The following post is by Roger Jasper. Roger married to Jessica and they share a son and daughter, Paul and Anna. He is a graduate of Georgetown College and Baptist Seminary of Kentucky and serves as senior minister to Living Faith Baptist Fellowship in Elizabethtown, Ky.
At the 2013 CBF General Assembly in Greensboro, N.C., Roger attended the Networking with Current event. Check out his reflections:
by Roger Jasper
“Young” and “Baptist” aren’t terms commonly associated with one another in 21st century North America. However, with denominationalism crumbling around us Current exists to affirm and connect Christians under 40 for whom Baptist identity still deeply resonates.
The Connecting with Current break-out session at General Assembly focused on the next phase of Current connectedness. Out-going Chair Person Christopher Aho briefly outlined where Current had been over its 15 year history. Once known as Young Leaders Network, Current had previously been anchored by several annual events: a retreat, a service day, and a General Assembly meet up.
As time has gone on these anchors have lost their hold and the Current steering committee extended an invitation to those present to envision the next incarnation of Current.
Chris described a vision of Current as an electrical grid with power poles across the nation. This vision was of a Current network grounded in the local and connecting young Baptists with others in their states and regions they serve in.
This would include state and regional Current gatherings, large and small, from retreats to coffee meet-ups, connecting dispersed and often isolated young Baptists.
The 2012 Task Force report calls for Cooperative Baptists to be a “seamless cooperative community.” Chris and the steering committee see this new vision as fulfilling the call to cooperating. They charged young Baptists to own Current in their states or regions and create local connection points.
One template for this new vision is Current in Kentucky. Young leaders like Josh and Rebecca Speight and Sarah Clark have helped to network young Baptists in the Bluegrass state through an annual state retreat, events at Kentucky Baptist Fellowship’s Spring Gathering, and monthly peer groups in some area’s of the state.
What is your vision for this next generation of Current? How can you connect in your own state or region. Talk about it on Facebook and Twitter. #becurrent