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Where's the Fire?
Students Develop a Passion for Leading
By Ginger Shepherd
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This year's conference will be opened up to all college-age students who want to learn more about Christian leadership development, said Dr. Connie Sjoberg, ORU advisor to the student event. The Ignite student leaders decided to open the conference to area churches with college-age student groups as well as to Christian colleges in the region.
"It was their passion," Dr. Sjoberg said.
They expect to have students from St. Louis and Kansas as well as from Texas Christian University. Attendance is expected to exceed 600 students at this Ignite, which will be held in Christ's Chapel on the ORU campus in Tulsa. The conference is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Feb. 3 and 4.
"Ignite is an event designed and developed by ORU students to help inspire others to tap into their passions, discover their influences and understand the God-given leadership that resides inside each of them," student directors David Lawrence and Jacquelyn Brydon wrote in the welcoming letter for the conference. "The belief is that leadership extends beyond titles and positions, into the core of a person. As the core is developed, people will rise up in their purpose, naturally leading those around them--not solely with principles and concepts, but out of whom it is that God created them to be."
Those in attendance will hear from Dr. Tim Elmore, leadership trainer and writer (and ORU alumnus); David Salyers, Chick-fil-A vice president of marketing; and John and Lisa Bevere, hosts of "The Messenger." All speakers will focus on "becoming a Christian leader in this generation."
Even though the conference is an exciting event about leadership, developing skills is more than a one-time thing. Sjoberg said for the last four years, the Ignite Mentoring Program has followed the conference. Each year has brought growth and a greater emphasis and intentionality to the peer-mentoring program for ORU students.
Students who participate are assigned to a group that is led by a mentoring group student leader. While in the groups, students learn more about leadership by dissecting information from the conference and studying a book by Dr. Tim Elmore called Habitudes: The Art of Leading Others. Groups meet for about eight to nine weeks after the conference. Students can sign up for mentoring groups online at ignite.oru.edu or at the Ignite conference.
While the conference is set up as a development tool for students, it is also a chance for students to learn by doing.
"It is a student-initiated, student-organized, and student-led event," Sjoberg said, explaining that as the university liaison, she is on hand to assist the students.
The 15-strong conference planning team has a variety of tasks they are responsible for in order to host the event, starting with raising the money. Sjoberg said the students have a $12,000 budget that they have to raise and manage.
One of the students' learning outcomes is developing presentation skills that will allow them to communicate a vision to potential donors, according to written information Sjoberg provided. Other learning aspects include developing the ability to work with a team, coordinating a volunteer workforce, working with national speakers, and marketing the event, in addition to other planning. The Ignite Leadership Program, Sjoberg said, is the perfect co-curricular learning activity that allows students to initiate their own leadership development.
For more information regarding the Ignite Leadership Conference, go to ignite.oru.edu.
