 | |
| UMC young adult clergy at the Church and Society 2024 Young Adult Clergy Leadership Forum, Washington, D.C., October 2024. |
Rev. David Keyworth
From October 28-30, 2024, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Young Adult Clergy Leadership Forum at the United Methodist Building in D.C. It was an opportunity to gather with young clergy across our connection. Clergy from across the United States and one clergy from Southern Germany attended.
We had opportunities to worship and share in communion, eat together, and have conversation around various issues that were important to us and our ministry contexts. Each day members of the Global Board of Church and Society shared with us their portfolios and the topics that they were passionate about and advocating for.
We had the honor and the privilege to meet with Reverend Dr. Margaret Grun Kibben, the chaplain for the House of Representatives. She shared with us her call to ministry and how she became the chaplain for the House of Representatives. She explained her role as chaplain in the House and how she strives to care for all people regardless of status and political party.
We spent the final day together preparing for a visit with our congressional representatives or their staff. Another clergy from the Western PA Conference and I met with three members of Senator Bob Casey’s staff. I shared with Senator Casey’s staff my experience relating to In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and how my son, Joshua, was born and is a part of our family because of this medical procedure. I expressed that because of my experiences, I am an advocate for IVF and for the families who struggle through the pains and hurts of miscarriage and loss. I thanked Senator Casey for voting yes on Senate Bill 4445 - Right to IVF Act, which protects families who need this medical procedure to have a family.
This leadership forum was a great way to connect with other young clergy and to create lasting friendships. There is a group of us that still connect and chat weekly to support, encourage, and give advice to each other.
I really appreciated hearing from Rev. Dr. Margaret Grun Kibben about how she interacts and works with people across the aisle in a divided space, and how we as pastors in local churches can do the same. I appreciated hearing from the General Board of Church and Society about the hard work they do on a daily basis.
One new idea that I hope to implement within my ministry is using new ways of having difficult conversations with individuals around difficult topics. This leadership forum gave me tools of how discuss to our social principles in the life the church.
***
Find out more about the Young Adult Clergy Leadership Forum at https://tinyurl.com/38xsezdv
