Momentum’s student masters of ceremonies, Josiah Shank, Elise White, and Josh Hastings, have a front-row seat to each main session at the week-long youth conference.
At each event, they capably handle recaps of the day’s events and introduce the session’s speaker.
Each submitted an audition tape to be selected for the role, though Josh admits his youth pastor at Grace Polaris Church, Westerville, Ohio, Dave Nicodemus, surreptitiously videoed Josh leading the middle school ministry and sent it in.
“I really like connecting with the speakers,” says Elise, from Grace Church in Lititz, Pa. “I like talking to them and seeing where they are coming from.”
The trio hit the ground running upon arrival at Momentum this week, learning quickly each day what is expected of them.
“They are doing a great job, they’ve been teachable,” says Eric Miller, from Grace Fellowship Church, Frederick, Md., who has been serving as their coach. “They’re quick learners, they ask really good questions. That makes my job as a coach really easy.”
Do any of them plan to leverage the experience into a career as an announcer? Probably not, they say, though Josiah, who attends Grace Community Church in Goshen, Ind., thinks it might help him later on. “I love the experience because I want to be a pastor,” he says.