Introduction
In June of 2000, President Gordon B. Hinckley stood in the Church Administration Building in Salt Lake City and made an announcement that would shape this campus forever:
“We are pleased to announce that Ricks College will change from its present two-year junior college status to a four-year institution. The new four-year school will be known as Brigham Young University-Idaho. …The school will have a unique role in and be distinctive from the other institutions of higher education within the Church Educational System.” [1]
That announcement carried a prophetic charge: BYU-Idaho was not simply becoming a four-year institution, but a university with a particular role and sacred mission.
A little more than a year later, on September 5, 2001, that prophetic vision became reality as Brigham Young University-Idaho welcomed students to its first day of classes as a four-year university. Since that day twenty-five years ago, the Lord has blessed this university with remarkable growth and progress. I believe one important reason for those blessings is that we have remained resolutely focused on the mission the Lord established for us.
I have been part of many organizations, both inside and outside the Church. I have never been associated with an institution so firmly anchored to its mission or so closely aligned with it. That commitment has been one of the great strengths of BYU-Idaho—and, I believe, one of the reasons the Lord has been able to accomplish so much through this university.
Our continued faithfulness to that mission will be essential to our future. The best years of BYU-Idaho are still ahead. We will realize that future as we deepen our understanding of the mission, embrace it more fully, and allow it to shape everything we do.
I hope the words of our mission are familiar to us. We see them throughout the campus, and we speak of them often. Yet even familiar words can reveal new meaning when we pause to examine them carefully. The words of our mission are not simply a statement we recite, but they are an invitation to reflect on who the Lord is helping us become.
Mission Statement
Our mission is “to develop disciples of Jesus Christ who are leaders in their homes, the Church, and their communities.” As we mark BYU-Idaho’s twenty-fifth anniversary, I can think of no better way to honor our past and prepare for our future than to renew our commitment to this mission.
Today, I invite every member of the BYU-Idaho community—from our newest freshman to the employee who has served here for many years—to memorize these few simple words. I hope they will become a constant reminder of why the Lord established this university and of the people He is inviting us to become.
Our mission statement is remarkable in its simplicity, yet I believe its meaning deepens the more we consider it. I would like to share a few thoughts that have been meaningful to me as I have pondered these words. I do not offer them as the only way to understand our mission, but rather with the hope that they will lead each of us to seek personal revelation about what the Lord would have this mission mean in our own lives and responsibilities.
Disciple
The most important words in our mission are the first ones: “to develop disciples of Jesus Christ.” Everything else in our mission flows from becoming disciples of Jesus Christ.
At its most basic level, a disciple is a follower, one who follows for the purpose of learning. A disciple of Jesus Christ follows Him. Throughout His ministry, the Savior repeatedly extended the invitation, “Follow me.”
Early in the Savior’s ministry, the Twelve did exactly that. They followed Him. They watched as Jesus went about “teaching,” “preaching,” and “healing every sickness and every disease among the people.” [2] They were not merely traveling with Him; they were learning from Him—watching what He did, listening to what He taught, and observing how He ministered.
Then something important happened.
When Jesus saw the multitudes, “he was moved with compassion on them, because [they were] as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.” [3]
There were disciples following the Master. But more laborers were needed in His work.
And so Jesus called the Twelve and gave them power and authority to do what they had watched Him do. He sent them out to teach and to preach and “to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.” [4]
They had begun as followers. Now they were becoming fellow laborers.
That pattern teaches us something important about Christlike discipleship. We follow Him so that we can learn from Him and we learn from Him so that we can become more like Him. As we become more like Him, He invites us to love and serve God’s children as He does.
The Savior expressed this expectation clearly: “The works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do.” [5]
But the Savior’s work was not merely a matter of activity. It was an expression of love. He taught, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” [6]
Love would be the defining mark of His disciples.
This is the kind of disciple we seek to develop at BYU-Idaho: someone who is not merely learning about Jesus, but becoming like Him and loving as He loved.
That kind of discipleship also prepares us to lead. As disciples become more like the Savior, they begin to bless and strengthen the people around them.
Leader
That brings us to another important word in our mission: leader.
Formal leadership matters. The Church, our workplaces, and our communities need people prepared to lead organizations, preside over councils, and help others move toward a shared purpose. We should prepare ourselves for those responsibilities by learning and applying the principles that help us lead effectively in those formal roles.
But formal leadership is only one way we lead. Leadership does not require a position or title. Just as there is more to discipleship than following, there is more to leadership than holding formal authority. We lead whenever our example, service, or influence helps another person move toward what is good.
