Younger Christian leaders met in Schloss Klaus near Linz (Austria) for a national leadership summit.

The event, organised by the Austrian Evangelical Alliance between 11-13 November, was a chance to think about the “cost of leadership”, the organisers said. “As leaders, we often go full throttle and are on the move with God and people to make a difference. And as we move, we experience heavenly joy, but also stark setbacks. We stumble and stumble. Questions like, ‘is it all worth it?’ or ‘why am I suffering in service to God?’ come to our minds”. 

“Evi Rodemann, a cheerleader for the young generation, gave us exciting inputs on what leadership and responsibility can cost and what it may cost us”, Miriam Linseder told Evangelical Focus. “In doing so, Evi showed us that it is God’s heartfelt concern that a leader not only perseveres, but that the ministry also bears fruit”.

The weekend included times in small groups, worship, and a learning atmosphere in which all kind of questions were welcomed. Seminars and target groups (teams, voluntaries, youth leaders, main leaders, etc) gave a wide range of choice for participants to get specific training.

The value of connections and training

“I really enjoyed the fellowship and the time we had as a team after each session. What I also liked was connecting with other youth leaders and hearing how they work”, said Pascal Friedli, a youth leader. Naara Wunderli, also a leader working with youth, agreed: “I really enjoyed the sessions and the seminars. The team time was also very helpful so that as a team we could grow together even more”.

Another participant, Lars Falk, valued the insights of the main speaker. “Evi is at home in business as well as in the ecclesiastical world. I thought it was really good that she has such a healthy mix of humour and seriousness”. He also enjoyed a seminar on leadership, “where I got free tips, which in business can only be obtained for a lot of money”.

Maria Wasef, also found the “wide variety of topics great”. The times to “to reflect as a team on what we had heard” was a key aspect that she also underlined.

Hannah Höfler, another ministry worker, attended “two seminars, one where I learned how to discover the Bible in a creative way with children and teenagers, and in the other seminar we talked about how we manage to protect our hearts in this kind of work”.

Learn more about the Austrian Younger Leaders Summit on their website.