As the youngest person from the North Texas Conference to be elected leader of the lay delegation, Ricky Harrison is part of a new generation of delegates to the General Conference of The United Methodist Church. A 19-year-old sophomore at McMurray College, Ricky’s election made history at the 2011 North Texas Conference. He was elected on the first ballot.

Ricky Harrison has been active at First UMC Richardson and was previous chair of the Conference Council on Youth Ministry. He is the son of Charles Harrison, a trustee of The Foundation for Evangelism, and Executive Director of Youth Worker Movement. In an interview, Ricky told us about himself, his goals, and his future as a lay delegate.

Ricky Harrison

My name is Ricky Harrison and this past June I was elected by the North Texas Annual Conference to co-lead the North Texas General Conference Delegation. As a nineteen year old college sophomore studying at McMurry University I am excited about this opportunity to engage in meaningful leadership with the North Texas Delegation. I have been involved extensively in Church leadership as a young person for the past six years. I’ve served at many levels of church leadership including at my local church, District, Conference, Jurisdiction, and in the Global Church where I was elected to serve as a voting delegate to the Global Young People’s Convocation in Berlin, Germany last summer.

At the Global Young People’s Convocation in Berlin I had the opportunity to interact with United Methodist youth and young adults from over twenty-eight countries. I built relationships with friends who, although we spoke a different language, we shared the same faith background. We had conversations about the present and future of the United Methodist Church and engaged in open, honest discussion about our vision for how to live together as One Body in Christ. By passing legislation that will be sent on to General Conference we were able to come together despite our many differences to speak for the young people of our denomination from around the world.

As the first elected lay delegate on the North Texas General Conference Delegation it is my hope to represent the voice of the Young People in order to work towards a fully inclusive Global Church. So many times we speak of bridging the gap between generations to bring young people into the Church but often we fail to include all voices at the table. My goal is to partner with both lay and clergy people of all ages, races, and genders to work towards this vision of true collaboration where all voices are heard. I also believe that the Church needs to focus on developing and equipping effective leaders, especially in our younger members. With the average age of a United Methodist on the rise, we must find a new way to live into a sustainable system. I believe that God is calling the United Methodist Church to live into a system of sustainability where we can continually hold each other in loving accountability. We as One Body must learn how to move from a passive to an active ownership of our faith and denomination. This vision of transformation and renewal is what drives me forward as I prepare over the next eight months for this important time in the life of the Church. It is my hope that we can learn to work together in order to truly make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.