Andrews University hosted Let’s Talk … Again on Monday, Sept. 13, 2004. The “no-holds-barred” conversation-style session between Jan Paulsen, General Conference president, and 50 students, ages 20–25, convened in the university’s new Howard Performing Arts Center. The hour-long show was broadcast live, worldwide, via the Hope Channel and Adventist Television Network. This is the second broadcast instigated in an effort to increase communication between young people and the leaders of the Adventist Church. Last year, Paulsen met with 50 teenagers at the first Let’s Talk.

Young people make up 70% of the Adventist Church, and they are concerned about what their participation in the church is supposed to look like. Paulsen opened the discussion with his answer to the skeptical question no one wanted to ask, “What’s the point?” He said, “You may be asking yourself, 'Will my question even matter?'” Students waited intently for his response. He leaned in and smiled as he remarked, “Well, it depends on what your question is.” They shared a laugh, and he continued. Paulsen managed to keep the discussion lively, while still maintaining the seriousness of the atmosphere.

Students offered a range of questions as broad as competitive sports, women’s roles, war, race-relations, and homosexuality. Yes, these are Adventist young people and these are the cutting-edge issues they have to face at large, in their families, in the job market — all over the world. Paulsen counseled them to “look after yourself spiritually and search for creative ways to be involved in the life of your church. … The church cannot afford to have observers. She simply cannot afford it.”

The students emphatically agreed with the same eager spirit that is in keeping with the very dictum of their university: Seek Knowledge. Affirm Faith. Change the World. For more information and a transcript of the conversation, log onto www.letstalk.adventist.org.

Keturah Landrum, University Relations student news writer