We often picture a leader as the person in charge—someone with responsibility for others. That is one important opportunity to lead, but it is not the only one. Whether leadership comes through an official role or through everyday interactions, its purpose is the same. We lead in our homes, wards, and communities through the way we live, serve, and influence others.
President Kim B. Clark, the fifteenth president on this campus, taught, “Leaders always seek to make things better and to do good. This is the soul of leadership.” [7]
Often, this leadership is quiet and personal. You lead when your faith strengthens someone else’s faith. You lead when your example gives someone courage to make a better choice. You lead when you see potential in another person and help them see it in themselves. You lead when you bring greater faith, goodness, light, and hope into the lives around you.
Most of the important leadership you will ever exercise will come without a title or position, and perhaps without anyone recognizing that you were leading at all.
President Russell M. Nelson described how true disciples use that influence. His words are about discipleship, but they also capture the essence of Christlike leadership: “The Savior’s message is clear: His true disciples build, lift, encourage, persuade, and inspire.” [8]
These are the actions of faithful disciples and effective leaders. That is the kind of leader our mission describes: a disciple of Jesus Christ who seeks to make things better and do good wherever the Lord places them.
Disciple Leaders
We have considered the words disciple and leader separately. But our mission does not describe two separate outcomes—developing disciples and developing leaders. It describes one kind of person: a disciple of Jesus Christ whose discipleship shapes the way he or she leads and influences others. This is what we mean by a disciple leader.
Discipleship is the source of disciple leadership. To become a disciple leader is to become more like Jesus, join Him in His work, and use whatever influence we have to bless those around us.
Just as we seek to become scholars of learning and teaching, I hope we will become scholars of disciple leadership. We should deepen our understanding of effective and Christlike leadership, practice it in our own responsibilities, and help one another recognize and develop the capacity to lead.
Jesus Christ is the perfect example of what we hope to become. The Savior taught and lived a very different vision of leadership from the one the world offers. He did not define greatness or leadership by position, power, or prominence. When His disciples argued about who among them would be the greatest, He taught them, “He that is greatest among you shall be your servant.” [9]
He then demonstrated that principle throughout His life. He was the Master who knelt to wash His disciples’ feet. He taught multitudes, yet He noticed and ministered to individuals. He sought out those who were overlooked, dismissed, forgotten, or alone. He was the Good Shepherd that gave His life for the sheep.
Jesus Christ is the model of disciple leadership.
Conclusion
I testify that Jesus Christ lives. He is the Son of God and our Savior and Redeemer. He is not only the object of our faith; He is the pattern for our lives and our leadership. Through His Atonement, He can change our hearts, enlarge our capacity to love, and magnify our efforts to bless His children.
I know that as we seek to follow Him, He will help us become more like Him. And as we become more like Him, He will use us to bless our homes, the Church, and our communities.
As we celebrate twenty-five years of BYU-Idaho, I am grateful for all the Lord has done here. I also have faith in what He will yet do through those who learn and serve at this university. I know that He will continue to guide BYU-Idaho and each of us as we remain faithful to the mission He has given us.
As we look to the future, we can “go forth with faith” [10] on the “steady upward course,”[11] knowing that He is the High Priest of good things to come. Of this I testify, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Gordon B. Hinckley, “Announcement: Ricks College to Become BYU-Idaho,” Foundational Addresses, BYU-Idaho, June 21, 2000.
[2] Matthew 9:35.
[3] Matthew 9:36-37.
[4] Matthew 10:1.
[5] 3 Nephi 27:21.
[6] John 13:34-35.
[7] Kim B. Clark, “Becoming a Disciple-Leader” BYU Speeches, Jul. 30, 2024.
[8] Russell M. Nelson, “Peacemakers Needed,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2023, 99.
[9] Matthew 23:11.
[10] “Go Forth with Faith,” Hymns, no. 263.
[11] Henry B. Eyring, “A Steady, Upward Course” Foundational Address, BYU-Idaho, Sep. 18, 2001.
About President Alvin F. Meredith III
Alvin F. Meredith III became the 18th president of Brigham Young University-Idaho on August 1, 2023. He was sustained as a General Authority Seventy on April 3, 2021, and continues to serve in that role today.
Prior to his call as a General Authority, President Meredith served as president of the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission. He also served as an Area Seventy in the North America Southeast and Asia Areas, and in a number of other Church callings including as a full-time missionary in the Utah Salt Lake City Mission.
In his professional career, President Meredith worked as a senior executive of Asurion in Tennessee, Hong Kong, and Singapore. He also worked for The Boston Consulting Group and GE Capital.
President Meredith earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Brigham Young University and a Master of Business Administration in finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.