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Sometimes the Lord calls us to be pioneers in ministry. To go where the church has never gone, and do what the church has never done. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus recruits and trains up seventy-two leaders to do something completely new, to go where He hasn’t gone before. In chapter ten, He sends these seventy-two leaders out ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He tells them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. ASK the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. And GO yourselves!”

Edmonton is a city where the median age is 36, we are told by Stats Canada. Yet the ages of people in our churches around the diocese is markedly older. Consider this graph from a recent Anglican Journal survey:

We believe God speaks to us in situations like this. And we believe He is saying, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”

The fields around us are ripe for harvest. The diocese is full of young people who are struggling to find the meaning and purpose in their lives that God so desires for them. Yet the workers are few. Reaching out to the next generation is a huge task we are called to, together. We are called to, “ASK the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. And GO yourselves!” The first step in reaching this next generation is to ASK. To ask God to send workers to reach out to the young people around us. The second step is to GO. To actually be a person who reaches out to young people.

Over the past number of months, a team of clergy and lay leaders from the diocese of Edmonton along with Bishop Jane Alexander have been working on an exciting plan to develop young Christian leaders. We have named it the “Ascend Leadership Project”.

In September 2014, eight young Christian leaders (aged 20-35) will move into the rectory at Christ Church in downtown Edmonton and live in community for ten months. These quality young people will participate actively in parish life, experience a common life of prayer, be mentored by seasoned leaders from across the diocese, and develop hands-on leadership experience working with youth and other young adults around the diocese. There is no other program for young adult formation quite like this in Canada.

Over the coming months we will be accepting eight burgeoning Christian leaders to this program and will be preparing for this exciting pioneering year of the project.

Join with us in ASKing. Please pray daily for this ministry and the eight young adults who will be accepted to the program. And join with us in GOing. We need to harness the incredible leadership gifts of this diocese to reach the next generation for the Kingdom of God.

Perhaps God is calling YOU to be a part of this ministry, either as a project participant or as a supporter. Contact us today.