet.