John F. Kennedy famously charged his fellow Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” These words inspired a generation of young Americans to rally behind the youngest elected president in U.S. history. Before this call to action, however, the former president committed himself to facing the problems of his day: “I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation.” My fellow Advent Christians, are you committed to facing the problems of today without wishing you could swap places in time with someone else?

The honest answer for many is no, though perhaps said in different ways. Many have openly bemoaned the loss of our key pastoral training centers, Aurora and Berkshire, for almost four decades. If we constantly live in the past, we forsake the responsibility that we face today. If we romanticize the days gone by, our view of the future will never be brighter than what once was. As leaders we must be diligent to confirm our commitment to those who will come after us.

Today, there are many good initiatives across the denomination that are committed to training leaders. The problem before us requires creative solutions from multiple sources. The local church serves as the epicenter through which positive change must be affected. For all the problems that today offers, churches need to be invested in training future leaders. The simple reality for many AC churches is that future leaders must be home grown rather than imported.

Consider your own local context. Who within your church could be a future leader, perhaps even a missionary, a church planter or a pastor? Presently, they might be a high schooler, or younger; maybe they are not even potty trained yet! Regardless, the next generation is the future of your local church. Do you act like they are? Perhaps it’s time to prioritize the training our children are receiving so that they might carry the gospel with them and follow God’s call on their lives. Instead of an afterthought, instruct and empower the youngest to grow in their gifts. Invest in the future servants of God’s kingdom.

Our current leadership crisis is well known and stems from a lack of empowering leaders for tomorrow. Consider your local conference. Who could God use 20 years from now? Depending on your current age, God could still very well be using you! However, there are many conferences that would be devoid of leadership altogether. This requires a prioritization to incorporate and empower emerging leaders by those presently in leadership. We need “young, emerging leaders in our churches and ministry organizations who are not fearful of the future.”¹ We cannot train leaders for tomorrow if we are afraid to creatively solve the difficult problems of today. Denominationally we are entering uncharted territory that requires a willingness to try new things, fail and learn from them to continue moving forward.

It was only after a firm commitment to face the problems of today that JFK asked his fellow Americans to do the same. Within our denomination, we need to look more toward the future, while embracing the difficulties of today.

• Local churches: what leaders are you investing in?
• Leadership: what opportunities are you providing for emerging leaders?
• Emerging leaders: what are you building today to provide for tomorrow’s leaders?
• Advent Christians: how are you prioritizing future generations?

Leadership development requires an emphasis on tomorrow for the sake of those who follow in our footsteps. If we neglect today, we bequeath today’s and tomorrow’s problems to those that follow us. Instead, let us work towards answering these questions together and encouraging one another to find creative solutions. Our future depends on our willingness to consider others more than ourselves and the leaders that we train today as we proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and his kingdom (Acts 20:24).